How to Mentally Approach the Upcoming Season

I’ve spent the past several years working with NCAA D1 swim programs, first at Florida Gulf Coast University and now at Florida State University. At the beginning of each season, when I start my first round of individual sessions with people, one of the first things I ask them is the following:

“What’s your mental approach for the upcoming season?”

Most of them, if they haven’t worked with me before, have very little to no idea what I mean by “mental approach.” It’s not something that the people surrounding them throughout their swimming careers have ever encouraged them to understand or acknowledge before. What do I mean what I talk about mental approach?