WHERE ARE YOUR BLIND SPOTS?
In last week’s newsletter, I asked you to consider what your vision of a champion looks like. Clarifying that vision is so important because it gives us something to strive for, something to aspire to, and something we can work to become.
I've spent a lot of time working to clarify that vision for myself and help others do it, too. In fact, I wrote a book called Hidden Talent that’s all about the awesome but often overlooked or unnoticed choices and behaviors that really make a champion a champion. In the book, I outline eight specific things champions do that set them apart, make them unique, and help them become worthy of winning, in sports and in life:
Champions…
love the game. They exhibit passion and commitment.
give their best. They play with relentless effort.
overcome adversity. They are strong and resilient in the face of their challenges.
seek improvement. They are hungry to get better.
get coached. They have the humility to take instruction and feedback.
are great teammates. They make those around them better.
take risks. They choose courage in the face of their fear.
choose a positive attitude. They bring infectious energy every day.
Champions do all those things…and that is why they win.
That list helps me clarify my vision of a champion, and I hope helps you clarify your vision, too. When I work with teams and athletes, I often ask them to fill out a simple personal inventory that rates their own, individual performance in each of those important areas. Then, as part of the conversation afterwards, I ask them to consider what they might look like if they did the work to become elite - a “10” in each area. It’s a great exercise that helps bring clarity to that vision we create of ourselves at our best.
The real beauty of those winning choices and behaviors is that each one of us - you, included - are in fact capable of turning ourselves into “10's." Each one is 100% controllable. There are plenty of other circumstances outside your control that will play a part in your experience, but the truth is, you and you alone get to decide your level of passion and commitment. You control your effort. You are responsible for your response to adversity and your desire to get better. You choose how coachable you are and the way you treat your teammates. You are in charge of the courage you choose in the face of your fear, and you pick the attitude you bring each day. It’s a humbling but important reality to accept, that in more ways than we usually think or we’d like to admit, becoming a champion is up to us.
It’s a humbling but important reality to accept, that in more ways than we usually think or we’d like to admit, becoming a champion is up to us.
Clarifying that reality, that becoming a champion is up to us, leads me from one question (What is your vision of a champion?) to another: Whtere are your blind spots? If you’re serious about becoming your best and winning at a high level, where is an area you recognize you need to get better, but have perhaps found a way to ignore or overlook? That personal inventory might help to clarify a possible answer.
If someone evaluates themselves as a “4” in some area - let’s say in the area of choosing their attitude, for instance - but can now accept that they have the power to perform in that area at a “10,” then there is some wrestling to do with the space that exists there, between the exciting idea of who they could be and the underwhelming reality of who they are. That space is what I would call a blind spot. It’s also known as a performance gap. Simply defined, it’s the distance between what we know and what we do, between our potential and our performance.
Of course, recognizing our blind spots and closing that performance gap isn’t easy. That’s the bad news. What we’ve done up til now has made us who we are, so becoming someone better requires more. More time, more attention, more deliberate practice in this area we recognize we need to improve.
The good news is that if you want to get better in any of those areas, there are opportunities almost everywhere to work on them. No matter what you're doing, you have a choice to make every day - including this one - about the level of passion, and commitment, and effort, and toughness, and humility, and selflessness, and courage, and energy you'll bring. If you want to get better, I bet you could find opportunities to train, right where you are today. You can choose to do whatever it is you’re doing like a champion.
That's my challenge to you today, to do whatever it is you're doing like a champion. Continue to make those winning choices and behaviors a habit. Create a clear vision of what you, the champion looks like, and then recognize, when you hold yourself up next to that vision, where you’re falling short and need to get better. Recognize your blind spots. Then do the difficult work that growing and improving requires, and continue to validate that you are in fact someone worthy of winning.