Elite Minds: How Winners Think Differently to Create a Competitive Edge and Maximize Success

by Stan Beecham

ELITE MINDS THINK ALIKE.

Discover the winning secrets of the world s most successful people.

As a top-level sport psychologist and performance consultant, Dr. Stan Beeham knows what it takes to succeed on the playing field, in the board room, and in all aspects of life. This award-winning book takes you inside the minds of major-league athletes, Olympic medal winners, and world-class business leaders to reveal the key motivators and mental processes that drive people to victory. Learn how to:

RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN to think like a winner.

CONQUER YOUR FEARS and go after your goals.

ACHIEVE PEAK PERFORMANCE and reach your full potential.

BECOME WHO YOU WANT TO BE mentally, physically, personally and professionally.

Whether you re a self starter, team player, or corporate leader, you can apply these proven mind techniques to any field or endeavor quickly, easily, and effectively. Filled with power-boosting mental exercises, positive attitude adjusters, and inspiring true stories of individual success, the book provides all the tools you need to set your goals, sharpen your focus, and achieve your personal best. It s like having your own private coach cheering you on every step of the way. If you can think it, you can do it with the game-changing power of Elite Minds.

Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award Updated and Expanded Edition


"

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Business, Leadership, Personal Development, Sports

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Dr. Stan Beecham is a Sport Psychologist and Leadership Consultant based in Roswell, Georgia. Legendary Coach Vince Dooley gave Beecham his start as an undergraduate student at UGA allowing him to work with Kevin Butler, the great college and professional kicker for the Chicago Bears.

Dooley later hired Dr. Beecham to start the Sport Psychology Program for the Athletic Department. He was instrumental in helping UGA win numerous individual and team championships during his tenure.

Today his work with collegiate, Olympic and Professional athletes from many sports has afforded him an insight into the minds of great competitors that only few have had the good fortune to gain.

Dr. Beecham has taken his wisdom into the business world as he develops and creates leadership development programs for corporate clients.

A world-class speaker and presenter, Dr. Beecham shares his vast knowledge and experience in this incredible work.

Reviews

[Roberto Rigolin F Lopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Setting a goal that has no chance of failure is waste of time". This book is a straight punch in the face! I'm writing this review on my knees, still feeling dizzy and listening loudly to "Simple Minds – Alive and kicking". These elite people are a bunch of fearless mad persons not satisfied in just being "okay". They are selfless and spend a lot of time thinking about what they want to achieve rather than about themselves. Because learning is a relentless pursuit of the truth and will keep you curious and active throughout your life.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Beecham's book is insightful and a quick read into the power of our thoughts on the way we live. Great impactful and actionable words of wisdom from his years of experience, a great read for leaders, athletes, and anyone who wants the most from life.

[Meaghan Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Being happy is not the purpose of your life. Being fully alive and awake is the purpose of your life. That includes the pain and struggle that is a critical and necessary component to human existence."

4.5 stars. There is so much I can say about this book. It is jam-packed with great information about cultivating the mindset of a top performer, and I had to stop and note down a quote or a thought at nearly every page. I can see myself picking this up again and again until Beecham's philosophy and belief system becomes ingrained.

If you aspire to high performance or if you regularly compete, this book is for you. And if you hate competition? This book is also for you. I promise Beecham will change your mind.

[Vivek Agarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable & Just Brilliant
I would recommend this book to just about anyone who is facing challenges in their life

I would recommend this to all those people who actually have some experience with extreme challenges in their business and their personal life

A bad day is just that - a day
It's not a life

I am going to read this book again as it relates a lot to me and how to handle challenges and crises and difficult people and scenarios

When the uncertainty is so large it is hard
And this book slows me to think about how to manage myself in handling uncertainty and building strength and belief in myself and my future

A must read!!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Train Your Brain for Success

Your mind plays the critical role of leading you to success or failure. This is the opening argument in Dr. Beecham's book. Specifically, he talks about the importance of the unconscious. It's where our beliefs reside, and it's our beliefs that are responsible for how we respond to a given situation. To put it simply, if you believe you can't do something, your unconscious will find ways to keep you from doing it. On the other hand, you can retrain your mind and bring your beliefs into line with the success you want to achieve.

The book is structured in three parts. Part One is about understanding your mind. This section discusses the importance of the unconscious in driving your actions. Part Two discusses how your mind can fail you. Fear can keep you from attempting to reach for the goals you want to achieve. Part Three discusses how to become the person you want to be. I found one of the most inspiring sections summarizes Viktor Frankl's idea of when you're at your best. You can't pursue success and expect to achieve it. Success comes as a by product of focusing your attention on doing something worthwhile.

I enjoyed this book. It's interesting to see the number of psychology books today stressing the importance of the mind in determining behavior and even curing the body. I highly recommend this book, if you're interested in the interaction of mind and body, or if you want to achieve success and want some pointers.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

[Stephen Kilbøurn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really unique. It seemed fairly common sense with a few odd instances that seemed like doublespeak because they weren't fully fleshed out and tied together , e.g. Don't set a plan B because you will allow yourself to fall back to it, and yet a lot of discussion of failure being part of the process.

[Yolanda Ngarambe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep this book is exactly as good as one would expect😮‍💨 Borrowed it from my teammate Hannah who can’t stop racing about it haha and it was all valid! Now I just need to write down some quotes and notes from it before I return it to her👌🏽

[Stephanie Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!! I will definitely be rereading this one soon.

[Colin Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book! Definitely not a motivational book but gave me a lot of insight into how great people become great.

[Josh Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the world would be a better place if everyone read this book. So many amazing quotes and hard hitting truths that motivate to achieve any goal. Definitely going to re read this book because I didn’t highlight and wish I would’ve. Deserves way more reviews than it has.

[Donn Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a great book that I'm actually currently re-reading. My ebook's filled with highlights and notes.

There are some aspects of it that I must admit I didn't quite like, e.g. how the author uses anecdotal evidence to counter findings from psychological research that's pretty well-backed, like that of how the execution of "willpower" in one domain can lead to lesser subsequent ability to exercise willpower in another domain.

I find this book best read in a the mindset of "the author's worked with these athletes, and he's noticed A when B happens." If you think that that observation was worthy of further consideration, great, try it out. For example, in one of the stories the author shared he talked about an athlete he was working with whom had qualified for the Olympics (or for some major competition, I can't recall now), but who didn't really believe she would medal, and subsequently didn't. But when told to think hard about her chances of medalling, and to actually go into the event with the expectation of medalling, did actually medal. Not because of "positive thinking", but because going in with that expectation causes you to change the way you train.

I found this particularly useful because I used to face this problem all the time as well. I always worked hard to "qualify" for things, and that used to be my be-all and end-all. Coming up "tops" was never part of my consideration set though I secretly harboured a "want" for it. E.g. to me getting into or qualifying for a top school was pretty much all I looked for; once in, I just looked for an "above-average" score that I quite easily got, but never sought to be valedictorian.

[Gio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's your mindset, not your genes, that determine your success in life. The unconscious beliefs you hold about yourself and the world colour how you see and respond to every situation. When these beliefs are negative and you believe you can't do something, your mind will come up with thousands of excuses why you shouldn't even try. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. But when you believe in yourself and your ability to achieve your dreams? Then insurmountable obstacles become challenges you can totally overcome. If your belief system is negative, fret not. Your brain is more plastic than you think and you can retrain it to give yourself a competitive advantage. How?

Elite Minds is divided into three parts. Part one is all about understanding your mind and how it works. Part 2 describes how your mind conjures fear, resistance and other excuses to get you stuck where you are. Finally, part 3 shows you how to overcome negative beliefs so you can go after your dreams and achieve all your goals. Highly recommended!

[Ruxandra Tihon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a good read, loved the parallel between sport and business. I have always been fascinated by this and I like the way the author approaches the subject, loved the way he defines winning and how to think about it: not wanting to be better, but wanting to do your best.
Quotes:
Expectation dictates performance. Everyone wants to win, but only a very few expect to win.
If you want to fly, you must be willing to risk crashing.
There are an infinite number of ways to become successful, but there is only one way to become failure - quit.
To fight is to win, to quit is to fail.

Probably one of the best business books I have read lately, for that it gets a 4 otherwise ...i would say 3.

[Jacqueline Fisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book redefined how I look at success, and the stories I tell myself. It helped me really consider the questions, if you want to be the best in the world at what you do - how would you act? What would you do? --and move forward with deliberate action.

[Silvina Furnadzhieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and uplifting book full of wisdom that can be applied in your life right away. The author gives many examples of how great athletes think and how anyone can think and act in a similar way to succeed in business and life.

[Cengiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one and only book to read before reading any other self development books. Want to get better at what you're doing? Want to do something new? Stop what you are reading and start with this one. Highly recommended.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I recommend it for anyone, not just athletes.

[Ty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quick read. Gives you a bunch to think about. This is going to help me.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!

This has so many gems within it. It applies to everything in life, I will be reading this over and over again whenever I need a push to keep going.

[Kwame Som-Pimpong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised for the author to incorporate so many track and field anecdotes to communicate principles of mastering the mind.

[Mike Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Encouraged me to (re-)stare down adversity in a positive way. I highlighted and copied many passages and quotes to review for reference and inspiration.

[Woo Pei Xun · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy and compelling read that confirms the power of our beliefs and the human mind. The three primary components necessary to improve performance: beliefs, thoughts, and behaviour. Beliefs control biology, biology controls behaviour, and behaviour determines success. And so, what you believe about (and expect of) yourself and your world is the primary determinant of what you do and, ultimately, how well you do it.

Yet, getting past the desire to be “special” or perfect is necessary for growth and improvement. We can be normal and also achieve greatness. Essentially you need to get over yourself. Less time thinking about yourself = more time to focus on what you need to do. Performance increases as one’s obsession and concern for one’s self decreases.

On emotions: Confidence is a thought, not an emotion. If your emotions are in charge, you will never fully know yourself, and you will never reach your potential in a performance environment.

On doing our best and the struggle
- Your Best is Good Enough. But you cannot pursue both better and best. Pick one.
- There is no optimal performance without the stress and struggle of trying something we cannot yet do. Four stages of entering into optimal performance: struggle, release, flow and recovery.
- Success is not about avoiding failure but about responding to failure instead.
- In a performance environment, experience is more valuable than information.

On competition, winning and expectations
- Competition is each of us seeking our absolute best with the help of each other.
- Successful people think of themselves as lucky. They believe the world is working with them, not against them.
- But it isn’t luck that determines your success. It’s expectation. There is a difference between hoping to win (which everyone does) and expecting to win (which very few do).
- Great athletes and coaches think about competition during practice. They don’t think of practice as separate from competition.
- How you spend your time is absolutely critical to what you want to be. Become obsessed with how you spend your time, the choices you make, and who you hang out with. How you spend your time will dictate what (and who) you ultimately become.
- Setting a goal that has no chance of failure is a waste of time

On the importance of switching on/off
- High-performance people: When they are at work, it is the most important thing in the world, but when they leave, they don’t think about it very much either.
- Turning it off allows people who have achieved at the highest levels to recover and prepare for the next mission and enjoy their time away from their job
- The people who are stressed and unable to recover are the ones who think about their work or sport all the time

Quotes
“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got; and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.” - William James

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.” - Michael Jordan

“First do what is necessary. Then do the possible. And then you will find yourself doing the impossible.” - St Francis of Assist

[Dan Chastant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have edited this review three times, mostly because I feel bad for tearing into it so hard. In all fairness, Elite Minds probably serves its two primary audiences (the athlete and the businessperson) well. It also holds several nuggets of truth and wisdom (Chapter 15, unfortunately one of the shortest in the book, being one of said holders) that serve even the average, every-day person. Regardless, it still left me feeling like this book would've been suited as a long-form blog post. Part I and II explore the mind: brain chemistry, exploring basic psychological beliefs we hold, the importance of flow (and the brain waves/chemicals behind flow- but not how to actually enter flow), and so on; as well as the various failings of the mind. These chapters can be summed up as the following buzzwords: "get out of your own way", "kill the ego", "manifest it", etcetera. This is all fine and well, but I struggle to understand how Dr. Beechham managed to stretch that to 135 pages. Part III, Chapter 15 was the main highlight of the book for me, delving into the importance of the "what do you want" question, and breaking it down into "what do you want to have", "what do you want to do", and "what do you want to be?" While this wasn't an "aha!" moment for me, it did spark some creative journaling which prompted me to "dive deeper", so to speak. Elite Minds is, at best, a skim if you are anything like me (never been an athlete, no desire to be an athlete, not an entrepreneur/CEO, just a regular person seeking self-development). Not a total miss, and also an easy read, so perhaps you may pick up more useful nuggets than I did.

[Andrew Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elite Minds- Stan Beecham

This book seems to be little more than your run of the mill motivational book. With some quality ideas that I think are useful, particularly on discipline and use of time. Some of his ideas seem quite shallow and at times contradictory.

The main idea that bothered me is when he dribbles on his point that to be successful in any endeavor you cannot have the intention to win, you must instead only want to be your best. Later in the book he talks about the importance of wanting to win...
In my opinion the only time when it is beneficial to not focus on winning is when you cannot handle mentally to lose, so you take the easy route to rationalize your loss by saying ''I was my best self''.
He talks about Micheal Jordan in high schoool, when he got dropped from the basketball team. This bothered MJ so much he used this as a lifelong motivation to never have that feeling again, and this is the reason he was the greatest player of all time. So given this authors logic, if Micheal had said to himself, dont worry about being dropped from the team because you were your best self, would he have still acheived greatness?

I personally do not recommend this book.

[Franco Cárcamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La lectura perfecta para las pausas en el gimnasio (2 minutos entre cada repetición). La mezcla justa entre autoayuda cursi, ciencia, y el afán hiperproductivo. Me parece que hizo bien su trabajo, porque me vi insuflado de más ánimo después de leerlo. Y creo que hay muchas conclusiones del espíritu olímpico y competitivo que se pueden llevar al resto de la vida. No te voy a negar que destaqué muchas partes y que quizás las anote por ahí, que con el tiempo me he interesado mucho en las mentes deportistas de elite. Mi único problema es que mientras más avanzaba, los mensajes del libro comenzaron a sonar un poco contradictorios. Algo así como: tienes que querer ganar por sobre todo, pero olvidar que quieres ganar, que te importe mucho, pero a la vez no esperarlo, y si pierdes, bueno, que no te importe, pero antes de eso te tiene que importar mucho. Mis mantras favoritos: obsesiónate con el proceso, mata el miedo, y que te importe ganar. En fin, que ahora quiero una medalla en alguna cosa.

[George Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this after atomic habits I thought it would struggle to stack up against a book that had such interesting and implementable insight. While I think Atomic Habits may be slightly broader in targeted audience, Elite Minds is an incredible book for those wanting to improve mental strength or course correct their lives.

The book mostly focuses on corporate and sporting implementation but I found myself considering the latter much more throughout. Beecham discusses his work with many elite level athletes detailing the methods and learnings from this process. I found myself wanting to highlight and take pictures of many parts. The key takeaway sections provided a succinct learning and a moment to zoom out and consider how this relates to my own life.

Overall a book I would highly recommend for those wanting to better their corporate or sporting endeavours, or even just improve their mental space in day to day life.

[Dyah Rinni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aku baca buku ini sebenarnya iseng saja dan nggak berharap banyak, tetapi ternyata buku ini sanggup bikin aku terus ingin baca sampai halaman terakhir. Banyak banget insight yang aku dapatkan dari buku ini. Salah satunya soal betapa pentingnya kekuatan mental dalam bertanding (yang bisa kita terapkan sehari-hari). Terus juga bagaimana membuat prioritas kegiatan serta pentingnya kerja sama tim. Hal-hal yang aku pikir hanya spesifik untuk dunia olahraga, ternyata bagus banget dan bisa banget diterapkan di dalam bisnis dan sehari-hari.
Kalau kamu ingin meningkatkan potensi diri seperti atlet top dunia, kamu harus baca buku ini.

[Halpern Financial · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for executives who would like to learn about ways to improve their mental game. The author is a sports psychologist and CEO, and many of the analogies in the book are sports-related. The key takeaway is: Don’t limit yourself with goals. Goals are often set TOO LOW. If your goal is to make it to the Olympics--why not make your goal to win a gold medal at the Olympics? Don't hold yourself back.

“There are an infinite number of ways to become successful. There is only one way to become a failure—quit.”

[Eduardo Xavier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elite Minds is a resourceful work based on Dr. Stan Beecham coaching on sports teams. But he also splits fundamentals between business and sports examples. It is all about achievement and the circumstances takes people to greatness. It all startups of control the mind, the body and the works with beliefs.

Personally I found many innovative discussions especially regarding to unlearning, the Flow, the curse of perfection, success and wining and most valuable one, change my view about competition and leading a team.

I finished with one desire: make myself the same vision of his.

[Noor AL-Huda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read that will help you understand a proper belief system is absolutely required. This book will give you plenty of examples of important questions and subjects to quiz yourself on. On the downside it will not tell you how to make the changes but then it wouldn't be the same book.

I'm glad that I read the book and it was very helpful in making me change what I expect to do so I can obtain that result