5 Habits of the Successful Athletes 

This post may contain affiliate links, which means, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Please read my Disclaimer for more information. 

You need to know these five habits of the successful to give yourself the best possible chance in life. Not only will these habits help you as an athlete, a mom, a friend, a sibling, but they will also help you throughout your life in general. 

Experiences can have a huge impact on your success…

As a retired Division I athlete I can assure you that the skills I learned through my sport helped me far more than the algebra I learned in school. Now don’t get me wrong, school is exceedingly important. But, there are just some things that you can’t learn from reading a textbook. Some things you have to live through, some things you have to experience, and some things you have to figure out as you go.

SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME…

If you take away one thing from this post… 

You have to remember, that there is no blueprint for your life because NEWSFLASH… your life is unique to you and no one else can live it. 

The Comparison Game… 

Often people look at others and compare themselves to something or someone that couldn’t even be considered similar. It’s human nature. But if you want to reach that next level of success, you must master certain habits of the successful.  

Think about it, if you’re already going to compare yourself to someone or something, you might as well use comparison as a tool to create atomic habits of success. I mean, if you’re going to do something you might as well be productive right? 

To read more on comparison check out The Best Quotes for Comparison To Change Your Mindset.

Creating Habits of the Successful 

Contrary to popular belief, you can change your circumstances. If you don’t like the place you’re in… change it. Creating a habit is simply being consistently intentional about something. I’m going to say that one more time… 

CREATING A HABIT IS SIMPLY BEING CONSISTENTLY INTENTIONAL ABOUT SOMETHING. 

So, if you don’t like that you sleep in every day, find a routine that helps you get up earlier. If you don’t like that you gained ten pounds, change your eating habits. 

The first step to creating a life that you want, or becoming more successful, is to actually make the decision in your mind first. As cliche as it sounds, if you don’t make up your mind to do something, no matter how much you want it, you will never accomplish what you desire. The mind is a very powerful thing. 

5 Common Habits of the Successful…

Below are five common habits that successful people use to create a life they desire. 

1 – Nutrition… IT’S IMPORTANT

As I said before, successful people are intentional. They are intentional throughout every aspect of their lives. In order to have the energy to sustain a life of success, fulfillment, positivity, and value, you have to fuel your body. You cannot expect your body to move mountains for you, without you taking care of it. 

Now I’m not saying you can’t eat cakes, cookies, sweets, etc. NO … I love chocolate are you kidding me! But what I am saying, is that in order to be able to sustain a life of success, your body has to be able to keep up. 

Success looks different for everybody. Success may be finally running your first race, or it may be passing a big exam, or it may be that you got out of bed that day. The point is whether your success is something physical or not, properly fueling your body plays an intentional role. No matter what your goal is, your body needs essential nutrients to be able to function properly. 

2 – Fitness … NO YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A GYM RAT… I PROMISE!

Just like your body needs nutrition, your body needs movement. This is one of the huge habits of the successful athletes! Along with a large number of positive effects that exercising or working out has, moving your body also creates happiness. 

NO REALLY! When you move your body and properly exercise, it creates something called endorphins. Endorphins are known to increase someone’s emotional happiness. Literally, when your body is happy, you are happy. 

Now I know this post is about successful athletes so you must think duhhh… all athletes train to have amazing bodies and look super buff and toned and all that jazz. 

You’re Wrong…

The reason successful athletes train their bodies and take fitness so seriously is not for “the look”, they do it to ensure that their body is physically prepared for the challenge ahead of them. Just like a lawyer would study their heart out to pass the bar, an athlete is going to train so that their body is at its peak when game time comes. 

Fitness is more than the outer appearance, fitness is respecting your body. It’s taking care of the vessel that allows you to walk, talk, eat, breathe, run, stand, sit, etc. So to reach the level of success that professional athletes achieve, you have to respect your body. That truly is one of the MAJOR habits of the successful.  

 3 – LISTEN LINDA… You must listen to your body! 

This one I’m going to keep short and sweet… YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU. 

TRUST ME! Take it from someone who learned this the hard way… There is a difference between listening to your body and quitting. Let me make that clear. Quitting is giving up because something got hard. Quitting is walking away from something knowing you could have done better or given more effort. 

Listening to your body is knowing when to stop and take care of yourself. It’s knowing when to take care of injuries before they become a problem. It’s going to bed early when you want to watch another episode. Maybe it’s choosing to stretch even though people look at you funny at the gym. It’s knowing when you had enough studying for one night and you need to give your brain a break. 

To listen to your body is intentional. Successful athletes know how to respect their bodies, and they know when its had enough.

4 – MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT A JOKE. 

This is one of the most important habits of the successful. 

MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT A JOKE! As an athlete, parent, sibling, employee, etc. your mental health is important. Whether you are training for a championship game or just trying to get out of bed in the morning, to be successful you have to take care of the mental aspects as well. 

There is a famous book that I and several athletes have read before called Mind Gym. This book basically talks about how to train your mind for success. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to take your goals to the next level. 

Don’t be Stupid…

Just like I said before training your body is respecting your body and your mind is no different. Unfortunately, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health, especially for athletes. To be honest that stigma is, well, stupid. It’s stupid that someone would judge someone else for trying to take care of their health. And it’s stupid to care about someone’s opinion if they do not have your best interest in mind. 

Just like we need our legs to walk, we need our minds to function properly. So why wouldn’t we take care of our whole being and not just pieces? In case no one has ever told you this… you need to know… IT’S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY! 

One of the most important habits of the successful is to make sure they take care of their mental state as well. That could look like therapy or counseling, that could look like yoga or weekly date nights, it could be going to church, or spending an hour a day praying. Whatever finds you peace is what you need to be doing. 

To be successful you have to water the grass where it’s growing and then continue to maintain it when it’s green. 

5 – Education…I told you, it’s important.

The fifth on the list of habits of the successful is, of course, education. No matter what your profession is, as a professional athlete, stay-at-home mom, business owner, service member, etc., education will always be important. 

To become increasingly successful over and over again, you have to invest in your education over and over again. Education doesn’t have to be a four-year college degree either. It can be courses you found online to learn how to start your new podcast, or going to pitching lessons to learn a new pitch. It could be studying to take a certification exam, or you could be enrolled in school. Education looks different to everyone, and not everyone learns the same. 

To become successful you have to learn new things. Whether you’re learning a new skill or you’re learning what didn’t work, you are still learning. Success comes from experience, and experience is what was gained through educating yourself with new opportunities. 

Final Thoughts for Habits of the Successful… 

Whether you are an aspiring athlete or just someone looking for motivation, these habits can be applied to daily life. Christian Louboutin didn’t just wake up rich and famous. Payten Manning didn’t just walk on the field and automatically become a pro football player. To achieve success you have to be willing to make sacrifices and push past your comfort zones. But trust me it will be worth it in the end. 

If you liked this post make sure you comment below. I would love to know if you have any other habits for success. As always, I love to hear your stories! 

If you liked this post, check out some of my others… 

The Best Quotes for Comparison to Change Your Mindset

What is the Parable of Talents Meaning? 

5 Things to Know about On Base Housing