Gratitude is Undefeated
In a world that constantly measures success by wins and rankings, it’s easy for athletes to get caught chasing what’s next instead of appreciating what’s now. But one of the secrets to performance lies in learning how to recognize what’s already good - both within us and in the world around us.
Our brains are hardwired to protect us - to spot vulnerability and identify what needs to be improved. In sports, this tendency is magnified because there is always room for progress. The entire goal of athletic performance is to address weaknesses and create opportunities to get better. We evaluate coaches by their ability to support athletes on their path to mastery, and as a result, athletes often feel there’s no ceiling to how much better they can become.
Human nature doesn’t do us any favors here. We’re barricaded by negativity bias - the tendency to remember the bad much more vividly than the good. This bias is so strong that if we were to watch a soccer game, our brains would notice the players making errors faster than the most talented athlete on the field. Yikes. While our brains evolved to prioritize threats over positives, athletes must work intentionally to retrain their focus toward what’s productive instead of what’s problematic.
But there is good news for us all, because research shows that we can rewire our brains through intentional thoughts. Goodbye, Debbie Downer!
Gratitude is one of the most researched tools for shifting our mindset in a more positive direction. It’s a bit of a superpower - training us to focus on the good instead of instinctively searching for flaws. Gratitude also promotes positive emotions, which fuel confidence and connection with others. When athletes practice gratitude as a mental skill, they redirect their attention to what’s controllable, reducing anxiety and gaining perspective.
Competition provides endless opportunities for athletes to wish things were different. There is always room for more playing time, more goals, more success, more recognition. We tend to focus on what we lack instead of the abundance of talent and opportunity already within us. But gratitude can help shift that focus.
Teams also tend to thrive when gratitude is part of their culture. Acknowledging effort, celebrating teammates’ successes, and offering sincere compliments all build stronger chemistry and trust. When gratitude becomes a shared habit, it strengthens the bonds between teammates and creates an environment where everyone feels valued and supported - both in success and in struggle.
Valorie Kondos Field, former head coach of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, credits gratitude as a foundational value of her coaching philosophy. Kondos Field – AKA Miss Val – would encourage her gymnasts to “give happy a try.” What happens when we expect the good? When we welcome the opportunity for the universe to shift our way? Under her leadership at UCLA - which spanned an impressive 28 years – the Bruins were challenged to adopt an attitude of gratitude. Despite leading one of the most successful programs across the NCAA, Miss Val’s Bruins knew that true gratitude stemmed from humility in the sport.
During the 1990’s, researchers asked college students to write down five things they felt grateful for each week. Those who did reported greater optimism and overall life satisfaction compared to those who didn’t. These results aren’t surprising – when we intentionally identify what’s good, our thoughts begin to follow suit.
Modern neuroscientists have expanded on this idea, discovering that gratitude’s benefits aren’t limited to writing down what we are thankful for. The real shift happens when we simply remember to look for the good – to stay open to the possibility of positivity.
This concept of gratitude as a performance tool was front and center for me last spring, when a colleague and I presented at a conference for strength and conditioning coaches. Our presentation explored how to best support athletes through injuries, and I was amazed by the number of studies showing how gratitude influences both mental and physical recovery. Of course, athletes aren’t usually grateful for being injured - but when we look closely, bright spots appear: a knowledgeable surgeon, extended time with family, opportunities to mentor teammates, or connect with those on the bench. These moments are available to us when we choose to look for them, when we open ourselves up to the possibility of good.
Everyone experiences pain. But suffering is optional.
Carry on.
This column originally appeared in The Recorder on November 10, 2025.