American mountain bike champion Kate Courtney discusses the mantras that changed her career trajectory in the new podcast Mind Set Win.
In this series that launched on January 19, host Cédric Dumont helps lift the lid on how mental techniques used by top athletes, coaches and managers can unlock performance in day-to-day life.
Each episode features a new guest detailing the mental tactics behind their success and, not just content with hearing fascinating stories, Belgian Dumont and American Courtney also analyse the revealing insight and outline practical tips for listeners to take away into the real world.
In Episode Six, Dumont begins by learning how Courtney progressed from riding tandem bikes with her dad (and eating blueberry pancakes at the top of the local mountain) to becoming a World Champion, overall World Cup winner, and Olympian with persistence key to building discipline and consistency.
Over the course of a UCI season, Courtney adopts a mantra at each race to help her focus on her target and keep referring to it when the going gets tough. Courtney reveals her ‘accept and commit’ mantra from last year. “It was about accepting the uncontrollability, and the uncertainty, which I think was a huge challenge for me during the pandemic and committing to the moment, winning that little inner battle of will I push to the edge?
“That persistent mindset of just day in and day out, day in, day out, day in, being dedicated to what it takes to make those incremental steps, I would say, has been my greatest strength in my career.
“It’s not always some huge inspirational speech and motivation. It’s often just calculating what has to be done and finding ways to push through it, stay positive and stay focused.”
Dumont added: “Just like other skills we focused on in this series, persistence needs to be cultivated. If you can find a way to nurture your persistence, it will feed the passion and driving force inside you. It will become the engine that pushes you. And will move you to higher limits.”
Listen to the new ‘Mind Set Win’ podcast HERE
Header image: Kate Courtney seen at UCI XCO World Cup in Snowshoe, USA on July 31, 2022. Credit: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
