Building a Mastery Mindset: What Athletes Can Learn from Katie Ledecky

“I try to make the good days great and take something positive from the days I’m not feeling good.” – Olympian and to date, the world’s most decorated swimmer in history, Katie Ledecky

---

Of course it feels great when things are going well.

It’s when we hit those rough patches that we have to watch how we talk to ourselves.

It’s okay to feel and acknowledge emotions:

I feel frustrated.
I feel nervous.
I feel defeated.

But we have to watch the self-judgment and negative self-talk:

I suck.
WTF is wrong with me.

Just because we have off days doesn’t make us “bad.” Nothing is wrong with us.

Everyone has an off day, or runs into tough times, at some point. And it’s in these challenges that life teaches us invaluable lessons — if we’re open to them.

Build resilience through a mastery mindset. Instead of judging, find the learning.

In every day, every turn, every movement, there’s something to notice about yourself and something to work on.

Try this: Notice something about yourself. Then identify one small thing you can work on next.

• I liked the effort I had in that turn. I’ll work on regulating my breathing so I don’t run out of breath by the end of the next one.
• I notice that I feel nervous when I get to this point because I remember when I got hit and fell down. I can’t control my opponent’s size or strength, so I will refocus on building trust with my technique and gradually improve my quickness.
• I felt distracted during warm-up, so I took an extra moment to walk away, shake it off, breathe, and refocus before the main set. It felt like a reset.

Like Olympian Katie Ledecky shares, greatness isn’t just about feeling good — it’s about showing up with intention, no matter what.

It’s about the small moments when no one’s watching.
The effort you put in on the off days.
The mindset you bring to the days that feel like a grind.

Trying to make the good days great.
And finding something — however small — to grow from on the not-so-feeling-good ones.

That’s mastery.
That’s mental strength.
That’s how transformation happens.

What’s one small thing you’ve learned about yourself on a hard day?
I’d love to hear — drop a comment below or reach out at lcollinslcsw.com.

All the best,

Laura