Daily practicing what you love is an amazing life, and something funny happens when you enjoy the process — you become really good at that thing.
A habit that I practice for both myself, my athletes, and colleagues is to focus on the process.
The work
The grind
The effort
Give all of our attention and praise to the effort itself
Focus on the effort
Research supports that when we verbally and mentally focus on the effort put into a task, we PERFORM better. We don’t just perform better today, we seek harder and more challenging situations tomorrow too.
Kids — when you reward their effort, will perform better. They will believe greater in their selves (yes, you are building self confidence)
Teams — rewarding effort encourages them to grind on in spite of mistakes and failures. YES, if you reward effort and create a safe space — your teams will iterate faster than others!
Talent matters
Yes, genetics and talent matter in every endeavor. If you are six foot ten and can make 3-point shots on basketball court, you’ll dominate. Talent goes beyond the physical benefits — some individuals are just amazing artists, singers, and more out of the gate.
We need to be self aware of these gifts and if we won that lottery, double down in that sport if it makes us happiest.
Encourage and reinforce
Simply change your words — “good work / effort / job today” must replace “you are smart / a natural / strong / fast / a born _____”
Focus on the daily process itself and the activities themselves. It is the activities that we love, not the end result.
- A blacksmith loves the making and forging, not the fact he/she made a sword / knife.
- A chef loves the creating, measuring, and construction not that it was a cake or a muffin
- A technologist loves the software, the intricacies, the complex relationship and not that it is a Phone or the next enterprise product
We love the daily behaviors of our passion, not the result. The more we focus on those elements and praising the effort, the better.
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About Me
I am a father, study of human behavior, strategist, cybersecurity veteran, and a coach and mentor on a journey to give more than I receive everyday. I lead teams globally, build products, and daily an executive for a leading company where I serve the largest companies in the world using the largest cloud deployments in the world impacting the financial services, healthcare, and fintech industries. I provide these publications and content through my media agency to deliver insights and advantages. Mindset, mental strength, mentorship, personal improvement, health, fitness, and humanist ideas are drawn from personal research and practice. Everything read and heard is my original works and my own perspective. All rights reserved for noted authors and sources. I produce research and strategy, as well as provide advisory services that include inquiries, briefings, consulting projects, and presentations on published findings as well as bespoke speaking engagements where I often keynote at conferences, seminars, and roundtables annually.