1. They talk to themselves.
Quora user and author Michal Stawicki says that during research for his books on success he discovered:
At the highest level of professional sports they consider skills and techniques a given. You can't reach that level without them. What allows them to beat their opponents is not more time spent honing their skills, but more focus on perfecting their internal dialogue.
Meanwhile, research suggests that talking to yourself like you'd talk to someone else in the same situation can help you deal with stressful experiences. Specifically, use the pronoun "you" or your first name instead of "I." (For example, "You can do it, John.")