Ask most elite athletes what their goals are and they’ll tell you without hesitation: earn or maintain a starting spot, win a conference title or championship, break a personal record, earn a scholarship or get drafted to go pro. Goals drive us and they matter. But ask those same athletes about their core values — what they stand for when no one is watching, what guides their decision-making and how they approach conflict-resolution among teammates or coaches when the pressure is on — and most will pause. Yet for athletes and coaches at every level, having clear core values is one of the most powerful and underutilized tools in sport.

That pause is telling.

In my work as a mental performance consultant and sports counselor in Colorado, I’ve come to believe that values clarity is one of the most impactful and underutilized performance tools in sport. Athletes and coaches spend countless hours developing physical strength, honing tactical skills, watching film, and getting reps. Far fewer invest time in getting clear on the internal compass that guides all of it.

The research — and the results of some of the most successful coaches in sports today — suggest that’s a significant missed opportunity.

What Are Core Values, and Why Do They Matter in Sport?

Core values for athletes and coaches are the principles and beliefs that guide how you think, behave, make decisions, and show up — in competition, in practice, and in life. They aren’t goals or aspirations. Your values define what is most important to you as a person and a competitor. They are the non-negotiables: the qualities you refuse to compromise on, even when it’s hard.

Researcher and author Dr. Brené Brown, whose work on courage and leadership has influenced millions, defines a value as “a way of being or believing that we hold most important.” In her book Dare to Lead, Brown challenges people to narrow their list of potential values down to just two core ones — because, as she puts it, if everything is important, nothing truly drives you.

I often use her list of values as a starting point when working with athletes, teams and coaches. You can access Brené Brown’s core values list here.

The list includes values like authenticity, perseverance, loyalty, growth, integrity, and passion — those are a few of my own core values. The challenge isn’t finding values that sound good. It’s doing the harder work of narrowing your list down to the two or three that are truly yours — the ones that show up consistently in how you compete, how you respond to adversity, and who you are as a teammate, leader, and friend.

What Happens When Athletes Lack Values Clarity

Without clear core values for athletes, navigating the inevitable challenges of sport — losses, slumps, criticism, identity crises — becomes nearly impossible without a compass. Their sense of self becomes tethered to performance outcomes: wins and losses, playing time, rankings, external validation.

This is one of the most common patterns I see in my work with athletes. When identity is built entirely around performance outcomes, every setback becomes a threat. A bad game doesn’t feel like a bad game — it feels like an existential crisis. A slump or loss doesn’t feel like a temporary dip — it feels like a loss of self.

Values-clear athletes experience adversity differently. They still feel the sting of a tough loss or a poor performance. But because their identity is rooted in how they show up — in their commitment, their work ethic, their integrity and their relationships — rather than exclusively in outcomes, they have something solid to return to. Their confidence has a foundation that outcomes alone can’t erode.

For coaches, the same principle applies. Values-clear coaches make more consistent decisions, build more psychologically safe team environments, and earn deeper trust from their athletes — because their players know what to expect. Consistency of character rooted in core values is one of the most powerful leadership tools a coach can have.

What Elite Coaches Know About Values

Some of the most successful coaches in sports history have built championship programs not primarily on talent — but on values. And none did it more deliberately — or more successfully — than John Wooden.

John Wooden, the legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach and winner of 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, spent more than a decade developing what became one of the most well-known frameworks for values-based success in the history of sport: the Pyramid of Success.

Wooden’s Pyramid contains 15 building blocks organized into five interconnected levels, beginning with a foundational base and culminating at the top with what he called Competitive Greatness. The two cornerstones of the entire structure are Industriousness and Enthusiasm — hard work ignited by genuine passion. From there, the pyramid builds through values including loyalty, cooperation, self-control, intentness, condition, skill, and team spirit.

Wooden defined success not as winning, but as “peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” That definition — rooted entirely in values and effort rather than outcomes — produced 10 national championships and influenced generations of coaches and athletes long after his retirement.

Crucially, Wooden believed character came before performance. As Cori Close — who was mentored by Wooden for 15 years — has reflected: “Coach Wooden talked about how the least of his concerns were a championship trophy and a banner. Those were the byproducts of being a great teacher of life and lessons about things that will live on long after the ball goes flat.”

That legacy of values-first coaching lives on in today’s most successful women’s basketball programs.

Cori Close, who led the UCLA Bruins to their first-ever NCAA women’s basketball national championship in 2026, has built one of the most values-driven programs in college basketball. Close is explicit about the three core values at the heart of her program: a growth mindset, gratitude, and being what she calls “lifestyle givers” — athletes who contribute to the people around them beyond just what they produce on the court.

Close recruits as much on these values as she does on talent. And the results speak for themselves.

Perhaps most powerfully, Close has described the ultimate purpose of her program this way: “Banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust, but who you become and who you impact in these four years, you get to keep forever.”

That is a values statement. And it’s one that has shaped an entire culture — and produced a national championship.

Dawn Staley, head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team and three-time NCAA national champion, has spoken and written extensively about the values that have shaped her both as a competitor and as a coach. In her instant New York Times bestselling memoir Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three (2025), Staley reflects on how her upbringing in the North Philadelphia housing projects instilled in her the core values that have guided her entire career — discipline, community, faith, hope, and respect for the power of habits.

Those values didn’t just shape Staley as a person — they became the foundation of how she coaches. Her program is known for its demanding standards, deep player relationships, and culture of accountability. In her memoir, Staley talks about the importance and cost of living and competing in alignment with one’s core values. She says, “values and virtues are cheap until you have to pay for them, then they get really expensive.”

How to Identify Your Core Values

Whether you’re an athlete or a coach, the process of identifying your core values is the same: it requires honest reflection, and it takes more time than most people expect.

Here’s a process I use with athletes and coaches I work with:

Step 1: Start with Brené Brown’s list. Download or view the full values list here. Read through it slowly and circle every value that resonates with you — don’t edit yourself yet. Most people end up with 10–20 values circled.

Step 2: Group related values together. Look at your circled values and notice which ones cluster together. For example, you might have circled honesty, integrity, and authenticity — those are related. What’s the root value underneath all three? That root value is likely one of your core values.

Step 3: Narrow to your top two or three. This is the hardest part. Brown’s research shows that the athletes and leaders who live most intentionally tether their behavior to one or two values — not ten. Ask yourself: when I train or perform my best, which values are always present? When I’ve felt most out of alignment — most unlike myself — which values were being compromised? Are there some areas or domains of your life, that your core values feel more aligned with your actions and relationships?

Step 4: Write them down and define them in your own words. A value isn’t useful if it’s just a word on a list. Write a sentence or two about what each of your core values means to you, in the context of your sport and your life. What does “integrity” look like in practice during training and competition? How do your values show up in the face of setbacks or the most difficult moments of your season?

Step 5: Use them as a decision-making filter. The real test of values clarity comes in moments of pressure, conflict or uncertainty. When you face a hard decision or a relational conflict — whether to speak up, whether to let it go and push through, whether to make a change — ask yourself: What would the most values-aligned version of me do right now?Or how would your core-value respond to this situation?

Values for Coaches: Building a Values-Driven Team Culture

For coaches, establishing core values for athletes and teams is only the beginning. The next step is building a team culture that is explicitly grounded in those shared values.

This doesn’t mean imposing your values on your athletes. It means creating a process — at the beginning of each season or in preseason — where your team collectively identifies the values that will guide how they compete, how they treat each other, and how they respond to adversity.

When team values are co-created rather than handed down, athletes have a deeper sense of ownership and accountability. They are more likely to buy-in. They’re not following a coach’s rules — they’re honoring commitments they made to themselves and to one another as teammates.

A few practices that support values-driven team culture:

• Start each pre-season with a values identification exercise. Have each athlete identify their personal top two values and share them with the team. Hold space for hearing about why each team-member select their top values.
• Refer to team values explicitly during difficult moments — not as a lecture, but as a reminder: “We said we value resilience. What does that look like right now? If I watch you train or compete, will your core values be visible? What do your core values look like in the competition arena and in your relationships?”
• Recognize and celebrate athletes when athletes demonstrate values-aligned behavior — not just when they perform well.
• As a coach, model your own values publicly and consistently. Talk about what your values are and how they guide your decisions. Athletes notice.

The Bottom Line

Talent and hard work will only take you so far. But in the moments that matter most — when the pressure is highest, when outcomes are uncertain or out of your control, when career burnout starts take root — it’s your core values that will support your relationships and shape your legacy.

John Wooden didn’t win 10 national championships by focusing on trophies. Dawn Staley didn’t build three titles on talent alone. Cori Close didn’t win UCLA’s first-ever women’s basketball championship by focusing on banners. They built cultures grounded in clear, explicit, deeply held values — and those cultures produced champions.

The good news is that core values for athletes and coaches are available to everyone, at every level. It doesn’t require special talent or ideal circumstances. It doesn’t even cost money. It requires honesty, reflection, and the willingness to do the difficult inner work.

If you’re ready to start that process, Brené Brown’s values list is a powerful place to begin.

And if you’d like support identifying your core values and integrating them into your performance, leadership and life. I’d love to help. Book a free 15-minute consultation here.

Dr. Brooke Rundle at Headstrong Mindset combines evidence-based research with applied sport psychology strategies to help you reach your optimal potential, enjoy competing more and ultimately elongate your athletic career.

References

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work, tough conversations, whole hearts. Random House.

Staley, D. (2025). Uncommon favor: Basketball, North Philly, my mother, and the life lessons I learned from all three. Atria/Black Privilege Publishing.

Wooden, J., & Jamison, S. (2005). Wooden on leadership. McGraw-Hill.

Wooden, J. (n.d.). Pyramid of success. The Official Site of Coach Wooden. https://coachwooden.com/pyramid-of-success

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Press.

Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2019). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology (7th ed.). Human Kinetics.

Wilson, K. G., & Murrell, A. R. (2004). Values work in acceptance and commitment therapy. In S. C. Hayes, V. M. Follette, & M. M. Linehan (Eds.), Mindfulness and acceptance: Expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition (pp. 120–151). Guilford Press.

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Photo Credit: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

The Comeback Story of the Winter Olympics

The incredible comeback story of Alysa Liu at the 2026 Winter Olympic games in Milan Cortina has a lot to teach us all. Liu became the first US women’s figure skater to win singles gold since 2002. Multiple times throughout the Olympic event, television announcers and analysts commented on how relaxed, carefree, and playful she seemed in the lead up to the competition. It was as though Alysa Liu was completely detached from the weight of the outcome and genuinely thrilled to get to skate in the Winter Olympics again.

When asked about how she was able to maintain her sense of calm, Liu answered “Winning and losing don’t affect me anymore… Medalling doesn’t fulfill me. I skate because I like to skate.”

But this wasn’t always the case for Liu who retired from figure skating at the age 16 after competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Prior to retirement Liu described the intense pressure as “traumatizing” and talked about feeling like her life was on the line when she skated.

Stepping away from the sport for two years allowed her to gain a sense of control over her life and pursue other interests including fashion, travel, attending college at UCLA, and frequenting karaoke bars with her friends which ultimately made her a much more well rounded person. Pursuing a balanced life outside of the ice rink allowed her to rediscover her love of staking and return to her sport with a renewed sense of creativity and passion.

When she took the ice for her final skate in Milan, her mindset had completely changed. “I didn’t need a medal,’’ she said. “If I fell on every jump, I would still be out there wearing this dress, so no matter what, I was all good.’’

The Unexpected Key to Resilience

Liu’s journey to the Olympic podium reminds me of a talk I heard given to a room full of coaches at the American Volleyball Coaches Association Convention. Let me introduce you to Dr. Roberta Kraus, PhD., the President of the Center for Sports Psychology in Colorado Springs. Dr. Kraus’s presentation titled Resilience Tools and Techniques was focused the importance of giving yourself adequate recovery time and having a balanced athletic identity to avoid career burnout.

“We have to spend time getting them back to the love of their sport, the love of performing and the love of participating the sport,” said Dr. Kraus. “Versus worrying about a ranking, a world record or a podium. As soon as you start focusing on an outcome, you’re adding additional pressure that starts in the mind, and the mind and the heart always decides what your body does.”

Dr. Kraus is a sports psychologist renown for helping athletes and teams reach their peak performance through a holistic approach to mental wellness and mental toughness. The mental training programs that she’s designed and implemented have a proven track record of improving player performance, communication and team dynamics under pressure. She’s worked hand in hand with Olympians and Paralympian’s at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center to support athlete mental health and help athletes achieve their dreams. Given her extensive experience in working with world class athletes, she could have talked about any aspect of sport psychology but she chose to focus on recovery and resilience strategies because career burnout is the greatest threat to your athletic career.

How to Avoid Burnout

According to a poll from the National Alliance for Youth Sports, approximately 70 percent of kids in the United States drop out of sports by time they turn 13 because, “it’s just not fun anymore”.  Staleness syndrome starts at a young age and continues to plague players and coaches at every level. Athletes and coaches who overtrain, lack life balance and deny themselves critical space for rest and recovery experience burnout.

In other words, players and coaches lack resiliency. Dr. Kraus defines resiliency as, “the capacity of a department, team, coach or athlete to maintain their emotional balance, to empathize, to hope and to persist in the face of frustration”. So how we cultivate healthy patterns and habits within our team to support resilience training for elite performers?

The solution is a combination of rest and balance. Rest is critical because it helps prevent injuries, reduce fatigue, and enhance mental clarity, allowing you to bounce back from setbacks and perform your best when it matters most. However effective recovery strategies include more than just your physical needs like sleep, proper nutrition, hydration, rehab and active rest days. Incorporating practices of mindfulness, imagery and individual sports counseling can further support your healing process, reduce stress, strengthen your mental toughness and help you overcome burnout. By prioritizing your mental health and wellness, athletes and coaches not only recover faster but build a foundation for enduring resilience—both physically and mentally.

Let me put it simply, if you want to stay in the game long term, you’ve got to have balance. Allow yourself time to physically recover and explore other passions in life.  Having a balanced athletic identity and being intentional about your recovery time are a critical components to developing resiliency in players and teams. 

Get the Support You Need

Maybe as you read this, the story feels familiar —a spark of recognition that you know there is more to life than your sport, but you don’t know how to access it. The good news is that you don’t have to retire or step away complete, there are other ways to find balance, build mental resilience and extend your career by overcoming burnout. Choosing to invest in your mental health and wellness could be the most important investment you make in your career. You deserve to be in control of your own life and pursue your athletic career with joy and creativity.

At Headstrong Mindset, Dr. Brooke Rundle specializes in guiding elite athletes and coaches, through this very process. As an AASP Certified Mental Performance Consultant and licensed sports counselor in Colorado, Dr. Rundle is dually trained in both clinical mental health and sport psychology. This holistic approach to sport psychology can help you reconnect with your true self and rediscover your passion.

• Schedule your complimentary 15-minute consultation with Dr. Brooke Rundle today.
• Learn more about how mental coaching and sports counseling can help you build resilience and overcome burnout.
• Embrace the next chapter in your athletic career: one rooted in joy, resilience, and a deep love for your sport.

Other Services and Resources

In case you missed it, you can watch Alyssa Liu’s gold medal performance and learn more about her career as a member of the US National Figure Skating Team here.

For more tips on how to avoid burnout during your season, check out this interview with Utah University’s Head Volleyball Coach Beth Launiere on how to avoid burnout during your college season.

If you don’t already have it, make sure to download the free workbook that provides mental training worksheets to help you improve focus, increase confidence and balance your athletic identity.

Post originally written in 2020 and updated in 2026 in response to Alysa Liu’s Olympic Gold medal performance. Dr. Brooke Rundle is a former collegiate and professional athlete, an AASP Certified Mental Performance Consultant and Licensed Counselor in the state of Colorado. Dr. Rundle provides sports counseling and mental performance consulting to coaches and athletes to optimize mental performance and improve mental health.

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