You’ve done the preparation. You’ve been to the training. But in the moment that counts, whether it’s the pitch, the negotiation, or the difficult conversation, something slips. You hesitate. You over-explain. You second-guess. And afterwards, you think: What just happened?
It wasn’t your skillset that failed. It was your mindset.
Mindset is more than a buzzword. It’s a set of beliefs and perceptions that shape how we respond to challenges, uncertainty, and even ourselves. It influences our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Which means it has a big impact on what we achieve.
That’s why mindsets are so powerful, and why so much has been written and taught about them. At last count (thanks to my peer Ash Buchanan), there were nearly 2,000 types of ‘mindsets’ recorded between 1923 and 2023, with a big rise post-2010. A new one is invented almost weekly. Just add an adjective to ‘mindset’, and voilà.
Growth and Fixed mindsets are still dominant, followed by Entrepreneurial and Global. Of all the types, I have a favourite – Optimism – because the science speaks for itself: over 30,000 research articles link it to everything from improved health to stronger sales and better relationships. You’ll find more on that in this blog, and in my book. But this isn’t about naming the right mindset. It’s about whether we’re training any of them at all.
You see, mindset can be explained from the stage, discussed in a coaching session, or taught in a workshop, but it’s built in the everyday. In how you start your day, how you reset after a setback, how you speak to yourself when things go sideways. The classroom builds awareness but daily life builds endurance.
In today’s world, uncertainty is no longer episodic, it’s a constant. And that means your mindset can’t be reactive. It has to be rehearsed.
Time and time again, I see leaders and teams undertrained in this area. And in tough moments, an untrained mind will spiral in self-doubt, avoid conflict or feedback, react emotionally, or seek perfection or external validation. Over time, these patterns erode resilience, performance, and wellbeing.
Take the current response to AI. So much of it is reactive, panicked, even resistant, and it’s impacting results. But that’s not just a capability gap, it’s a mindset one. One that’s unprepared to adapt.
If mindset is one of your greatest foundations to sustainable high-performance, then we have to stop leaving it to chance, and start putting it on the daily training schedule.
Mindset is built off the field
Mindset is like a physical muscle, it’s not built in the arena, it’s built in the reps you do before you get there. Athletes know this. They don’t train during the match. They rehearse, visualise, and condition. And when the whistle blows, they trust their preparation.
You might remember my take that mindset, not ability or skill, was what cracked under pressure in the 2024 AFL Grand Final. Olympic gold medalist Jess Fox has spoken about spending the four years between Tokyo and Paris training her mind as much as her body. And Michael Jordan didn’t just practise shots, he rehearsed states. He’d visualise how to recover after setbacks and stay focused when it mattered, making that mental preparation as habitual as any physical drill.
And yet in the workplace, we often ignore this. We don’t train our mindset day-to-day. We leave it to chance and expect it to show up under pressure. We don’t measure it. We don’t reward it. But it shows up everywhere and impacts everything – how people approach challenges, interact with colleagues, and lead through uncertainty.
Mindset training doesn’t start with tactics. It starts with awareness. You can’t train what you don’t notice. High performers begin by recognising their default mindset patterns. What triggers them? What drains their focus? What shifts them from grounded to reactive? What information overloads them? What emotions send them sideways?
I call these ‘mindset markers’ – the internal signals that tell you whether your mental state is sharp or starting to slip.
One CEO I’m coaching is using his long-distance runs to practise this. He is noticing the moment that inner voice says “Stop, this is too hard”, and he is training himself to respond, not react (or give-up). He’s preparing for the high-pressure moments in his work whilst pounding the pavement.
Mindset is a choice. It’s also a culture you build in your head. It’s shaped by the stories you tell yourself, the habits you repeat, and the beliefs you reinforce. It sets the tone for how you lead yourself and then others.
And if you haven’t trained your mindset today, you’re not preparing, you’re hoping.
Mindset lives in the micro-moments
You have more control than you think. Mindset isn’t something you flick on when needed – it’s built through micro-decisions. How you walk into the office. How you speak to yourself. How you reset after a setback. These are your reps.
A strong mindset isn’t something you just have – it’s something you do. It’s not built in comfort, it’s built under tension.
That doesn’t always mean crisis or chaos. Sometimes, the tension is subtle – boredom, distraction, the overload of too many inputs, or the urge to check out. Mindset is forged in those moments too. When your calendar’s packed, your inbox is overflowing, or your meeting didn’t go to plan – that’s an opportunity for a rep. But so is the coffee queue. The lift ride. The train trip. Watching your kids at the park.
Sometimes these are the moments your brain wants to escape. But they’re also chances to train, to pause, to be present, to notice your thoughts or to ground your breath. We often assume mindset is built in the big moments. But it’s actually shaped in the small overlooked ones. Just like any habit.
So how do you start your day? Do you grab your phone? Read the news? Scroll social media? These are rituals and they’re training something. The question is: are they building the mindset you want?
Gaps in your day are opportunities for mental push-ups. Micro-moments that build the mindset you’ll rely on later – one rep at a time.
Mindset is contagious
We like to think of mindset as personal, something we build within. But it’s also influenced by who we’re around. You don’t train mental strength in a vacuum. You train it in teams, conversations, and cultures.
If you spend your days surrounded by calm, clear, grounded people, your mind is more able to match that. Sit in rooms driven by stress, fear, or toxic positivity, you may find your nervous system picks it up without you even noticing.
Trying to build a strong mindset in a low-trust culture is like trying to meditate at a rave. You might have the right intentions, but the atmosphere is working against you.
Mindset has a ripple effect. Just like in sport, when one person drops below the line, the rest often follow even if nothing is said.
And it’s not about mood but also signals. What does your culture reward? Busyness? Reactivity? Perfectionism? Because what’s modelled and tolerated is what gets trained.
Mindset can be a team sport, you and your colleagues can choose your training ground. Are you providing feedback consistently to one another? Sharing your learnings? Calling out each other’s strengths? Celebrating wins no matter how big or small? Or are we heads-down, siloed, and silently spiraling?
In the end, your mindset might be personal but it’s never private.
Mindset doesn’t switch on when you need it. It shows up because you’ve trained it.
Not in the classroom but in the small, boring, messy or challenging moments. In the pause before you react. In the story you tell yourself after the meeting. On the sidelines, when no one is watching.
Because who you are in the big moments depends on what you’ve practised when it didn’t matter.
So, how have you trained your mindset today?
