Table Of ContentMINDSET
SECRETS
for
WINNING
OTHER BOOKS BY MARK MINERVINI
Think & Trade Like a Champion:
The Secrets, Rules & Blunt Truths of a Stock Market Wizard
Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard:
How to Achieve Superperformance in Stocks in Any Market
Momentum Masters:
A Roundtable Interview with Super Traders
MINDSET
SECRETS
for
WINNING
How to Bring Personal Power
to Everything You Do
Business, Sports & Life
MARK MINERVINI
Copyright © 2019 by Mark Minervini. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be produced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for
excerpts used in printed reviews and other media-related materials as long as proper attribution is made.
The publisher and the authors make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the
contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a
particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies
contained herein may not be suitable for readers’ situations. Readers should consult with a professional where appropriate.
Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not
limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
ISBN 978-0-9963079-6-3 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-9963079-7-0 (ebk)
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
A Message from the Author
Introduction: With Winning in Mind
PART 1
Mastering Your Mindset
1 The Believing Brain
2 The Seven Noble Truths of a Winner
3 Building the Self-Image of a Champion
4 Expectancy—The Key to Commitment and Persistence
5 The Moment of Decision
6 Prioritizing Your Passion and Goal Getting
PART 2
Mastering Perfect Practice
7 How to Structure Your Practice Sessions
8 Visualization and Rehearsal
9 Preparing for Your Big Day
10 Performance Time
BONUS CHAPTER
11Living with Intention
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Special Dedication
A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR
In writing Mindset Secrets for Winning, I drew upon many aspects of my life, from business
to sports, struggles to triumphs, and rags to riches. I researched broadly, from the
preparation of Olympic athletes to the techniques of the world’s best coaches, as well as to
every influential aspect in the lives of the successful elite. As a peak performance book,
Mindset Secrets for Winning often emphasizes examples from sports, but it is certainly not
limited to athletics. Those who want to become the best version of themselves in whatever
they do will benefit from this book. I encourage all readers to keep an open mind to gather
insights that apply to their own lives. It’s important to read the entire book, as each section
builds on the previous section. In all your pursuits, I wish you the best.
—MARK MINERVINI
INTRODUCTION
WITH WINNING IN MIND
What makes a person extraordinary—a top achiever, a winner, a champion? For all of my
adult life, I’ve been fascinated with this question as I studied how elite performers from
every corner of the world become the best in their fields. Here’s what I learned:
Virtually all the highest achievers agree that the mental side of training is just as important as
the physical side. After winning seven Olympic gold medals, Mark Spitz said, “The
difference between winning and losing is 99 percent psychological.” Golfing legend Jack
Nicklaus wrote that mental preparation is the single-most critical element in peak
performance. Yet outside this select group, few individuals have a specific mental strategy to
improve and optimize their thinking to achieve success. While the human body has its natural
limits, the mind’s potential is unlimited. This has been pivotal for me: By changing my
thinking, I transformed my life. And so can you!
Every day, I apply what I’ve learned from a lifetime of discovery to create my own
success, and not just financially. By doing what inspires me, I can pursue what I am most
passionate about and shape my own destiny. In this book, I share the specific mindset
“secrets” that have made a difference not only in my performance, but also in the quality of
my life. My goal is to share the key takeaways and mental techniques I’ve learned over the
years—techniques that I have used to win—so you can put these lessons into practice in your
own endeavors.
We will explore the important changes I made personally and what I have found to be the
key psychological traits that separate champion performers from the average person. Even
more enlightening, you will learn how to use these principles as building blocks to form the
foundation of your own success. It’s not just about winning; it’s succeeding, with the
fulfillment that comes from tapping the power of passion.
This is not your ordinary peak performance book. I am not a psychologist, nor do I hold
a PhD in human behavior, but I am an expert on winning and success. What I know is not
based on academic theory or gleaned simply from observation. Rather, it is what I practice in
my daily life; it’s simply what works. This is what has allowed me to become extremely
successful as judged by conventional measures and what continues to work today.
Having dedicated more than three decades to the study of personal growth and human
excellence, I can assure you that what I’m about to share are the common threads running
through every champion, regardless of background. I call them “Empowerment Principles,”
which I have applied to my career, my hobbies, and every other aspect of my personal life
journey.
The first thing you need to know about winning is simple: If you don’t have the
right mindset, then your knowledge, practice, and even skills will be rendered
ineffective when you need them most—in the real world. The key is to develop the
mindset of a winner. Your intellectual ability must be as robust as your physical ability. You
need to develop a reliable way of thinking that can be applied to any endeavor to give
yourself the champion’s advantage.
The following pages contain powerful ideas and strategies that, if applied, can help
anyone become more effective and successful in business, sports, and life. By understanding
how to apply these techniques and practices, you will have a road map and a well-calibrated
compass. As a result, you will be more capable of performing at a high level and achieving
your dreams faster than you ever imagined.
The good news is that everything you need to succeed is here, right now. In fact, it’s
been here all along, just waiting for you to become congruent with it. This is not just about
self-improvement; it’s about self-discovery, because you already have the potential. It’s just a
matter of learning how to access and use your own personal power.
THE MEANING OF SUCCESS
Early on in life, success has a certain meaning. For most, success generally means having
money, possessions, and status. For me, becoming one of the best stock traders in the world
obviously meant financial success. Making lots of money was definitely one of my goals, but
money without a purpose isn’t anything worth bragging about. My mother used to say,
“Money, itself, is just paper, good for starting a fire and keeping warm if the world comes to
an end.” She made me realize that its value comes from what it can provide or enable:
freedom, lifestyle, job creation, philanthropy.
Success is not only about winning against an opponent or performing in front of an
audience but winning inside. It’s feeling accomplished and purposeful as you live the life
you’ve always imagined. For the first half of my life, I devoted myself to becoming a winner
in the financial sense. Over time, though, I learned that while money is great to have, by itself
it could never make me happy. I realized that I did not want to be just financially successful; I
wanted to be happy and fulfilled. Success is about reaching your own goal. Whether that
goal is to win gold at the Olympics, be a role model to someone, or play in a local
softball tournament, success is personal. I realized that if I couldn’t leverage my
accomplishments to somehow help others and grow spiritually, then I would achieve very
little. Achieving my earlier goals led to greater, more meaningful goals.
When I was a young man and first ventured into the world of high finance, my mother
wished me success in a greeting card that I’ve kept framed on my desk ever since. It contains
her best wishes, love, and the following words, which always helped me keep things in
perspective:
Success
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection
of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of
false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a
bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social
condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is
to have succeeded.
—RALPH WALDO EMERSON
IT’S NOT HOW YOU START, BUT WHERE YOU FINISH
When I was a small boy, I dreamed about becoming rich and successful one day. But my
reality at that time was a very different story. Growing up in poverty, I watched my mother
struggle and worry constantly about making ends meet. As a child, I grew up in a difficult
and dangerous environment. Life was hard, and I was a scared young boy, lacking in
confidence. Violence, crime, and dysfunction were all around me. My mother, realizing that I
needed better surroundings, moved us into a small apartment out of the city, in a rural part of
the state where I made new friends and began a new life.
I can remember going over to a friend’s house for the first time. He lived in a middle-
class neighborhood in a home with a finished basement, a 25-inch color TV, and a fireplace.
“Oh boy,” I thought. “He’s rich!” His home had nice furniture, and his father had a fancy
office with a big green leather chair behind a glossy cherrywood desk. When I looked into the
backyard, there was a pool! I was amazed that someone could live in such “opulence.”
Later that year, my father took me with him to a meeting with his lawyer. When we
walked into his office, the attorney sat back in a big green leather chair. It was tufted with
brass rivets, just like the one at my friend’s house in his father’s office. I told myself that this
must be what rich people sit in—like a throne of dignity. To me, that chair spelled success.
Twenty years later, when I started to have some success of my own, the first thing I did was
go to a fine furniture store and spend $4,200 to buy a chair just like it. You may be saying
“Four grand, for a chair?” Yes, and I thoroughly enjoyed shelling out the cash for that
overpriced chair because it made me feel like a winner.
People say “Winning isn’t everything.” Don’t kid yourself: Losing sucks! You show
me a “good” loser, and I’ll show you someone who makes losing a habit. The difference
between winning and losing is not just technical ability—having the right skills and knowing
what to do. It’s the mental game that really separates the top performers from everyone else.
Those who meet me now cannot imagine that, at one time, I lacked confidence and
assertiveness and was unsuccessful, but that’s the truth. When you grow up in an
underprivileged environment, often it is conveyed to you that wealth and success are some
mysterious gift reserved for a special group of individuals. I never bought into that because I
always knew there was much more to life than my current circumstances. This is a story
about what I did to find my place in the world and become a winner.
If you’re young and just starting out, your dreams are attainable, regardless of where you
come from or how you got your start. If you’re at the stage of life where you dream about
reinventing yourself, or if you have given up on your dreams, it’s never too late to have
higher standards. Reading this book just once may not miraculously change your life. But I
can tell you that these principles have definitely changed mine. As Jim Rohn, entrepreneur
and motivational speaker, said, “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines,
practiced every day.”
In this book, you will find disciplines that make winners win and dreamers reach their
dreams.
A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION
I didn’t start out with sound principles for success. I acquired them over a lifetime of
experiences, mostly from making mistakes and learning from other people who knew things I
couldn’t yet see. I used these tools and tactics to elevate myself from the depths of poverty to
a level of success that I once only dreamed about. Most would agree that I’m about as rags-
to-riches as you’ll find anywhere. Starting with only a few thousand dollars and a meager
eighth-grade education (yes, I dropped out of school at age 15), I parlayed the only things I
had—a dream and the willingness to learn and persist—into a personal fortune, becoming a
multimillionaire from stock trading by the age of 31.
Then, in 1997, I set out to prove I was one of the best stock traders in the world. I put up
$250,000 of my own hard-earned capital (money I had built up from just a few thousand
dollars) and entered the prestigious U.S. Investing Championship, a real-money investment
