Been reading Tim Grover’s book Relentless. And getting a ton of insights on rare-air performance from it.
[Reading’s such a game-changer, yes? Dad always told me: “Robin, if you have to, cut back on other things. But always fill your life with books.”]
One of Tim’s insights (he coaches NBA players) is that a lot of star athletes aim to be great. But the Kobe’s and Jordan’s aspire to an even higher standard…
…to become the best there ever was.
During my summer break, I thought for hours on end about what the real game’s all about…
…and one of the concepts that’s really shaping up inside my thinking is that it’s fine to play at world-class for a week…but what makes legendary is sustaining it for a lifetime.
Please allow me to share some core ideas to help you sustain your A-Game every day:
#1. Start with your mindset. Your performance in the world is simply the result of the things you believe. If you really don’t think you’re the kind of person who produces epic results or becomes uber-fit or creates a financial fortune or elevates entire communities, then you’re just not going to do what it takes to make these visions real…
…change your private story about your potential and your behavior changes by itself. Begin within. Always.
#2. Clear out the constraints. So many of us want to sustain our A-Games over an entire career versus being one hit wonders. But we fill our lives with so many energy drains and constraints that we never create greatness that endures. My encouragement: delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic and cherish simplicity. Because that’s where genius lives.
#3. Walk with icons. You’re smart and talented. So you get that the caliber of your associations determines the level of your success…
…some intelligent research has been done on the drivers of exceptional performance (read Talent is Overrated, for example). And one of the keys to genius is that every great performer was a member of a “talent hub”…
…in other words, associating with others aiming to become world-class lifts up–and sustains–your A-Game. To make the final months of this year the single best months in the history of your entire life, you absolutely must commit to having conversations–and building alliances–with people who are a few levels above you.
#4: Maintain the extreme training. So easy to get to a great place and then slow down on your practice protocols. But the very best of the best practice even harder as they become more successful…
…remember what the Spartan warriors taught us: “sweat more in practice and you’ll bleed less at war.”
#5. Get your routines right. I did a blog post on this recently. The main idea was simply this: epic production has less to do with your willpower and more to do with the routines you install. Get those right and you’ll enjoy exponential results automatically.
#6. Never Rest on Your Success. Success is ever so dangerous. Once you rise to success, it’s so easy to stop doing the things that made you successful. The fire in the belly to become legendary can begin to diminish. Arrogance can creep in. Taking customers for granted often happens. And the will to amp up to your next level can be left behind…
…what makes true icons is that they know that the top of one mountain just allows you to see the next peaks to climb.
…for those devoted to sustaining their A-Games over a lifetime, the whole nature of the pursuit is to see how high they can rise, to capitalize on as much of their potential as possible and to contribute as much value to humanity as they can.
All green lights! Let’s get you to beyond great. You deserve no less.
