Ask yourself this; when was the last time you did a workout for simply your mindset? Your physical fitness, bike set up and nutrition can all be on point but without one last ingredient, you will never be able to execute. Arguably the most important piece to anyone's success is mindset. I am sure this isn't news to anyone reading this, but I am sure it has taken a backseat in most people's daily life. Personally, I know I have drove myself directly into the dirt mentally more times than I'd like to admit.
What separates a champion from a contender is mindset. A relevant example is Ryan Dungey. As an amateur, Dungey didn't have much success in the form of race wins. He certainly did not have the amateur career of the greats before him such as Ricky Carmichael or even Ryan Villopoto. In fact, The Dunge made his pro debut on DeCoster's Suzuki team in '06 straight from the amateur national B class! He put himself out there for DeCoster and even made race wins as a rookie for the 2007 250 East SX season.
What stands out the most for me is how Ryan responded to bad race days. He truly has shown time and time again what
grit really is. I can remember watching it unfold at Southwick in 2011. A motor malfunction made him miss the gate drop of moto 2. By the
time the Suzuki team got the bike going, he was almost
an entire lap down. He claimed 7th that moto. At the 2012 Monster Energy Cup, a broken shifter didn't keep RD off the podium as he was literally reaching down to change gears midair by hand.
If you could harness the mental resilience of Ryan Dungey, or at least half of it, your performance on and off the race track would un-