“Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits” Coach K.

Not everyone can take home a gold medal, but we can all develop the habits of a champion.

What does being a champion mean? Is it merely winning the NBA finals? Is it setting a personal record at each championship game? Or is it a label that can only be bestowed on those who have won a global sporting event?

True champions demonstrate the behaviors and habits of a winner daily. It’s the manner in which they try to achieve their potential that defines them as champions, rather than their race to the outcomes.

Check out three winning habits of champions.

Be More Consistent Than Other Athletes

If you want something, find a way to get it. Prove to yourself that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. Tim Grover has been Michael Jordan’s personal trainer for over 20 years and he now also privately advises superstar college athletes and tennis pros. The best advice that Tim Grover gives to athletes who want to achieve greatness: Be more consistent than other athletes.

Practice During Off Season

During the off-season, champion athletes go out and continue to train hard for their next season. They go through the motions and workout infrequently in an attempt to maintain their basketball mental toughness and confidence.

Elite athletes continuously develop their mental and physical skills, and they return to the basics during the off-season. It’s essential to master the fundamentals of basketball to stay ahead of the competition.

They Work Hard

To stay at the top of their games, Champion athletes train hard and train more often. There is no way of getting around it; you need to work incredibly hard if you want to be successful and reach your full potential. One theory suggests it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in any discipline. Once you get to a certain level, the hours spent practicing may stop differentiating athletes. Research on sports psychology for basketball suggests that practice accounted for one percent of the difference. Everyone trains hard. Everyone does the work, but what separates the gold medalists from the silver medalists is merely the mental game.

*Download the free mental game assessment and get started on Improving your Mental Game in Basketball.