What Separates Champions from ‘Almost Champions’?

Super champions were characterized by an "almost fanatical reaction to challenge.” They viewed challenges in a positive light — as opportunities to grow — and overcame them with a “never satisfied” attitude

This runs in contrast to almost champions, who blamed setbacks on external causes, became negative, and lost motivation.

These responses, of course, are the product of personal histories, histories that turned out to be similar amongst athletes in the same group but patently different between groups. The point is to inculcate a “never satisfied attitude” that gains strength from failure.

Super champions showed great interest in their sport, liked practicing, training and competing. They did not specialize in a single sport during their early childhood.

Almost champions also loved the thrill of competition, but they remembered having an aversion toward practice and at times felt forced to pursue their respective sport. As one almost champion put it: “I loved fighting, but the training was just a chore. I would miss it if I could, and always avoided the bits I was shit at.”

Super champions were driven from within. Their primary concern was self-improvement. They held themselves to high standards, but judged themselves against prior versions of themselves, not against others.

Almost champions, however, were focused on external benchmarks, like national rankings or how they compared to rivals, a mind-set the researchers speculate explains why almost champions got discouraged during rough patches.

It’s true that not everyone can be a world-class performer. Our inherited traits still matter, and even our willingness to exert persistent effort may be at least partially genetic. Some of us are born with lower sensitivity to the feel-good neurochemical dopamine, which is widely known to underpin desire.

Dopamine isn’t released when we achieve a goal, but rather, when we are pursuing one. It follows that the more dopamine we need to feel satiated, the more likely we are to remain eternally hungry.

With enough persistent effort, most people can get pretty good at anything.

• Demonstrate persistent effort to follow your interests.
• Practice foremost to get better, not to outdo others
• Derive satisfaction from within
• Feel constantly supported, but not pressured.

If these criteria are in place, experiencing failure doesn’t weaken motivation — it bolsters it.