From Hiding After Mistakes to Playing for Latvia in 9 Months

Nine months ago, Oskars Vientiess said two things were holding him back:

No processes and no acceptance.

He wanted to become “Oskars 2.0”, a player who was courageous, trusted his instincts and stopped hiding when things went wrong.

Since then, he has moved abroad, stepped up from the Czech second tier to the top flight and made his senior debut for Latvia.

Three international appearances in eleven days.

And his strongest match scores came while representing his country.

Comparing the score Oskars gave his starting point with his latest self-assessment, his Inner Game Index moved from 54% to 75%.

That is an increase of 21 percentage points and an overall improvement of 39%.

Some of his biggest changes were:

• Dealing with judgement: 29% → 82% (+53 points) 
• Reset speed after mistakes: 38% → 86% (+48 points) 
• Trusting his instincts: 35% → 76% (+41 points) 
• Handling stress: 44% → 83% (+39 points) 
• Enjoyment: 54% → 89% (+35 points)

His three international match reviews averaged 84%, compared with 78% across his previous three club matches.

But the real change cannot be explained by a score.

Previously, one mistake could make Oskars hide for the rest of a game and affect him the following day.

Against Slavia Prague, he scored an own goal in front of 13,000 people.

Five seconds later, he was back on his feet, demanding the ball and refusing to hide.

That is the work of showing up when it matters.

In this conversation, Oskars explains:

• Why he decided to start training his mentality 
• How he stopped fearing other people’s judgement 
• The processes he now uses before every match 
• Why accepting mistakes helped him play with greater freedom 
• How he responds immediately when something goes wrong 
• What it felt like to make his senior international debut 
• Why working alongside other professional players has helped him 
• What he is working on as he moves from “Oskars 2.0” to “Oskars 3.0”

Most players have coaches for their technical, tactical and physical performance.

Very few have anybody helping them with the part that affects all three.

Their mentality.

If you are a professional footballer and know your mind is stopping you from showing your best game consistently, apply to work with Rob, Luke and the team inside Elite XI:

https://www.elitexiapply.com

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