The Champion Mindset - by Joanna Zeiger (Paperback)

About the Book

"Champions, as the familiar adage preaches, are not born--they're made. Reaching the top of any sport, or any aspect of life, takes years upon years of dedication and proper preparation. But if there's a huge pool of individuals who have undertaken the same commitment and steps towards becoming the best, what truly separates the winners from everyone else? Joanna Zeiger believes proper mental preparation is the answer. The Champion Mindset is a much-needed and long overdue look into how to program a competitor's mind to achieve optimal success. Changing behaviors and ways of thinking are never easy, but the chapters in this book aim to simplify this process to make it manageable and achievable. This book is for every athlete--from the weekend warrior, who wants to complete in his or her first 5k running race, to those who have aspirations of one day becoming Olympians and world champions. The Champion Mindset is a compendium of Zeiger's own personal journey from struggling novice swimmer to Olympian and World Champion. Through steps including: Proper Goal Setting, Keeping it Fun, Building Your Team, Intention in Training, Improving Motivation, Promoting Self-Confidence, and Mind/Body Cohesion, among others, Zeiger uses her decades of personal experience, doctoral-level research, and professional success, to prepare readers to go all-in with their mental game"--

Book Synopsis

An in-depth mental motivational book for all athletes from Olympian Dr. Joanna Zeiger that offers game-changing strategies for programming your brain to achieve physical excellence.

Champions, as the familiar adage preaches, are not born--they're made. Reaching the top of any sport, or any aspect of life, takes years upon years of dedication and proper preparation. But if there's a huge pool of individuals who have undertaken the same commitment and steps towards becoming the best, what truly separates the winners from everyone else? Joanna Zeiger believes proper mental preparation is the answer.

The Champion Mindset is a much-needed and long overdue look into how to program a competitor's mind to achieve optimal success. Changing behaviors and ways of thinking are never easy, but the chapters in this book aim to simplify this process to make it manageable and achievable. This book is for every athlete--from the weekend warrior, who wants to complete in his or her first 5k running race, to those who have aspirations of one day becoming Olympians and world champions.

The Champion Mindset is a compendium of Zeiger's own personal journey from struggling novice swimmer to Olympian and World Champion. Through steps including: Proper Goal Setting, Keeping it Fun, Building Your Team, Intention in Training, Improving Motivation, Promoting Self-Confidence, and Mind/Body Cohesion, among others, Zeiger uses her decades of personal experience, doctoral-level research, and professional success, to prepare readers to go all-in with their mental game.

Review Quotes

"[A] helpful, easy-to-read guide. Sure to appeal to endurance competitors, this will also be helpful to coaches and anyone interested in improving mental preparation to gain a competitive edge on or off the field."--Booklist

"During my training with endurance athletes across the world, I found that mentality is one of the most important--and neglected--elements of the discipline. Dr. Joanna Zeiger's manual, full of first-hand experiences at the highest level of athletics, has the potential to help swimmers, cyclists, and runners of all types up their mental game so their physical one can follow."
--Becky Wade, professional runner and author of Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe

"Finally, mental training methods for athletes are catching up to physical training methods. The Champion Mindset represents a big step forward in this exciting process."--Matt Fitzgerald, author of How Bad Do You Want It?, coach for Team Iron Cowboy and BSX Athletics

"What is it that separates the truly good athletes from the great ones? Mindset and mental toughness. Joanna Zeiger, with her 20+year career as a professional athlete in swimming, marathon running and triathlon, is just such an athlete. Joanna is in the perfect position to write this book, as it wasn't just through her physical talents that she ascended to the status of World Champion triathlete and Olympian. Joanna's strong academic background combined with her years of racing and competing at the highest level in sport, give her the credentials to write with authority, a book about the mental edge, how to get it, hone it and how to develop a champion's mindset. This is the book I could have done with 20 years ago."--Craig Alexander, 3-time Ironman World Champion, 2-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion, and author of As the Crow Flies

"Getting an inside look into a champion's mind is rare and invaluable. Joanna has experienced high level success and she gives readers the real view of what it takes. The Champion Mindset shows readers what it takes to win."--Dr. Jason Selk, Director of Sports Psychology, Enhanced Psychology Inc., and bestselling author of 10-Minute Toughness

"The Champion Mindset is a masterful selection of applicable nuggets to develop tenacity, perseverance and the willingness to draw on your inner confidence. Joanna's athletic career has experienced all amplitudes of success and demoralizing defeats. What has separated Joanna from her competitors is her ability to dissect the mental machinery to navigate back to the positive. Clarity, purposeful direction and the psychological skill set are frequently overlooked in athletic preparation. The Champion Mindset opens up your mental and emotional vulnerabilities and there's no question that Joanna will uncover your weaknesses--but simultaneously allow your strengths to soar."--Dave Scott, 6-time Ironman World Champion

"When it comes to world class athletes, what separates the very good from the very best is how they think and process information, not only in training but in the heat of competition. Joanna Zeiger didn't become an Olympian and an Ironman 70.3 World Champion through raw talent alone. In The Champion Mindset, she shares her secrets to developing the mental toughness to be great at anything you do."--Bob Babbitt, Host Babbittville Radio, Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame Inductee, USA Triathlon Hall of Fame Inductee

"In The Champion Mindset, Joanna Zeiger shows her competitive edge lies in the six inches above her shoulders. This beautifully written account of how she conquered her mind and emotions in order to take on the world is sure to inspire any athlete, any one. To read The Champion Mindset is to learn how to steer your mind toward the progress we all look for. A pivotal read."--Deena Kastor, Olympic Medalist and American Record Holder in the marathon

"Dr. Joanna Zeiger engages all of us in her new book, The Champion Mindset. She is a competitor, a well-trained athlete, and a winner. She brings the full spectrum of sport to all ages and all levels of athletes. She breaks down the mental game, the visual, kinesthetic components, and the true grit in her elegantly written book, a must read for all who love athletics."--Dr. Steven Ungerleider, Psychologist, International Paralympic committee member, and author of Mental Training for Peak Performance

"The mental side of sport is as, if not more, important than the physical side....That's why every athlete, no matter what level, should invest time and energy in 'training the brain' as well as training the body. There's no better person to advise on this than Joanna Zeiger... this insightful, informative and inspiring book goes a very long way in sharing many of these and helping others to reach their potential." --Chrissie Wellington, 4-time Ironman World Champion

"If you want to develop the mental toughness of a champion, it would be hard to find a better guide than Joanna Zeiger."--Slowtwitch

About the Author

JOANNA ZEIGER, PhD. is an accomplished Olympic athlete, researcher, and coach. She placed 4th in the Sydney Olympics and was the 2008 Ironman 70.3 World Champion. She excelled at all 3 distances in the sport of triathlon, winning races in the Olympic, Half Ironman, and Ironman distances. She is a 7x Olympic trials qualifier in marathon, triathlon and swimming. The Champion Mindset is her first book. She is the co-creator of Race Ready Coaching.