Athletes train hard and have to cope with the pressure of participating and excelling in high-stakes competitions. Business professionals have to deal with the pressure of meeting deadlines and working in a demanding environment. Whether on the field or in the office, pressure is unavoidable.

Athletes use sport psychology techniques to train their brains to handle the pressure. According to UK Coaching, sport psychology “combines psychology, mental health, and mental well-being to support individuals to improve their focus, increase their confidence, develop coping strategies, and achieve the right zone to perform.” 

What if you can use the same techniques to strengthen your mental resolve and boost your performance in the workplace?

Sport psychology techniques you can apply in business

Athletes use these techniques to mentally prepare for high-pressure situations. However, they can also be applied by anyone, including business leaders and employees.

Goal-setting

Setting your goals can help you figure out what you want to achieve and what you need to do to get there. Having a set of goals helps you stay focused on your objectives and prevents you from getting distracted by short-term wins and setbacks. Goals can also help you measure your success and determine whether you’re on the right track.

For example, Michael Phelps set specific goals to measure his success and stay focused and motivated throughout his athletic career. When he was 8 years old, he set competing in the Olympics as his long-term goal and his upcoming races as short-term goals. He continued this goal-setting habit and retired from swimming in 2016 as the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.

Emotional intelligence

Knowing how to understand and manage your emotions is an ability known as emotional intelligence. It’s an important ability to have because it helps you understand your emotions and how they can affect your behavior.

Psychologist Noel Brick cited reappraisal as a strategy for regulating emotions. For example, you experience physical bodily reactions when you feel anxious, like sweat, a faster heartbeat, and an increased breathing rate. According to Brick, you can reappraise these symptoms because they’re similar to the reactions you would have when you feel excited. Perceiving these symptoms as excitement instead of anxiety can help give you some control.

As Dr. Brick said, “You may not be able to change the situation, but you can change how you think about it or what you focus on. And by doing so, it changes how you feel.”

Mental toughness

We sometimes go through negative experiences that make us want to give up, but instead, we make the tough decision to keep going. That determination to keep going is tied to mental toughness. According to researcher and author Angela Duckworth, mental toughness—also known as grit—is the “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” If you’re mentally tough, you can keep calm and focus on the task at hand, even when it’s not going the way you want it to.

For example, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka openly discussed her struggles with mental health and took a break from tennis to focus on recovery. Despite the criticism she received for it, she still decided to return to the sport, which shows her mental toughness in dealing with scrutiny and personal struggles.

Cultivating a growth mindset

Psychologist Dev Roychowdhury defines a mindset as “a set of beliefs and attitudes that shape how you view yourself, your abilities, your challenges, and your goals.” Your mindset can affect how you approach and cope with challenges and setbacks, how you respond to criticism and feedback, and your motivation to perform a task. 

In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, psychologist Carol Dweck discusses two different types of mindsets: 

• Fixed mindset: You believe your qualities are unchangeable and may shy away from challenges. 
• Growth mindset: You embrace challenges and believe that your qualities can be grown and cultivated with effort.

Cultivating a growth mindset in the workplace can improve your employees’ performance. According to a report by TalentLMS, 80% of executives agree that employee growth mindsets contribute directly to revenue growth. If your employees have growth mindsets, they can be more motivated to perform better at work.

Motivation

The American Psychological Association defines motivation as an individual’s “willingness to exert physical or mental effort in pursuit of a goal or outcome.” Motivation can be split into two different types: intrinsic and extrinsic. 

Intrinsic motivation is self-driven, which means you perform an activity for its own sake rather than an external reward. For example, playing the piano because you enjoy it. Meanwhile, extrinsic motivation is reward-driven, so you participate in an activity to earn a reward or to avoid punishment. For example, attending seminars to improve your work skills.

Being motivated is important because it’s what drives a person to accomplish a goal. If you can keep your team motivated, they’re more likely to be productive and boost your company’s overall success.

Just like elite athletes, high-performing leaders build their edge through self-awareness, emotional regulation, and mental resilience. At Upwyse, we help leaders and teams develop these capabilities through evidence-based tools like the Genos Emotional Intelligence assessments and the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP) model.

Ready to strengthen your leadership mindset and perform under pressure? Connect with Upwyse to explore how coaching can help you lead with clarity, resilience, and impact.