All eyes will be on Vancouver this Sunday as the U.S. Women’s soccer team takes on Japan in their second consecutive World Cup Championship game. In order to reach the finals for two straight tournaments, we know the athletes have not only incredible physical strength, but also extraordinary mental strength. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe spoke with NPR before the World Cup began about what distinguishes the U.S. team: “I think traditionally, we’ve always been very fit and fast and physical, and we have that sort of physical element that we can just outlast teams,” she said. “And we have that grit and that mentality that we’re never going to quit.” That grit is an integral part of what has led to the team’s success—and is also an integral part of being mentally tough.

In their book, The Mental Game Plan: Getting Psyched for Sport, Drs. Stephen J. Bull, John G. Albinson, and Christopher J. Shambrook outline six characteristics of mentally tough athletes:

Strong desire to succeed

Stay positive in the face of challenge and pressure

Control the controllables

High commitment with a balanced attitude

High level of self-belief

Positive body language

From Rapinoe’s quote alone, it is easy to see that the U.S. team embodies these characteristics. The team’s determination and refusal to quit aligns with characteristics 1-5 (and if you look at pictures of the team in action, you’ll see No. 6 as well).

So how can you embrace these six skills and be mentally tough like the U.S. women? What do they really mean?

Strong desire to succeed

Why are you playing your sport? We imagine it’s because you love it and have fun while playing! Your No. 1 priority should be to enjoy what you’re doing. Then, that love for the game will transfer over to your desire to keep getting better. “Succeeding” does not necessarily mean winning the championship or being the best player on the team; rather, it’s about setting your mind to a few, tangible goals and working hard to attain them. These are progress-oriented goals—like taking a few deep breaths before you make your next pitch or becoming 5% stronger over the next two weeks. The real success is when you achieve these progress-goals throughout the year!

Stay positive in the face of challenge and pressure

Athletes of any sport, especially at high levels of competition, endure a lot of stress. Making excuses and complaining won’t help you get any better. Mentally tough athletes challenge stress head on by staying positive throughout their competition.

Control the controllables

In order to be mentally tough, you need to recognize that there are some things you can’t do anything about. The refs, the weather, the past—recognizing that there are aspects of the game out of your control will help you become more aware of what you can control. You can control your effort in practice, your attitude when you miss a rebound, and what you’re doing at the current moment, to name a few. When you focus on what you can control, you put more conscious effort into making those aspects of your game better instead of worrying about what’s out of your hands.

High commitment with a balanced attitude

Having a balanced attitude means that you need to be dedicated to your sport while also being dedicated to other aspects of your life like school, family, and friends. Enjoy your sport while you’re playing, but if something bad happens during a game or practice, don’t let that negatively affect your mood when you leave the field. Mentally tough athletes recognize that they need to focus on sports while training, but they need to be engaged with other parts of their life as well.

High level of self-belief

We all know that we won’t make every basket or catch every pass from the quarterback, but that’s ok! If you stay focused on the present moment—on the basket you’re about to shoot or the pass the quarterback is throwing right now and you say to yourself over and over that you can do this and you will make the basket/pass, then more often than not you will make the shot. If you believe in yourself, you will be able to turn those thoughts into actions.

Positive body language

When you swing at a pitch outside of the zone, do you slam your bat down in frustration or do you take a deep breath and tell yourself that you’ll get it next time? Standing upright with confidence will in fact make you more confident. Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s those who realize that they can be better next time that are mentally tough and successful.

Mental training takes time just as physical training—you can’t get better overnight. Next time when you’re skating around the rink, take a few deep breaths, remember what you can and cannot control, and believe in yourself. Those quick mental skills will put you steps above your opponent—as evident by the U.S. women’s soccer team only one step away from a World Cup Championship!

Tonight, all eyes will be on the Minnesota Timberwolves as they make the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Reporters and analysts have been trying to figure out for weeks who the Wolves will select with the No. 1 pick—most settling on either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns—both excellent players who would improve the struggling Timberwolves. Okafor is a 19-year-old center for Duke who has won multiple National Player of the Year awards at the collegiate and high school levels. Towns, just one month older than Okafor, is a center for Kentucky who doesn’t fall short when it comes to his list of awards and accolades. However, the two have one key difference heading into the 2015 draft—Okafor has no interest playing for Minnesota and Towns does.

Now, it’s not really fair to say that Okafor has absolutely no interest in playing for Minnesota. However, multiple reports have surfaced that Okafor would ideally like to be bypassed by the Timberwolves and instead be drafted second by the Los Angeles Lakers. While he’s denied the reports, it’s not hard to see why he could have that opinion. We Minnesotans will support the Timberwolves through and through, but it’s no secret how they have faired over the past few years. Duke’s a perennial champion and so are the Lakers, so it’s not far-fetched that he would want to continue on that path. On the other hand, Mr. Towns has expressed his delight for possibly playing in Minnesota:

“It would be a blessing and an honor to even have a chance to play for Minnesota and be able to have the chance to play for a great organization and learn from a great mentor like Kevin Garnett,” he said to SNY.tv just over a month ago.

Towns’ desire to play for the Timberwolves makes him someone fans will want to root for. He’s a name you want on the back of your jersey. He’s someone you’ll want to head to Target Center to cheer on. Bringing back that fan connection is extremely important to a struggling team—especially since you could recently get four tickets to a Timberwolves game for under $50 which not only includes a free popcorn/ice cream but also includes free tickets to shoot a free throw on the court after the game.

So, there are two potential draft picks: Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns. Both are 19. Both are centers. Both will be great additions to any NBA team. Towns would love to play in Minnesota, Okafor’s not dead-set on the Twin Cities.

Who do you want for the Wolves?

Tomorrow, Disney-Pixar’s newest animated film, Inside Out, officially releases in theaters. Without giving too many plot spoilers… The movie centers on a young girl, Riley, whose mind is controlled by embodiments of five emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. When her family moves from Minneapolis to San Francisco, her emotions try to help her manage all of the changes that have ensued.

I spoke with Premier’s Dr. Allie Wagener earlier this week to talk about how our emotions work and what we can do to manage them while we’re under duress.

Inside Out centers around five emotions, but we don’t operate using just five emotions—how many emotions are there/do we operate on a spectrum of emotions?

Dr. Allie: There is not a limit to how many emotions a person can experience. It’s pretty amazing being a human being that we get to feel an abundance of emotions that range from joy to excitement, fear, love, worry, jealousy, and disappointment to name a few. Emotions are often transient, and we may experience hundreds of emotions throughout our day—some lasting longer or impacting us more severely than others.

How do our emotions play a role in how we function? (In the movie, it seems as if the emotions control how Riley acts in everyday situations, but our emotions don’t control us, do they?)

Dr. Allie: It is easy to fall into the trap that emotions do control us because they can feel so powerful. However, we are the ones in control of what we do, what we say, and how we react. We may not be able to control what we feel or experience emotionally, but we do have control over how we respond to those emotions. For example, an athlete may strike out while batting and experience disappointment or sadness. Both are two emotions that are natural to feel after striking out. The athlete does not have control over how he feels about his at-bat, but he does have control about how he reacts as he walks back to the dugout. He can exhibit actions associated with those negative feelings (i.e. hangs his head, throws his helmet on the ground, or says out loud “I am terrible.”) or he can walk back to the dugout in a positive way (i.e. head held high, high-fiving his teammate who is on deck, saying out loud “I got it next time”).

Our emotions don’t control us, and we can’t control our emotions either – but how do we best manage them? Do you have any advice on how to, for example, calm yourself in a stressful situation?

Dr. Allie: Being mindful and aware of our inner experience (emotions, sensations, thoughts) and allowing room to experience those emotions without judgment can enhance our abilities to be kind to ourselves and respond in a favorable way that is consistent with what is important to us. Learning what triggers you to react in unhealthy ways is key. Monitoring yourself throughout the day to gauge where you are at emotionally can help inform you when you need a break or give you cues that talking to a teammate or engaging in a relaxation exercise may be a good idea. Mini mental check-ins can be easily placed in throughout your day to help keep you in tune, both mind and body.

Any sort of change presents its challenges—Riley’s main change is her move from Minneapolis to San Francisco—what are some techniques that we can do to help us respond to change most healthfully?

Dr. Allie: Change can be difficult but maintaining a positive perspective and finding the value in the change can be useful. Hearing different points of view can also help ground you. Finding a routine or some consistency within your day or life can help you feel more at ease. Also allowing some flexibility within that time period of change to be free flowing would be helpful. Change can mean growth, even if it is painful at times—it is through pain that we often find our values and what is important to us. Connect with those things that are important to you during this time period.

Inside Out premiers in theaters tonight. It looks like a great movie—especially since it centers on what goes on inside our minds. Be sure to check it out—we know we will!