The #1 Mental Fitness Mistake High Achievers Make
(And How Iga Świątek’s Subtle Habits Can Fix It)
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The first time I saw Iga Świątek play, I wasn’t watching her serve or forehand.
I was watching what she does between points.
The calm walk to the baseline, the quiet breath, the inner reset.
She doesn’t react. She recalibrates.
She doesn’t let pressure dictate her pace.
She owns her rhythm, even when the scoreboard doesn’t.
At 24, she’s already made tennis history. But what stays with me isn’t her speed or power. It’s her mental presence, and how she protects it.
It got me thinking…
What’s in Store:
The overlooked link between recovery and clarity
5 mental fitness habits inspired by Iga’s match-day routine
A step-by-step action plan to ground yourself under pressure, recalibrate, and lead from the inside out.
🕒 Read Time: 5 minutes
This week, Iga won Wimbledon in just 57 minutes.
But for me the real win is her mastery of mental recovery.
Not just how she celebrates at the end of the match.
Her performance reminded me of what I see in many high achievers, especially the women and leaders I coach:
We’re trained to prepare for success
But we’re rarely trained to recover from stress.
Yet recovery is where clarity, resilience, and focus are built.
Iga doesn’t wait for pressure to pass.
She works with it, using mental routines to manage emotion, re-center, and keep her presence intact.
🧘♀️ Your Mental Fitness Toolkit:
Here are 5 mental fitness habits you can borrow from Iga’s playbook,
and bring into your own high-stakes moments:
🌀 1. Pause before reacting
She uses 3- to 5-minute mindfulness exercises before matches to ground herself.
✅ You can try this before difficult conversations, high-pressure calls or decisions. Try a body scan or breathwork to recenter.
🧠 2. Visualize the next move
Iga imagines high-pressure scenarios in advance, so they don’t catch her off-guard.
✅ Try visualizing yourself responding calmly - not perfectly - to challenges that typically shake you.
🗣️ 3. Use the RAIN technique
In moments of pressure:
R: Recognize the feeling
A: Accept it without judgment
I: Investigate its trigger
N: Nurture yourself with compassion
✅ This rewires how you relate to fear, perfectionism, or self-doubt.
🧩 4. Add rituals that restore, not just perform
Iga reads, listens to music, builds Legos. These small actions calms her nervous system.
✅ What’s one activity that recenters you? Schedule it as a strategy, not as a reward.
🧘♀️ 5. Focus on the next point
She doesn’t try to win the whole match in her head. She plays one point. Then another.
✅ Break your next big project into one meaningful step. Stay there. That’s where the power is.
Action Plan: Build Your Personal Reset System
Identify one moment this week where you tend to lose focus or spiral into stress.
Choose a grounding tool from above to practice at that moment.
Reflect on how it shifts your clarity and response.
📚 Linked and Lift Picks
Book: Peak Mind by Amishi Jha: A science-backed guide to training your attention
Podcast: On Purpose with Jay Shetty: Episode on emotional resilience
Quote: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Closing Thought
Mental strength isn’t about being perfect.
It isn’t about pushing harder either.
It’s about building systems that bring you back to center again and again.
So the next time your inner game feels off, try this:
- Don’t power through.
- Pause. Recalibrate. Begin again.
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I’d love to know this:
👉 What’s one ritual, habit, or mindset shift that helps you stay grounded during pressure?
Hit reply. I’d genuinely love to hear your story.
And thank you for being a part of our Linked And Lift community!
Until next time,
Veronique Barrot
Founder, Linked And Lift
Coaching leaders to grow from the inside out.
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