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Discover the mantra MTB champion Kate Courtney adopted that changed her career trajectory.

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Some of the world’s best athletes reveal how their daily psychological approaches can help develop you own mental strength in the new podcast Mind Set Win. In Episode Six, American mountain bike champion Kate Courtney discusses the mantras that changed her career trajectory. Championship athletes in various disciplines such as Justine Dupont Lucy Charles-Barclay, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Armand Duplantis and Ben Stokes opened up in previous Season One episode.

In this series that launched on January 19, hosts Cédric Dumont help lift the lid on how mental techniques used by top athletes, coaches and managers can unlock performance in day-to-day life.

Kate Courtney performs at UCI XCO World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 10, 2022 // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202207100429 // Usage for editorial use only //

Each episode features a new guest detailing the mental tactics behind their success and, not just content with hearing fascinating stories, Belgian Dumont and American Courtney also analyse the revealing insight and outline practical tips for listeners to take away into the real world.

Kate Courtney performs at UCI XCO World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 10, 2022 // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202207100493 // Usage for editorial use only //

– In Episode Six, Dumont begins by learning how Courtney progressed from riding tandem bikes with her dad (and eating blueberry pancakes at the top of the local mountain) to becoming a World Champion, overall World Cup winner, and Olympian with persistence key to building discipline and consistency.

– Over the course of a UCI season, Courtney adopts a mantra at each race to help her focus on her target and keep referring to it when the going gets tough. Courtney reveals her ‘accept and commit’ mantra from last year. It was about accepting the uncontrollability, and the uncertainty, which I think was a huge challenge for me during the pandemic and committing to the moment, winning that little inner battle of will I push to the edge?” She continues: “That persistent mindset of just day in and day out, day in, day out, day in, being dedicated to what it takes to make those incremental steps, I would say, has been my greatest strength in my career.”

– She adds, “It’s not always some huge inspirational speech and motivation. It’s often just calculating what has to be done and finding ways to push through it, stay positive and stay focused.”

– Dumont declares, “Just like other skills we focused on in this series, persistence needs to be cultivated. If you can find a way to nurture your persistence, it will feed the passion and driving force inside you. It will become the engine that pushes you. And will move you to higher limits.”

– In Episode Five, Dumont begins by talking about his inner voice and explaining how being mentally focused and surrounding himself with the right people, and minimising risks is a question of survival.

– Dupont admits to feeling pressure and nerves while waiting for a big wave to hit. A technique she’s learned to embrace the situation is to be more connected with her senses.

Justine Dupont gains speed on a huge wave at Jaws in Maui, Hawaii. // Fred Pompermayer / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202203110127 // Usage for editorial use only //

– She adds: “I can feel the temperature of the water,” she says. “I can taste the salty taste of the water. I can see the colour of the wave and hear the birds. I am just focused on being in the moment.”

– Multiple World Champion of the WSL XXL Awards Dupont talks about how being connected to herself helps her stay in the moment. She says, “Right now I’m trying to do every day, two minutes, just putting my feet in the grass and being present. You win the battle with your mind.”

– Dumont adds, “By being aware of how we think about and talk to ourselves, we can start to understand ourselves better, and change our mental narratives. And this has a real physical impact, studies show that practising positive self-talk activates the reward centres in your brain.”

– In Episode Four, England cricket captain Stokes reveals how talking about his vulnerabilities has helped shape his career as a leader. He says, “I am what I am. I just be me. People will love me, people will hate me, but at least, I’m confident that I’m giving the best account of myself and not trying to live up to anybody’s expectations.”

– Meanwhile in Episode Two, 2023 Australian Open finalist Tsitsipas describes how to find your flow state and perform at your best in episode one. He reveals, “Everything made sense. You’re not playing with your skill anymore, you’re playing with your soul.”

– In Episode Three, Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Duplantis outlines how he developed a growth mindset, while England’s Ironman 70.3 world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay reveals how she finds and maintains high levels of motivation in Episode One.

– Californian co-host Courtney is perfect to talk on these issues after becoming the first American woman in almost two decades to win a cross-country (XCO) mountain bike World Championship title in 2018.

– The 2019 UCI MTB World Cup champion and Olympian is also a Stanford graduate with a Human Biology degree and a speaker and writer featured in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

– BASE jumper and skydiver Dumont revealed: “Developing your mental attitude can be quite easy to understand, but very difficult to apply. Mind Set Win aims to help people gain the confidence and courage to take action. I believe everyone can get better at what they do.”

– Earlier in his long, successful career, the 50-year-old was so fascinated with how to improve his own resilience and mental strength that he completed a degree in High-Performance Psychology.

– He added: “We have a tendency to mystify high achievers and think they aren’t like us, but sometimes they also have self-doubt, hesitation, fear, stress, anxiety and lack self-confidence. They will take action, though, to get closer to their dreams, and that’s something we can learn.”

Listen to the new ‘Mind Set Win’ podcast HERE
Audio Interviews are available HERE

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