IMPROVEMENT’S IMPAIRMENT
Champions are defined by many winning characteristics, but one of the most obvious and most important is their commitment to improvement. No matter how good they are, how much recognition they receive, or how often they win, champions just keep getting better. That growth doesn't happen quickly or easily for anyone - for those at the top of the mountain or those of us working to get there - but that mindset is essential for being our best today and for making ourselves worthy of winning tomorrow.
It’s important to recognize that improvement is fueled in part by our commitment – by what we’re willing to give. Getting better requires us to give our time and our attention, our energy and our effort. The stronger our commitment, the steadier and more consistent our improvement. At the same time, we have to recognize that while a commitment to improvement drives us forward, if we aren’t careful some other things can hold us back. Getting better requires us to give a lot, but it also requires us to give up a lot, too, to set aside or turn away from the things we know can impair our improvement and keep us from becoming our best. I want to challenge you today to consider what it is that might be holding you back.
Here are a few of improvement’s most common and most powerful impairments…
1. ARROGANCE…There are plenty of things that can keep us from getting better, but few are more prevalent or more perilous than our own arrogance. Especially when we start experiencing success, arrogance tricks us into believing that we’ve got it all figured out and that we don’t need to improve. It tunes out information we could and should be using to learn, and it creates an unhealthy reality where we're convinced we know it all and we're offended by anyone who suggests otherwise.
The truth, though, is that champions aren’t know-it-alls; they’re learn-it-alls. They are humble enough to accept that they don’t know everything, and hungry to learn from anyone or anything that can teach them. Tom Brady is a great example. The man won seven Super Bowl titles and is widely regarded as the best quarterback in NFL history. The best! And yet, in an interview heading into his final season, Brady’s humility and hunger to improve were as evident as ever.
“I continue to be a student of the game,” he said. “And I think that’s how you continue to make improvements. You can’t ever think that you’re satisfied; you gotta continue to build and grow and learn and evolve. And some things are gonna challenge you, but you gotta fight through those things. From my standpoint, there’s always room for improvement.” That's some powerful insight into the mindset of a champion.
2. FEAR…Winston Churchill famously said, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” It’s true. The pursuit of perfection – or the idea of it, at least – often creates in us one of improvement’s biggest impairments: fear. Usually it’s the fear of looking bad. If our top priority is to create and maintain some image of perfection, then the ugliness or awkwardness that comes with stepping outside our comfort zone, that comes with working to build something new, or that comes with any meaningful albeit imperfect pursuit probably seems downright frightening, and not worth the risk.
But if our top priority is on becoming the best we can be, then the fear of looking bad starts to lose its power. Our identity isn’t built on proving ourselves, it’s built on improving ourselves. Will some ugliness or awkwardness be a part of that identity? Almost certainly! But with patience and persistence, we’ll likely find that we’ve stumbled and struggled our way to achievement we never would’ve earned by playing it safe.
3. COMPARISON…Comparison is the thief of joy, but it can be the thief of growth and development and improvement, too. Devoting our time and energy to measuring ourselves against others encourages an unhealthy and unproductive attitude of judgment. When we look around and see that we’re superior, we promote in ourselves the idea that we’re better than we are. When we look around and see that we’re inferior, we amplify that voice of fear that says we aren’t good enough or that we’ll look bad if we try. If we're not careful, comparison can paralyze our progress.
That’s why champions choose to shift their focus away from achieving success, which almost always requires some level of comparison, and choose instead to focus on chasing excellence – on working to become the best they can be. Champions are focused on running their own race, and on working relentlessly to close the gap between who they are and who they believe they are capable of becoming. Ironically in doing so, they usually end up achieving more success than they ever would’ve otherwise.
That’s the commitment you’re required to make today, too. No matter how good you are, how much recognition you receive, or how often you win, commit to keep getting better. Keep chasing excellence. Be willing to give what's required, but be just as willing to give up what's required, too. Leaving your arrogance, your fear, and your comparison behind helps you be your best today...and makes you more worthy of winning tomorrow.