Description
What does it take to become the best in the world? This book offers a look into the intense mindset and training required to compete at the highest levels. It follows the journey of elite CrossFit athletes, who train for the title of “Fittest on Earth.” We learn that physical strength is only a small part of the equation. To win, an athlete must develop total mental and emotional control.
The first essential ingredient for excellence is passion. Many people are content to do the bare minimum at their jobs, but no one becomes a champion this way. Passion is the fuel for commitment. It is the “why” that drives you to do the hard work. Without this deep drive, all the resources in the world won’t lead to success. It is the committed, passionate person who will always have the winning edge.
Passion alone is not enough. It must be combined with the right habits. You have probably heard of the 10,000-hour rule, which states that it takes that long to master a skill. But just putting in the time is not the full story. The very best performers use what is called “deliberate practice.” This is a type of practice that is highly focused and intentional. It involves constantly pushing yourself past your normal limits and outside of your comfort zone.
To practice deliberately, you must ask yourself important questions. Are you giving this task your complete attention? Are you using this time in the best way possible? What do you need to improve on right now? This kind of work is often uncomfortable. It feels like waking up at 5 a.m. to go for a run when you would rather be in bed. But this level of commitment is what separates the good from the truly great.
Once you are committed, you must learn one of the most difficult lessons in life: how to separate what you can control from what you cannot. Elite athletes face endless variables that are completely out of their hands. They cannot control the event schedule, the weather, or how well their rivals perform. Wasting even a single drop of energy worrying about these things is a path to failure.
The key is to focus all your energy on the things you can control. An athlete can control their nutrition, their sleep schedule, their preparation, and their own attitude. To help his athletes, coach Ben Bergeron has them write a list of everything they worry about. Then, he separates the list into two columns: “Controllable” and “Uncontrollable.” They immediately cross off every item in the “Uncontrollable” column, freeing their minds to focus only on what matters.
This control also applies to past mistakes. You cannot let one error ruin your entire performance. The best athletes learn to “shut the door” on a mistake. They have a system. For example, they allow themselves exactly five minutes to be upset or analyze what went wrong. After those five minutes, the event is over. They let go of the negativity, refocus their breathing, and center themselves on the present moment. This allows them to learn from the mistake without letting it defeat them.
Many people believe that confidence comes from winning. This book argues that this is not true. Real, lasting confidence comes from knowing how to react to any outcome, whether it is good or bad. There is a simple formula for this: Event + Response = Outcome. The “Event” is what happens. The “Outcome” is the final result. You cannot always control the Event or the Outcome. But you always have 100 percent control over your “Response.”
True confidence is built from knowing that you gave the best possible Response you could. This mindset also builds humility. When you are humble, you remain open to feedback and learning. A bad result is not a personal failure; it is simply information. If you come in last, you don’t make excuses. You humbly accept that you have work to do. This is what Mat Fraser did. After a terrible performance in a running event, he humbly started training with high schoolers. His humility paid off, and he won the event the following year.
This humble approach is part of a deeper learning process. Many people use “single-loop learning,” where they only look at external reasons for a problem. The best athletes use “double-loop learning.” They look at external factors, but they also look at internal factors. They ask, “What about me needs to change?” This helps them identify and fix the root cause of a problem much faster.
A positive outlook is another key tool for excellence. Your mind has a tendency to find whatever it is looking for. This is known as the “frequency illusion.” If you start thinking about buying a red car, you will suddenly start seeing red cars everywhere. The same is true for your attitude. If you are always thinking negative thoughts, you will only see negative results. If you train your mind to look for positive results, you will start to see them. This creates a powerful, motivating cycle of improvement.
Positivity also acts as a shield against chaos. During one competition, a three-hour flight delay made most athletes angry and stressed. They knew they would get to the hotel late and be tired. But one athlete, Katrín Davíðsdóttir, stayed positive. She used the time to rest, sleeping in the airport and on the plane. The next day, she was well-rested and confident, while her rivals were tired and unfocused. She could do this because her focus was never on winning. Her focus was on her process: her training, her nutrition, her sleep, and her recovery.
To be truly prepared, you must be ready for the worst-case scenario. This means your training should often be harder than the competition itself. The philosophy is “adversarial growth”—the belief that challenges are what drive personal growth. You must use the “overload principle,” constantly pushing your body to its limits.
This applies to mental toughness as well. The coach had his athletes swim in freezing cold water, even when jellyfish were present. At first, they thought it was a ridiculous task. But they soon realized it was giving them a powerful mental advantage. By practicing in non-ideal conditions, they became mentally prepared for any surprise. When a difficult event came up in the competition, they did not panic. They were ready.
All of these traits—passion, control, humility, and positivity—are tied together by one final, crucial quality: grit. Grit is the ability to keep going when you are tired, sore, and want to quit. It is the refusal to give up. When Mat Fraser was beaten badly in a rowing event, his grit took over. He began a grueling training routine, rowing 4,000 to 5,000 meters every single day. It was painful, but he was determined to never lose that way again.
When all these pieces combine, they create “competitive excellence.” This is the highest state an athlete can achieve. It means you give 100 percent of your effort, 100 percent of the time. It does not matter if you are winning by a wide margin or if you are in last place. You still give everything you have. This is because success is not about the trophy. Success is about the process of pushing yourself to your absolute limits.
In the end, this book shows that excellence is not a quality you are born with. It is not about genetics or natural talent. It is a process that anyone can follow. It is about developing your mental fortitude, mastering your response to the world, and finding the willingness to push yourself far beyond your normal limits.
