Attainment

The 12 Elements of Elite Performance.

Those are some *really* (!) powerful principles. Troy walks us through each of them in the book. Get the book for the details and great stories + wisdom that bring those elements to life.

Now, here’s a quick look at a few of my favorites Ideas!

Obstacles.

If we are committed to consistently performing at an elite level we (of course!) will be challenging ourselves. By definition, when we do something challenging, we will face challenges, aka obstacles, aka what some people call “problems.” Right? So it makes NO SENSE to do anything but embrace those challenges and see them as opportunities to grow. Period.

Spotlight on you: Are you committed to an elite level of performance? (Good answer! :)

How do you respond to challenges? Do you complain about them or do you get EXCITED about them?! Remember: We don’t go to the gym to lift Styrofoam weights. We go there to get stronger and we *know* that the only way to do that is to lift heavy stuff. Same with our lives. Our challenges are our weights. They make us stronger. Let’s lift them with energy and enthusiasm!

Here’s how Ryan Holiday puts it in his great book The Obstacle Is the Way (see Notes): “It’s a beautiful idea. Psychologists call it adversarial growth or post-traumatic growth. “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” is not a cliché but fact. The struggle against an obstacle inevitably propels the fighter to a new level of functioning. The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth. The obstacle is an advantage, not adversity. The enemy is any perception that prevents us from seeing this.”

Marcus Aurelius echoes the wisdom (and inspired Ryan’s book): “The impediment to action advances the action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Here’s to embracing challenges and getting stronger every day!

Yesterday I read Pete Carroll’s great book Win Forever (see Notes).

Pete is the coach of the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks and former coach of the uber-successful USC Trojans. His #1 focus? Always Compete. For Pete, that means to ALWAYS (but only always!) look for ways to “do things better than they’ve ever been done before.”

It’s exactly what Troy is advocating here: “…you must constantly look for ways to get better at the things you do.”

When Troy says “constantly” and Pete says “always” they don’t mean “sometimes” or “when you feel like it.” They mean exactly what they said: CONSTANTLY be looking for ways to get better. ALWAYS look for ways to do things better than they’ve ever been done before.

That’s the path of the elite performer. The path of the master.

Does it sound exhausting? It’s not. It’s exhilarating.

Here’s how George Leonard puts it in Mastery (see Notes): “A human being is the kind of machine that wears out from lack of use. There are limits, of course, and we do need healthful rest and relaxation, but for the most part we gain energy by using energy… It might well be that all of us possess enormous stores of potential energy, more than we could ever hope to use.”

And, of course, there’s the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. Pete Carroll actually starts his book by sharing an epiphany he had while reading Wooden (see those Notes). After being fired for the 5th time, Pete was awe struck by the fact that it took Wooden 16 (!) years of coaching at UCLA before he won his first title. But once he figured out his philosophy, Coach Wooden won 10 NCAA Championships in 12 years.

Wooden’s key? Constantly look for ways to get better. Make each practice as perfect as you could. Focus on the process. Make today a masterpiece.

Here’s how he put it: “When I was teaching basketball, I urged my players to try their hardest to improve on that very day, to make that practice a masterpiece. Too often we get distracted by what is outside our control. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that.

This rule is even more important in life than basketball. You have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you will be able to approach being the best you can be. It begins by trying to make each day count and knowing you can never make up for a lost day.”

Back to you. How can you get a little better today?

Love it.

You are what you eat. And… You are what you THINK!

So, what are you thinking?

As Troy tells us, if you think you won’t win/succeed at whatever you’re excited about in life, you’re right. It really is that simple. We need to be as mindful about the thoughts we have and the things we allow into our minds as we are about the food we eat!

Reminds me of Tim Sanders (see Notes on Today We Are Rich) who tells us: “In my personal experience, positive thinking is the key to health. I believe my own health is shaped by my thoughts the way a sculpture is shaped by its creator. I am very careful about my mind diet and consider myself a healthy-thought nut.”

Here’s to being a healthy thought nut!

Karoly Takacs is a superhero. Here’s the story.

It’s 1938. Karoly is the world’s best pistol shooter. He’s favored to win the Olympic gold in 1940.

Karoly is a Sergeant in the Hungarian Army. During routine training, he had a tragic accident. A defective grenade went off in his hand. His right hand. His shooting hand.

He spent a month in the hospital, depressed that his lifelong dream of winning the Olympics had disappeared in an instant.

Then he decided to win anyway.

He secretly started training every day, learning how to fire a pistol with his LEFT hand. Fast forward to the 1939 World Championships. He shows up. His friends in the community embrace him and are so happy he’s come to watch them compete. He lets them know he’ll be competing. Of course, they’re very surprised to hear this.

They’re even more surprised when Karoly WINS. (Wow.)

His Olympic dreams are back. Then World War II cancels the 1940 and 1944 Olympics. No problem. Our 38 year-old hero shows up at the 1948 Olympics in London. The favorite asks Karoly what he’s doing there. Karoly tells him he’s there to learn. Then he wins the gold. And does so again four years later in Helsinki.

*rubs eyes*

Wow. How’s that for tenacity?

Troy’s big (!) distinction: The fact that Karoly refused to give up is, obviously, remarkable. But Troy tells us that what we *really* want to focus on is “Karoly’s ability to think about what he wanted and do what he needed to do to achieve it.”

All that brings us back to YOU.

What do you want?

What do you need to do to get it?

THAT’s what we need to focus on. NOT on whatever problems we might be facing.

We’re inevitably going to experience setbacks and challenges in pursuit of elite performance. Period. When that happens, we need to discipline ourselves to focus on what we want, the solutions to the problems—not on the problems themselves.

Who needs a right hand to succeed?

We just need a right mindset.

Reloading. This is REALLY cool.

Troy and his dad have a TON of unique, powerful ways to master ourselves and create the Self-Image necessary to rock it. This is one of my favorites.

The (super) quick story: We need to be REALLY aware of what we allow ourselves to think about after we perform a task (whether that’s rifle shooting in the Olympics or teaching or having a chat with a colleague or interacting with our family before dinner or whatever).

Three steps: 1. Evaluate. 2. Rehearse correction. 3. Let it go!

You do something. Time for a quick evaluation. How’d it go?

If it was great, you say, “GREAT!” to yourself. If it was OK you say, “OK.” If it was less than awesome, you say, “Needs Work.”

By saying “GREAT!” you imprint your awesomeness. (Very important.) As Troy advises, “If you perform a task well, you should feast on that performance. The Self-Image needs self-praise in order to grow.”

When we perform at a less than stellar level, we MUST not drive that negative performance deeper into our minds by getting all emotional about it. Things like, “I’m an idiot!” “Why do I always mess up when it matters most?” are NOT helpful.

Elite performers simply DO NOT allow those toxic thoughts into their minds. Period. Neither can you if you’re committed to rockin’ it. We must exert the mental discipline to focus our minds. Troy tells us to simply say, “Needs Work.”

What do you think about when you say, “Needs Work” to yourself? You think about how you could have done it better. THAT’s what we want to rehearse—imagine doing the task a little better and then, rather than imprinting your negative behavior, you imprint a positive rehearsal.

<— That’s truly genius. In fact, Troy tells us this is the most important piece of mental advice anyone can provide: “What you allow yourself to think about after a task matters.”

After rehearsing your correction, you simply let it go. Done. No ruminating. You recognized you needed a little work (no big deal), quickly rehearsed an optimal performance and LET. IT. GO.

That’s reloading in a very tiny nutshell. Try it out!

(And, of course, get the book for more goodness!)

Attainment.

That’s the name of the book and our ultimate objective.

Troy walks us through the three ways to describe attainment.

The essence: We need to move beyond accomplishment (which is incredibly important) and get to the level of attainment—achieving our goals, mastering our crafts AND becoming the type of person capable of replicating our success in other domains and throughout our lives.