Super U Podcast | Master Your Mindset: Insights into a Competitor’s Mind with Dr. Tom Mitchell
What does it take to perform at your highest level—not just once, but consistently, when the pressure is on?
In this episode of the Super U Podcast, hosted by Erik Qualman, we sit down with Dr. Tom Mitchell, performance coach and former sports psychiatrist for the Golden State Warriors, to explore the mindset behind peak performance. Tom shares insights from his career working with elite athletes, coaches, and leaders, along with lessons from his book co-written with legendary quarterback Joe Montana.
Tom also pulls back the curtain on his time working alongside Chris Mullin, his experiences as a college basketball coach, and the unique lessons that coaching taught him about leadership, resilience, and bringing out the best in others.
The conversation explores mentality, focus, and what it really takes to perform when the stakes are high. Tom shares practical strategies for staying present, maintaining confidence, handling pressure, and keeping your mind focused on what you can control.
Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, leader, or simply someone looking to perform at a higher level, this episode is packed with powerful stories and actionable lessons on developing the mindset to stay focused, overcome challenges, and become your best self.
Super U Podcast | Master Your Mindset: Insights into a Competitor’s Mind with Dr. Tom Mitchell
Episode Preview:
“How do teenage athletes stay focused and stay in their own lane without comparing themselves to others? It’s a tricky one. No one has all the answers, but sometimes advice from someone like you can help them a lot.”
“I think, for parents, it’s important to recognize that it’s not going away. We’re not going to go back to a time when it didn’t exist—or when it was only a little bit present.
It’s here. My daughter’s an actress, and social media influences her world in a big way. She’d actually be much better to talk to about it than me because she understands it. She lives in it. She’s affected by it, and she sees both the positive and negative sides.
If we’re talking specifically about athletes—not entertainers, performers, or musicians—I think it’s pretty simple: Do you love the game more than you love the image of the game? More than you love the posts about the game or what’s happening around it?
And do you love your own journey?
Here’s an interesting example. His name was—oh, gosh, I’ll think of it in a minute. Flip Saunders. Flip played at Minnesota, I think. He was good friends with Coach Izzo before he passed. He was the coach of the Timberwolves, for those who may not know. He was a player and then became one of the top-level coaches in the NBA. He played with—who was Larry Bird’s teammate? Kevin McHale, at Minnesota.
Flip was a Division I third assistant at Oklahoma, and he was recruiting one of my players. He came to practice, and afterward we went out and had a beer and a sandwich. We were sitting there talking. At that point, he hadn’t yet become a head college coach, and certainly not a head professional coach. I don’t know how old he was, but he wasn’t very old—and neither was I.
I said, “Hey, Flip, I love what you’re saying. Let me take some notes on a napkin.”
So I wrote down something like this: He had played with Kevin McHale, and yet he told me, “I am more into being a Division III assistant coach than I would be as a Division I third assistant—or even an NBA head coach.”
He said, “This is my universe right now. I don’t really care what the NBA is doing right now.”
And this guy has since passed away. He eventually became a head coach. But I’m sitting there at this bar and restaurant taking notes, and what he’s basically saying is: Don’t be self-centered. Focus on the universe you’re in right now. Love what you’re doing right now. Don’t spend all your energy comparing your current experience to someone else’s or worrying about where you think you should be.”
ABOUT DR. TOM MITCHELL
Tom Mitchell, Ph.D. is a Performance Coach and founder of Winning Spirit Coach, helping business leaders, athletes, and high-level performers discover their greatness within. As the former sport psychologist for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and co-author of an Amazon #1 Best Seller with NFL legend Joe Montana, he helps clients by asking powerful questions that awaken their “Inner Coach” rather than just giving advice.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.
To ensure you don’t miss future episodes, subscribe to our podcast by clicking here >> Super U Podcast. We hope these tips help unlock and unleash your inner superpower!
The Super U Podcast is hosted by #1 bestselling author and AI Keynote Speaker Erik Qualman.
You might also like: Best Commencement Speech
