Beyond Talent and Willpower
In order to become a champion you have to overcome your human nature. You can do that with the right blueprint, the right advisors, and the right team.
Jeff Spencer discovered the secrets to the champion’s mindset as a young Olympic cyclist in 1972. He has since gone on to work with athletes like Lance Armstrong, top executives, and famous entertainers. His mission now is to bring the champion mindset to the average person. His plan will help you maximize your potential in business, relationships, work, and athletics.
The secret has nothing to do with talent or willpower. It doesn’t matter how much willpower, talent, technique, or technology you have in your quest to get to the top.
Jeff had a heartbreaking introduction to this truth when his talented father, a true genius, ended up dying homeless. Jeff was fortunate to have mentors from sports, business, and the arts enter his life during this difficult time. He learned from their success and he created models that he applied to his own life and then to others’ lives.
The Champion’s Mindset
The champion mindset must be combined with attention to health and fitness. You need to be healthy and fit so you can push when you need to and continue to evolve your talents and skills. The people who get to the top stay there when they are able to come back from injury and illness.
During his time training for the Olympics and later as he worked with top athletes, Jeff discovered that the champions in any field, couldn’t be determined by just their appearance. The strongest looking were often the most vulnerable.
The Importance Of Rest & Recovery
There needs to be a combination of push and recovery. You have to balance your effort with rest. If you don’t take time for recovery, you will find that your relationships will suffer – the relationship you have with yourself, and the relationships you have with those closest to you.
The equal emphasis on recovery is hard for most of us to get past. Our human nature equates rest and recovery with slacking. Our fear-based survival mechanisms kicks in. You wonder if someone else might take advantage of your pause.
Pay attention to that fear-based part and you will often meet with an injury or illness just when you are ready to peak.
There is a whole industry of motivational speakers and books that has grown up around the fear-based part of our brain. It tells you that anything you want to achieve, you can. You only have to work harder. You just have to want it bad enough.
This is a harmful message. The normal trajectory is that you get excited by the message, you don’t reach the goal as fast as they said you would, and you end up feeling like a failure.
The Success Plan
Here’s what Jeff Spencer said you need to do instead:
Develop a structure or blueprint. Create benchmarks and outline the proper steps for preparation. This is also the time when you bring in advisors, mentors, and coaches.
Create a mindset that allows honest examination of your goals. Do you really understand what it takes to accomplish what you want to do? Are you willing to pay the price? Will those goals enhance your life? Will they support the legacy you want to create?
Do an inventory of your personal knowledge and the resources you have access to.
Be open to feedback as you prepare and then perform.
Success has a structure. Part of that structure is a proper plan. Proper planning reduces friction and helps you avoid preventable problems. Preparation and performance. You can do this.
