Don’t Fall in Love with Your Wins: The Psychology of Three-Peats, Broken Streaks, and What Comes Next

Oliver Spensley-Corfield
Jul 29
7 min read

The Summit Is Just the Start

In elite sport, few things are harder than winning once, except perhaps winning three times in a row. A three-peat isn’t just dominance. It’s a declaration that you’ve not only mastered the competition, but mastered yourself. The systems are humming. The mindset is sharp. The culture is aligned.

“Winning once takes talent. Winning consistently takes character.” - Bill Walsh

But here’s the paradox: sustained success creates its own performance cliff.

The Danger of Success

There’s a seductive danger in repeated success. Wins confirm your process. They validate your habits. But if you’re not careful, they start to insulate you from change. What worked yesterday becomes the thing you cling to tomorrow. You begin defending rather than evolving. You stop chasing the next edge because you’re still celebrating the last.

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” - Bill Gates

In high-performance environments, comfort is the enemy; and adaptability becomes the true competitive advantage.

When the Third One Never Comes

History shows us how often the pursuit of a third consecutive title becomes the moment where momentum falters.

Wasps Rugby Football Club won the Premiership in 2003–04 and again in 2004–05 with a squad full of energy and intent, yet couldn’t secure a third. They remain a standout example of how even peak teams can be quickly dethroned in competitive ecosystems.

In Formula 1, several legends have won two titles in succession only to miss out on the third, Alberto Ascari in the 1950s, Jack Brabham in the early 60s, Alain Prost in the 80s, Ayrton Senna in the 90s, and Michael Schumacher in the mid-90s before his Ferrari era took hold. Even Lewis Hamilton, one of the most decorated drivers in history, saw two major streaks broken; first in 2016 by teammate Nico Rosberg after consecutive titles, and again in 2021, when a controversial Abu Dhabi finale handed the championship to Max Verstappen after four consecutive Hamilton victories.

“The higher you go, the narrower the path. One misstep, and you’re no longer leading.”

Streaks Snapped in Every Sport

Tennis offers more examples. Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024, but his streak was halted this year (2025) by Jannik Sinner in the final. Pete Sampras experienced multiple streaks interrupted after dominant runs, and even Björn Borg, who won Wimbledon five times in a row, was eventually stopped by John McEnroe in 1981.

The Olympics are no exception. Hungarian fencer Áron Szilágyi secured gold in three consecutive Games but failed to continue the streak. Weightlifter Halil Mutlu did the same. These aren’t outliers. They are patterns.

“Streaks end. Champions adapt.” - Serena Williams

Why It Happens: The Psychology Behind the Drop

The reasons for these breaks are as much psychological as they are tactical.

Burnout is real. Reaching the summit takes a toll, staying there takes even more. Hunger fades. The internal fire that once burned to prove everyone wrong often quiets after the goal is reached.

Identity begins to tangle with outcome. If winning becomes who you are, what happens when you don’t?

And all the while, the target on your back gets larger. Rivals get smarter. They study your every move. What once felt inevitable suddenly starts to feel vulnerable.

“The moment you think you’ve made it is the moment you stop improving.” - Greg Popovich

Brookes at Henley: A Case Study in Transition

This year, I spent time inside one of the UK’s most consistent and successful sporting programmes; Oxford Brookes University Boat Club.

OBUBC has built a decade-long legacy on high standards, relentless training, and a culture of performance. But 2025 didn’t bring the usual silverware. That absence cut deeper than a missed result. It revealed a shift in energy, from the urgency of chasing something to the tension of protecting it.

What struck me most wasn’t the lack of red boxes. It was the quiet pressure of expectation. This wasn’t a failure. It was a moment between eras. A transition. And it raised a question I often pose to high-performing teams, whether in sport or business:

“What happens when the thing that got you to the top is no longer enough to keep you there?”

Rebuilding Starts with Reinvention

When a winning streak ends, whether in sport, business, or leadership, it rarely ends with a crash. More often, it fades. Edges dull. Standards blur. And the familiar routines that once elevated performance start to feel just that: familiar.

That’s the real risk of sustained success. Not failure, but inertia.

But the end of a streak doesn’t have to mark the start of decline. It can be the spark for reinvention. The catalyst for a deeper kind of growth, one that isn’t driven by fear of losing, but by the hunger to evolve.

“You can’t become who you’re meant to be by staying who you were.” - Oprah Winfrey

The most resilient teams and individuals use this moment as a turning point. They don’t panic. They reflect. They don’t cling to what worked, they challenge it. They understand that every era of dominance eventually demands a reset. Not because they’ve failed, but because the world has moved, and they intend to move with it.

They reconnect with purpose.
They refresh their systems.
They ask harder questions of themselves and their environment.

And they build not just to win again, but to win differently.

“Champions don’t show up to get everything right. They show up to adapt, learn, and keep going.” - Billie Jean King

Because in high performance, legacy isn’t about what you did.

It’s about what you choose to become next.

How to Build Consistency When the Pressure’s On

Consistency is often misunderstood. It’s seen as the product of talent, motivation, or confidence. But in truth, consistent performance, especially under pressure, is rarely built on how you feel. It’s built on how you prepare.

The teams and individuals who deliver again and again, on the big stage, in the final set, under the floodlights, aren’t riding waves of inspiration. They’ve created systems that hold up when emotions run high and conditions go sideways. They’ve learned how to be dependable when the situation isn’t.

“Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to your level of training.” - Navy SEALs maxim

This kind of consistency is not passive. It’s not about getting into the “zone” and hoping it stays. It’s intentional. It’s trained. It’s layered into every aspect of how they think, act, and recover.

And crucially, it’s not just built in moments of success. It’s forged in setbacks, shaped by scrutiny, and maintained through discomfort.

1. Build Ruthless Clarity on Process

The most consistent performers don’t rely on motivation to show up, they rely on clarity to guide them when motivation dips. They know exactly what “good” looks and feels like, not just in results, but in behaviours, mindset, and preparation.

They define success before the competition begins:

Mentally: What focus do I need to hold today?
Technically: What key actions will keep me sharp?
Physically: What tempo, posture, or rhythm feels most stable under fatigue?

This clarity allows them to access performance - not chase it.

They don’t guess. They execute. They track behaviours that lead to outcomes, not just the outcomes themselves.

Whether in business or sport, they strip away fluff and noise and focus on repeatable standards. They know their minimum viable performance routine—the one that gets them into gear regardless of how they feel.

“Clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s a performance tool.”

2. Train Under Pressure – Not Just For It

Inconsistency often isn’t about ability, it’s about unfamiliarity with the demands of pressure.

The problem isn’t the game, it’s that the training never felt like the game.

The best performers simulate intensity. They rehearse the chaos. They engineer setbacks on purpose. Why?

Because they don’t want pressure to feel new.

They might:

Set time-limited tasks with real consequences
Practice under fatigue, noise, or constraints
Introduce competitive scenarios in training
Use “TCUP” moments—Thinking Clearly Under Pressure

They also practise recovery:

Breath work
Focus resets
Self-talk scripts
Decision-making under fatigue

They don’t just train the skill - they train the response to stress.

The result? Pressure becomes familiar. And familiarity breeds composure.

3. Reflect Like a Pro – Not a Perfectionist

High performers don’t just review what happened. They reflect on how they showed up.

Their debrief isn’t emotional, it’s systematic.

What did I control well?
Where did I hesitate or lose clarity?
What’s one thing I’ll carry forward next time?

This reflection isn’t about guilt or glory - it’s about feedback.

They aren’t searching for perfect performances. They’re searching for data that helps them adjust earlier next time.

They build self-awareness without self-judgement.

They use regular check-ins, journaling, feedback loops, and honest conversations to track how their mindset and preparation show up under real pressure.