Menaces to Topnotch Performance
“Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”- Nelson Mandela
I am writing this piece with great passion as it speaks to the vast potential within you, how easy it is to betray it and then offers some extremely valuable moves you can make to ensure the world gets to experience it. Albert Einstein once observed: “Only those who devote themselves to a cause with their whole strength and soul can be true masters. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.” Striking. I strongly believe that becoming best in class is less about natural talent and more about what you do with what you’ve been given. The most gifted cricket player doesn’t become the champion…the most focused, practiced and passionate one does. The most innately talented guitarist doesn’t become the breathtaking…the most dedicated and devoted one does. The most brilliant entrepreneur doesn’t reap the fortune and change the course of history…the one with the most discipline, work ethic and grit does.
Yes, I know… …this thinking is so counterintuitive to the way society has taught us to consider genius and exceptionalism. We’re told that the great artists, actors, sports men, business people, and philanthropists are cut from some divinely-blessed cloth. And born into their breathtakingly great gifts. But a growing body of research into exceptional performance (much of it led by Anders Ericsson who was first to report the now-famous “10,000 Hour Rule”) is endorsing that the concept of naturally gifted genius is pure myth… And the reality? …Those we admire–the awesome mathematicians and the fantastic chess players and the remarkable artists and the heroic business-builders–are just normal people who, early on, made a few uncommon choices and installed a few unusual habits. And in so doing, generated exclusive results.
I urge you all to go deep into exactly how to build your personal genius, unleash your truest power and walk you through the advanced steps that anyone can take to rise to the realm of “The Great Ones”. So, in this write -up I would like to focus on something a little different…By the way, please reflect on the following thoughtful quote:
“Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, godlike feature that only the special among us will ever taste, it’s something that truly exists in all of us.” –Will Smith
I would like to discuss the 7 Menaces to Topnotch Performance…
These are the 7 most common (and often unconscious) ways we sabotage our potential for genius-level results, block our greatness and diminish our opportunity to be one of the best in the world at what we do. Let’s get right into them…
1: The Menace of Suspicion
Potent idea: if you don’t believe that you have the potential to be one of the best there ever was at your chosen craft or skill, then you won’t do what it takes to get there. In other words… Your belief about your potential really does determine whether you express it–or let it slumber quietly within you as you coast through your life. My respectful encouragement is that you take a cold, hard look at the facts: the superstars in sports, music, science, society and business truly were ordinary people. But they, sometimes because of a teacher or guru and often due to a parent, came to train their brains to believe (and then expect) that they could be grand performers…if they put in the work, made the sacrifices, maintained the focus and got better every day. But if you’ve fallen into the mass hypnosis that the people we view as geniuses are genetically different from you so you have no shot at making history, then this belief alone will prevent you from rising into the dominion of awesome. And so this suspicion in the availability of mastery to you is a menace…please combat it.
2. The Menace of Undercapitalization
Perhaps many of you just like me lately listened to a fabulous interview of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. In it, Buffett admitted he’s not the smartest person in the room. The “secret” to his extraordinary success in the capital markets comes down to the “Horsepower Versus Output” distinction. He explained that “horsepower” is the talent we’re born with but “output” is how much of that reservoir we have the commitment, discipline and guts to realize. The term for translating potential into results is “capitalization”, because if you are seriously committed to mastery you need to fully capitalize on all the potential you have. One of the finest ways to ensure complete capitalization of your talent is to start your pursuit of becoming the best in the world at your chosen skill as early as possible (“dream large, start slight, act now” mantra).
And then to get in the 10,000 hours that Anders Ericsson has discovered is the minimum viable amount of training needed before genius begins to present itself (“The 10,000 Hour Rule”. So…let’s get granular so we really, really get you going… That’s 2 hours and 44 minutes of daily practice for one thing for ten years… And now I know you’re beginning to see that discipline, practice and extreme amounts of training are the “secrets” behind the illusion of “natural talent” and “innate genius.” …The truth is that you just have to put in outlandish amounts of time and effort to reach world-class performance. You really can get there (and you disrespect your potential if you don’t). But most of us are just too distracted, too interested in easy, too affected by criticism and too invested in comfort to heed the call on our lives and do what’s needed to become the champ.
3. The Menace of Talent Circle Apathy
Who you associate with intensely influences the way you behave and how excellently you perform. The science behind it involves concepts like “attitudinal contagion” (we subconsciously adopt the mindsets of the people we are closest to) and “goal-contagion” (we assume the same aspirations of the dominant members of our circle of influence). If the people in your immediate network are aiming for the best in the world, up very early in the morning to start their training, working with mentors who kick start their mastery and practicing from sunrise to sunset, then there’s a great chance you’ll be modelling that principle.
On the other hand, if the people you’ve populated your life with spend their finest hours being busy being busy, gossiping, watching too much TV and playing too many video games, then your results will reflect those influences. All geniuses and exceptional performers were parts of hubs of talent…… Many youngsters spend a large amount of time just practicing batting technique keeping Sachin Tendulkar in their mind in India. Young people in The Dominican Republic dream of playing baseball and spend most of their waking hours on the field. Their heroes are major league stars from their country who made it big. And they plan to be just like them… …children in Brazil aspire to become celebrated football players while some Canadian youth regularly pass 10,000 hours on the ice by the time they’re fifteen. All their friends do the same… …teenagers in Silicon Valley long to launch startups, go to workshops that teach them to code and spend sleepless nights iterating their craft. Everyone these kids know wants to be the next Jack Dorsey or Mark Zuckerberg. Your circle of associations matter. And being indifferent and lethargic about who you surround yourself with comes at a very real cost to your performance, success and impact on the world with it. Positively evade this menace.
4. The Menace of Complication
Michael Angelo didn’t practice the piano. Shakira is not spending her best hours becoming a chess master. And Christina Ronaldinho definitely isn’t obsessed with joining Cricket. All people who rise to genius have another thing in common: singularity of focus. All masters are monomaniacally focused on their skill. And grand performance is much more about the things you have the discipline to say no to rather than the things you say yes to… The argument I’m suggesting to you is indeed this one… …you can try to do many things but you’ll always play at mediocrity. Or you can commit to just one thing. And enter the ring of mastery. So simplify. Subtract. Get great at saying diplomatic nos. Your potential demands nothing less. You are meant to shine.
5. The Menace of Ease
Undeniably fascinating to me how many elite performers came from poverty. Seems that they pretty much knew that if they didn’t focus passionately and practice relentlessly they’d not only not live the life of their dreams, they’d likely have little food to eat. That kind of condition fuels immense drive, unbeatable determination and an iron will to win. And that’s why comfort can be dangerous to magnitude… …Maya Angelou, the famous poet, left her home to work in a gritty motel room… …I heard about one of the most bestselling authors on the globe who lived in a hostel for a full year to push himself to do his best work… …even when Steve Jobs was a billionaire, he slept on a mattress. No matter how revered you become, you just can’t let comfort make you slow, sloppy and old. To reach legendary levels of creativity, productivity and acumen, you want to keep pushing yourself like your life depends on it–because it does. And the best way to expand your limits is to consistently push to the edges of them. The harder we work, the luckier we get.
6. The Menace of Illness
“Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings.”- Publilius Syrus. I find Robin Sharma spectacularly preaching the fact that health is the crown on the well person’s head that only the ill person can see. It’s not common to link fitness with genius. But being in ultra-strong physical condition is mission-critical. Because… …how can you put in your decade of practice if you are gruesome? …how can you rebound when you fail if you have no energy? …how can you study and invest in learning if you lack stamina? And getting into your best fitness isn’t really about getting the trophies, receiving the fame and basking in the accolades. That’s all fine. But there’s something more important…Being strong and healthy and radiant and dynamic allows you to be of use. You see, when you live your potential and rise to genius, it’s not just you who wins…the world does as well. We all get to be inspired by the greatness you model. We all feel we too are more than we thought we were. We all get to benefit from your creativity, endeavors or developments. You become our idol. And each of us needs more of them. After all, we all must remember the fact that “Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth.”
7. The Menace of Conflict
This could be an inner battle within yourself, a conflict with your significant other or a business partner. To be effective you need to follow your passion. Your goals need to be personal. It must be something you desire with all of your heart, mind and soul. You can’t try to do something that goes against your personal ethics and morals. You will be in constant distress and will lack motivation to do anything.
If your vision conflicts with your spouse or significant other – then you should rethink it. Find a compromise. If your conflict is with a business partner, it may be easier to go your separate ways. Being tactful and respectful would undoubtedly help you resolve your conflicts.
Therefore, if you want to go a lot deeper into this information and learn the strategies, insights and tactics that very few people ever discover on unleashing their potential and doing amazing things with their lives. If you are ready for some vivid and durable improvements in your mindset, energy levels, productivity, performance, financial life and overall happiness, then–seriously–you truly cannot afford not to take the best use of every single day, every single moment and get obsessed in producing your best. There is great power in starting. No longer can we afford to waste time. It is high time for us to execute regardless of our position, location and status quo. We deserve to live like a lion, become iconic and live a life that makes history. This is our moment. As the Chinese Proverb says “The Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the 2nd best time is now.”
Written by: Shohag Mostafij
