What is the performance trap? It’s viewing one’s self-worth, the worth of others, and everything about your business through the lens of short-term performance. Short-term performance is often out of our control. It can be cyclical and driven by chance rather than the merit of the company’s underlying performance. It’s essentially looking at value through the perspective of day-trading, rather than trying to understand the long-term trajectory of the business, industry, and marketplace realities.
To obtain your freedom and extract yourself from the performance trap, you will need to change your thinking and self-talk, change from using the words ‘I can’ to using the words “I will” when you talk about your goals and dreams.
Become an Achiever, Emerge as a Champion
Dr. Clark said, “In my research at the university, I found that there are two specific variables that separated the best of class from everyone else—focus and attitude. Focus is that which you ‘look at’ and passion which is the fuels us toward our goal.”
Tap into your reservoir. What type of focus is it that separates the champions from everyone else? You cannot give more than 100% or can you? Why do coaches talk about giving 110%? Coaches do that because they see untapped potential in you, a reservoir that you have not tapped into at this point in time. They see something in you, a hidden reservoir that does not come into play everyday. Push yourself, to do the same tomorrow, plus one. In other words, “Can you go one more step tomorrow?”
Attitude is a Great Predictor of Success
There is something like to call a volitional continuum: I won’t, I’d like to, I can, I can’t, I’ll try, I will. Choose nothing less than “I will.” Avoid the Performance Trap: “My self-worth equals my performance plus the opinions of others.” Move from I can to I will. There is also goal Orientation: “When I was professor at KU we had over 100 studies in goal setting (in sports psychology). Every single study found that Goal setters always outperformed non-goal setters. It is the most profound finding we have, there was not a study that found it not to be true.”