Narrator: Imagine being at the absolute peak of your sport, in first place at a competition that could define your career. That’s where CrossFit athlete Katrín Davíðsdóttir found herself at the 2014 Europe Regional. She was dominating. But then came Event 5: ten legless rope climbs. Katrín knew this was her kryptonite. As the event began, her initial confidence evaporated. By the fifth climb, her arms were burning. On the seventh, she reached for the top, missed, and slid down the rope, defeated. She collapsed, her dream of returning to the CrossFit Games shattered by a single weakness. In that moment of devastating failure, it seemed like the end. But what if that failure wasn't an ending at all? What if it was the necessary catalyst for true greatness?

In his book, Chasing Excellence, renowned coach Ben Bergeron argues that this is precisely the case. He reveals that the path to becoming a champion isn't paved with talent alone, but is built on a foundation of character, process, and a specific mindset that turns devastating setbacks into defining strengths. Bergeron’s work provides a blueprint for how world-class athletes cultivate the mental toughness required to win, not just in sports, but in life.

Narrator: Bergeron proposes a hierarchy for athletic development, visualized as a pyramid. At the very top is strategy, and just below that is physical ability. Most coaches focus their energy here. But Bergeron argues the true differentiators lie at the base of the pyramid. The foundation of all success, he insists, is character. Above that, and supporting everything else, is the process. Without a strong character, an athlete can't possibly commit to a championship-level process.

When Katrín Davíðsdóttir began training with Bergeron full-time after her 2014 failure, she was confronted with this philosophy directly. She moved from Iceland to Boston to train at his gym, CrossFit New England, and found it was less like a gym and more like an Ivy League university for mindset. Bergeron was obsessed with developing her character. Early in her training, frustrated with a lift, Katrín threw her weight belt against a wall. Bergeron calmly walked over and said, "We don't do that here." It wasn't about the outburst itself; it was about the underlying character. He taught her that champions don't lose their composure. They don't make excuses. They develop traits like grit, resilience, accountability, and optimism. He believed that by becoming a better person, she would inevitably become a better athlete. This focus on character became the unshakable foundation upon which her future championships were built.

Narrator: At the elite level, everyone is talented. Everyone works hard. Bergeron argues that what separates the good from the great is a deeper level of commitment—a relentless pursuit of one's weaknesses. This is the essence of grit. It’s not just about persevering; it’s about actively seeking out the things that make you uncomfortable and dedicating yourself to mastering them.

No one embodies this more than multi-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser. In 2013, Fraser missed qualifying for the Games because of his poor performance in a workout that included rowing. He identified it as a critical weakness. His response wasn't to just add more rowing to his workouts. He bought a rowing machine and, for the next year, rowed 4,000 to 5,000 meters of high-intensity intervals every single day. He embraced the monotonous, painful grind until his weakness became a weapon. A few years later, after struggling with an event that involved flipping a 580-pound object called "The Pig," he bought one of those, too. He would go to his gym late at night and flip it for hours. Fraser’s journey shows that talent without grit is just potential. True commitment is the discipline to do what others won’t, so tomorrow you can do what others can’t.

Narrator: Bergeron introduces a simple but powerful formula: Event + Response = Outcome. We have no control over the event—the workout, the weather, a judge’s call. We also have no direct control over the outcome—whether we win or lose. The only thing we have 100% control over is our response. This is where champions are made.

This principle redefines confidence. It’s not the belief that you will win; it’s the belief that you can handle whatever comes your way by controlling your response. A year after her rope climb failure, Katrín was at the 2015 CrossFit Games, wearing the leader’s jersey, when another legless rope climb event was announced. Panic set in. In the warm-up area, she was in tears. Bergeron approached her and reframed the situation. He asked her to forget the crowd and the leaderboard. "Can you do one rope climb?" he asked. She nodded. "Then that's all you have to do. When you're ready, do another." By focusing only on her response to each individual climb, she managed to complete three reps—a massive personal victory. She finished 15th in the event and lost the leader's jersey, but as she walked off the floor, she was beaming. She had controlled her response and maximized her potential. This mindset, this internal victory, was what ultimately propelled her to win the entire competition.

Narrator: The pursuit of excellence is not glamorous. While audiences see the thrilling moments of competition, the real work happens in the shadows, through what Bergeron calls "maximizing minutes" and committing to "the process." This philosophy, borrowed from coaches like Nick Saban, is about focusing on the small, daily, and often boring habits that lead to success, rather than fixating on the result.

For Bergeron’s athletes, this means a fanatical devotion to the fundamentals. Katrín spent countless hours perfecting the air squat—the most basic movement in CrossFit—to ensure every repetition was flawless. This meticulous attention to detail creates a foundation of efficiency that pays off under fatigue. It also extends beyond the gym. It’s about optimizing nutrition, sleep, and recovery with the same dedication. As NBA legend Ray Allen wrote, the secret to success isn't a secret at all: "It's just boring old habits." Champions are not born in the spotlight; they are forged through the aggregation of thousands of small, perfectly executed, and mundane moments.

Narrator: In the chaos of competition, it's easy to waste mental energy on things outside of your control. Bergeron teaches his athletes to relentlessly focus on only five controllable factors: training, nutrition, sleep, recovery, and mindset. Everything else—the competition, the judges, the weather—is just noise.

This discipline is paired with another critical skill: the ability to "turn the page." Setbacks are inevitable. Mistakes will happen. The key is how quickly you can move on. At the 2016 Games, Katrín made a "stupid mistake" in an event, dropping a D-Ball in the wrong spot and receiving a no-rep. The error cost her dearly, and she was furious with herself. In the warm-up area, Bergeron gave her five minutes to be upset. "Accept it," he told her. "Then we move on." He taught her that reliving the past only breeds depression, while fearing the future breeds anxiety. The only place you have power is in the present moment. By practicing mindfulness and developing this mental resilience in training, Katrín was able to turn the page on her mistake, refocus, and ultimately defend her title as Fittest Woman on Earth.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Chasing Excellence is that greatness is not a gift bestowed upon a talented few; it is a decision. It is the conscious choice to commit to a process of continuous improvement, built on a foundation of character. Success isn't about the trophy at the end; it's about falling in love with the daily, often grueling, process of becoming better. It's about chasing perfection, knowing you'll never catch it, but catching excellence along the way.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge. It forces us to look at our own lives and ask: what is our "rope climb"? What is the weakness we avoid, the challenge we shrink from? Ben Bergeron’s philosophy proves that this weakness doesn't have to be a permanent barrier. Instead, it can be the very thing that unlocks our greatest potential, if only we are humble enough to acknowledge it and gritty enough to do the work.