The Teflon Mindset

Source: Laura Miele, Ph.D.

We encounter obstacles that may alter our mindset (perceptions of things) throughout our lives. Failure is part of life and sport.

There are two sets of mindsets; one is the growth mindset, and the other is the fixed mindset. There are many strategies to help the mindset evolve, and it is not a one size fits all. The fixed mindset is a belief that people are born with certain talents, and those specific characteristics cannot be changed. This fixed mindset is believed to stifle the growth of people as they might feel that things do not come easy to them, and they tend to quit more readily. The growth mindset is the belief that people can evolve and change through hard work and effort toward what they are looking to achieve.

"People with a growth mindset believe that they have control of their life. While those with a fixed mindset believe that things are out of their control" (Dweck & Yeager, 2019).

As an athlete, one needs to learn to overcome errors, negative self-talk, and worry about what others might think. I developed the term “Teflon mindset” when I work with my athletes to help them with resilience and mental toughness. How can we learn to have the "Teflon" mindset and deflect the negative shortcomings in competition?

Athletes often fall into slumps and make mistakes, but there is no reason why they cannot rebound from it and create a "Teflon" mindset. This mindset consists of various strategies to overcome failure, and fear, contending with coaching personalities, and working with the voice within yourself. Athletes like Kobe Bryant learned to develop a specific mindset. He was able to use his life skills and transition them into what he called the "Mamba Mentality." In order to be the best, you have to want to get better every day. This will get you in the right mindset.

I have been playing basketball for over 40 years. Regardless of the setbacks I have experienced, I am a better player now than I was years ago. This is a result of my experiences as a coach, a referee, an athlete, and maturity. As I work with my athletes, I often try to instill a psychological theoretical framework from my experience as a player. While I am a very passionate player, I give 150 percent and have never say die attitude. As a teammate, it is important for me to build them up when we play. I take over and get in the zone if they are not at their best. I recently asked myself how I will maintain staying in the zone. How can I replicate the same feeling when my team needs me?

When I play on a team (usually in a men's league), I play a role that depends on what my team might need. I attempt to feed everybody the ball when I play the point guard. When I have opportunities to score, I take it. However, I take great joy in making a look-away pass to create opportunities for my teammates to elevate their game. This is an essential role as it is about a mindset of what it takes to win. It is not just about me in order for us to win! We are a team.

In this journey, I have found I am more capable than ever of mentally putting myself in the zone. I believe this is because I work with many student-athletes on the mentality it takes to have the “Teflon” mindset.

I ask myself how I can teach my athletes to leave the emotion out of the game while keeping the passion high without allowing a coach, official or other players to affect gameplay. I began to call it the Teflon mindset. Teflon cannot be "damaged." Therefore, I picture clear Teflon around me and tell myself, "I will not be broken." It is a mindset where no one can get into my mental space or "damage" my inner peace and self-talk. The only voice in my head is my own.

It is not always an easy task because, during games, players and teammates can get heated. However, I finally found a way to keep my mind and body like Teflon: resistant. Resistant to negative banter and bad calls. When getting physically roughed up, I try to keep my composure to be the best player on the court. This Teflon mindset can be carried on a field, court, on the ice, or a wrestling mat. It does not matter what sport is being played; focusing to the point where you are unstoppable and resistant is paramount.

How does one create a Teflon (athletic) mindset?

• Learn to fail
• Practice your fundamentals
• Train and stay in shape
• Be resilient

Some athletes may think that they have a fixed mindset and that things will not improve or be better no matter how hard they try. Players can choose to either evolve or limit themselves, but it is entirely up to them. With a have a fixed mindset, it is easy to think that nothing is in our control, that issues cannot be fixed, and just go through life accepting failures as they come, but with the growth mindset, we learn, we evolve, we grow, and we want to be better. We tend to fail to realize that any negative mindset can be changed into a positive one. It just depends on what you're seeking to achieve. Nothing positive comes out of the negative. It is the journey of the mind to shift your thought pattern; this can be accomplished by creating mantras and utilizing positive self-talk, ultimately leading to the Teflon mindset.

Some coaches say you either have the right mindset instilled inside of you or you do not. From my experience as an athlete/coach and working with many athletes, I have seen players overcome the fixed mindset and turn it into a growth mindset, a negative mindset, into a positive mindset. So, the question is, what can you do as an athlete to create the Teflon mindset for success?

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In most of my blogs, readers see me saying, "Success is not perfection." Playing a sport is not always pretty; you are going to fail. All those failures are what are going to get you to the Teflon mindset. We deal with many situations and extenuating circumstances in life and sport. However, these instances will set the foundation for your future as an athlete and a person.

I would be remiss to discount that everything we learn as an athlete does not transcend and transition into our life for our future. Looking back and recognizing some of our trials as athletes will assist with anything thrown our way in life.

Source: Laura Miele, PhD with permission

How do we view the good and the bad? And how do we deal with the tragedies? Do we fall into the pity pool, drown, or swim out? Some of us just tread water, which goes with a fixed or negative mindset. With mindset comes strength. We learn to be resilient. Resilience is a learned pattern of thoughts and behaviors. It is how we react to circumstances. It is how well we react to the world, even when we feel it is falling apart. It all comes down to mindset.

To change one's mindset, one must be resilient. The great news is you can change both and elevate your game to different levels simply by changing your thoughts. At first, it is easy to become emotional, but then we must push ourselves to be rational and find a way to shift our thought patterns. Sometimes we feel too much, allow our emotions to take over, and lose rational thought. During times of stress, it is imperative to find the reason for what we are experiencing and understand how our mind processes it. This is how we begin our journey toward mental toughness.

Seeing the positives in all obstacles is crucial as they provide a learning opportunity and growth. Mental toughness has been linked to learned resourcefulness, a repertoire of acquired abilities that enable appropriate problem-solving, coping, emotional control, and behavioral responses. The Teflon mindset creates mental toughness, which all coaches look for in their athletes. To become more resilient and mentally tough and to create the Teflon mindset are listed below. What can you do to change your mindset and elevate your game?

Here are some strategies to achieve the Teflon mindset:

• Prioritize-find balance
• Journal and reflect on the good and bad situations
• Write down your short and long terms goals
• Take accountability
• Use your mantras
• Develop strong time management skills
• Belief in oneself
• Learn to relax
• Create positive (sensory) distractions