At Winning Mindset (our parent company), we often talk about a predator mindset versus a prey mindset. In the animal kingdom, predator animals have eyes in the front of their head while prey have eyes on the side of their heads. This is because predators are focused and narrowed in on their goal (hunting for food) while prey animals are constantly worried and watching out for predators so they can run.

It is easy to see why this concept is so important in sports. Predator mindsets are focused on achieving their goals, aggressive, quick to strike at their opponents while prey mindsets are worried about what their opponent might do and are constantly reacting instead of acting. You may be wondering: how does this fit into an academic mindset?

Think about your school life. Can you break down your academic performance into predator or prey mindsets? Let’s evaluate the two mindsets and think about the different type of student that you could be based on your mindset.

Predator Mindset:

  • Driven to learn as much information as possible
  • Focused on best performance every day
  • Constantly seeking opportunities for improvement
  • Joins extra clubs/activities and creates them if they don’t exist yet
  • Gets involved in any opportunity that helps them succeed
  • Motivated by a desire to win every day
  • Competes with themselves to give their best effort in every task


Prey Mindset:

  • Focused on what other students are doing
  • Goes along with peer pressure
  • Constantly seeking opportunities to fit in instead of standing out
  • Helps friends without helping themselves
  • Takes easy classes and refuses to challenge themselves
  • Motivated by a desire to have a good class rank/compare well with friends
  • Performance varies every day based on the mood of the teacher or class


A prey mindset will keep you average and mediocre. It will ensure that you don’t stand out. A predator mindset will keep you hungry and aggressively chasing opportunities. It will bring out the best qualities in you and improve every aspect of your school life. Choose a predator mindset every day and watch your success skyrocket!