4.3 Don Meyer: 3 Types of Athletes

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Do your habits match your goals?

There are few things worse than seeing athletes with big-time goals and small-time habits.

You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your habits and behaviors.

Don Meyer was a legendary basketball coach who said there are three types of players based on 2 things: talent and mindset. 

Talent is your natural ability that includes skill, size, and athleticism. Mindset is your attitude, how hard you work, how coachable you are, and how well you can learn and pay attention to detail.

Talent is what you can do, and mindset is how you do it. Here are his three types of athletes:

1 - Players with A-Level Talent and A-Level Mindset: These are the best of the best. They are the best, most talented athletes in the gym who also have the best work ethic, are competitive, are coachable, and pay attention to detail.

2 - Players with A-Level Talent and a B-Level Mindset: They have all the talent and potential in the world, but they waste it because of their mindset, behaviors, and actions.

3 - Players with B-Level Talent and A-Level Mindset: These athletes might have gotten a later start or might not be as big, strong, or fast as others, but because they are coachable and work hard, they catch and pass the ones who are more talented.

You can’t always control your talent, but you can control your mindset, your effort, and your character, and at the end of the day, those are the things that matter the most.

Question of the Day: Which type of athlete are you?