Hello Outperformer,
In almost every presentation I do, at some point, I will say:
“What’s common sense is usually NOT common practice.”
Last weekend I watched a lot of the U.S. Open. It always ends of Father’s Day and brings back happy memories of playing golf with my Dad.
Gary Woodland won and I always love listening to post-tournament press conferences:
Here are three things he said (no joke, it sounded like he stole them from me!):
"Gary, what were you focusing on when you hit that 3-wood into the 14th hole?"
"I focused on where I wanted to hit it instead of what I was trying to avoid (bunkers, deep rough)."
OUTPERFORM: I'm not saying to take uncalculated risks, but once you've committed to doing something, play to WIN instead of playing not to lose.
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"Gary, you had some of the best players in the world breathing down your neck. What did you say to yourself as this was happening?"
"I just kept repeating to myself, 'I've got this. I've got this.'"
OUTPERFORM: Create a power phrase, something you say to yourself in uncomfortable, pressure situations that builds your confidence and brings out your best.
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"Gary, you got a couple of bad breaks out there during the final round. How did you handle that?"
"Those things are going to happen. I knew the only thing I could control was my attitude."
OUTPERFORM: Control the controllables. You can't control outcomes but you can always control your attitude.
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One of the things I notice in our society is that we gravitate towards the newest, freshest "secret" to success. The REAL secret is so absurdly simple that most people will dismiss it, thinking there must be something more...
No, there's not. Here's a top golfer telling you exactly what he did to win the biggest golf tournament on the planet.
He performed his best when it mattered most. Don't we all need to do this on whatever "stage" we're performing on?
Great teams do this, in business and athletics. ALL of them play to win, confidently perform when they need to and control their attitude independent of results. Whether things are going great or are tanking, you'd never know it.
I could bombard you with stories of how I've used these three things with business leaders and athletes in, literally, every conceivable situation to drive results, but I'll simply sign off and say:
Let's make common sense, common practice.
Keep Outperforming,
