Catalyst4More is my new online home and the hub for everything I do to help as many people as I can to Be The Best That They Can Be at Work, at Home, and at Play. This is where I will share my thoughts, life learnings, experience, education, knowledge, and examples of people meeting and exceeding their potential. And where I will highlight stories and people who have walked the talk and implemented the systems, frameworks, processes, and courses to go further, faster, and beyond their expectations.
As we get into a rhythm, I expect there will be lots of content on subjects I am passionate about such as Flow, Energy, State, WHY, Stories, Values, Purpose, Alignment, Congruence, Confidence, Reaching our Potential, Success and more. At the center of it all, will be lots about mindset and mental strength, understanding, and taking action. I fully expect that we will be talking a lot about what stops us from being who we are meant to be and the blocks and limitations that we put in our way – and how we can and must obliterate and replace them to be the best that we can be. Enough about what were will be doing! Welcome. Let’s jump in!
Amateurs Practice Until They Get It Right…
Professionals Practice Until They Can’t Get It Wrong!
What it takes to be the best
When we look at the greatest athletes, business people, artists and other top performers, they all want to be the best, winners, top in their field, #1 in the world. You would expect the top performers to all be perfectionists, and that they would accept nothing but perfect performances every time. After all, they practice the same things 1,000’s of times over and over again. With 1000’s of repetitions, should they not expect perfect?
Winners put in the work
Winners practice how they want to play
Winners practice with purpose
Winners replicate in practice what may happen in a game, and get many repetitions in so they are always prepared. The repetitions are done to enable them to execute and perform without thinking. And they prepare for whatever they think may come their way and in this way they minimize surprises.
And yet, when game day comes, sometimes things are just not 100%. That is when they rely on their mental strength, their conditioning, the repetitions, their skill, and they adjust. They never give up. They know that they are human. They know they are not perfect. They know that “sh1t happens”. They know they have prepared and have everything they need within them. This is exactly when they get to use the power of all their practice and experience. Most function in a MO NEGATIVITY zone. In professional sport where margins between winning and just competing are razor thin, athletes do whatever they can to practice perfectly, but strive to execute flawlessly but not be a perfectionist in competition. They are all about confidence and momentum, and negativity undermines confidence, and it is avoided like the plague.
When things are not going according to plan, winners find another way to win. They go to plan B, or Plan C, D, E or F. They keep trying and cycling through the options they have practiced. They don’t focus on what’s not working. They believe in themselves, and they go within to their heart, to the muscle memory, not to their head. They focus on the immediate task, the next point or the next shot. One step, one point, one next step at a time. They remain in the present. They are not thinking about a later outcome that they can’t control. They are fully present in just this shot. They definitely are not thinking about what if I mess up this shot, or losing the match or about what will happen if I keep struggling or lose the next few points as many weekend warriors do. They are 100% focused on what is in front of them – RIGHT NOW – in the moment. They focus only this shot. And then the next one. And they reset and go again. They adjust, and focus, and go again. Shot by shot. Point by point. Until there are no more points.
Mostly they are not thinking about mechanics. They did that in practice. During a round of golf, a golfer will hit roughly the same number of great shots, good shots, and not so great shots in every round. A poor shot or putt on the last hole has almost zero impact on the probability of a poor putt or shot on the next hole. Similarly, in tennis, a missed backhand in the middle of the 3rd game of a first set, will not impact the probability of a missed backhand on the next point. In fact, if you stay in the moment, they are discrete, isolated events. Mindset or mental strength is the difference. They have some beliefs and patterns that the weekend warrior does not yet have.
Winners write their history by focusing on what they do well and being the best that they can be IN THE MOMENT. They don’t have to be perfect on the day or in the moment, they just have to be better than their opponent to get the job done. They strive for perfection but it is not the ultimate goal. Winners don’t set impossible “all or nothing” outcomes they can’t control. Winners see second place as losing! Winners never give up. They go with what they have, on the day, in the moment, and they always do all they can to be the best that they can be.
The Power of Focus and Destination
When we are driving and we come to closed roads or roadwork, do we let it stop us? No! We have a destination, we have a route to get there, and we adjust and keep going.
When studying? No, we keep going. In relationships and work? Hmmm, for many of us not as much. If we are completely honest with ourselves, we would see that we focus more on obstacles, emotions, and outcomes. And then we use them as excuses. This is equivalent to a winner losing focus, taking their eye off the ball, or suddenly thinking ahead to the outcome. Its moving from process to outcome or from staying
in the present to the future. This guarantees internal disconnect, imbalance, misalignment, inefficiency, discontent, excuses, blame, lost opportunity, unhappiness, being hard on ourselves and others, and sub-optimal results.
You get what you focus on. Focus can be a short-term focus e.g. in the present right now, or a big picture focus e.g. the long term result that is the culmination of each and every short term destination reached along the way. Winners know how much they gain from being fully present.We should take notice!
Without a destination…
- You end up somewhere else
- You make excuses
- You blame others for their mistakes rather than owning your own poor focus and decisions
- Your lack of focus becomes that pattern you repeat on autopilot
- You don’t reach your potential or goal, and you can’t get out of your own way – because you go around in circles with no clear destination
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Catalyst4More is here with a system and a framework to help you identify a path that is aligned with who you are at our core, and who you are meant to be. With clarity on your destination, we can help you identify what has stopped you from reaching your potential; and identify and create new patterns to replace them with habits that serve you. You can get out of your own way and reach the potential you know you have inside you. You can consistently be the best that you can be
If I can be of service in any way, please reach out. I am excited to help you move forward on your journey.
Question for the day:
(Please share in the comments)
Where have you seen winners going above and beyond to win? What separated them?
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