The Requirement for Greatness That Non-Sports People Rarely Talk About
When people talk about what it takes to be great, there are several traits that get most of the attention. Traits such as confidence, resilience, attention to detail, mental toughness, purpose, and work ethic come to mind right away. However, there is one trait that almost no one outside of the sports world ever talks about when they describe what it takes to be great. What’s more, having this trait is almost a must if you want to be great at anything.
At this point you’re probably thinking if it’s so important why does it get ignored so often? While I don’t have a definitive answer for why, my guess is because this trait is so abstract it’s hard to explain. So, what could I be talking about? Well, it’s hard to explain. But the best way I can put it into words is to describe it as an unwavering philosophy for success.
The Philosophy of Having a Philosophy for Success
To use a football metaphor, a philosophy for success is your offensive and defensive scheme. The best football coaches are known for their scheme. Whether it’s the spread, hurry-up, zone read, or the West Coast on offense, or the 3-4, wide 9, Tampa 2 or zone blitz on defense. The best coaches have a philosophy that they learn, develop and teach through a coaching tree. Not only this, these coaches know how to build a team around their scheme as well as adjust their scheme to fit the players they have. Undoubtedly, this takes years to learn.
Without having a philosophy for success, people tend to chase and copy whatever appears to be working at the time for others. The problem with this is that it takes years and years of practice to master a philosophy for success. You just can’t copy someone else’s philosophy for success and expect to have the same success right away. It takes time and commitment to that philosophy.
If you don’t give it time, when you copy someone else’s philosophy, you end up comparing your beginning to the other person’s years of practice mastering that philosophy. Then when it doesn’t work for you, you chase and copy someone else. This is a recipe for a lifetime of chasing greatness while being relegated to a lifetime of being average.