You Have Two Choices When Working Hard Stops Working
Hard work can only take you so far. At some point, out working your competition has diminishing value. It’s at this point where things like mindset, knowledge, creativity, and innovation become the differentiators among elite athletes.
Yes, you must keep working hard even when you reach the point of diminishing value. I’m not saying your mindset or knowledge is a substitute for hard work. However, it’s simply a fact that hard work does not separate those who are great and those who are greater. Both the great and the greater work hard.
Instead of hard work being a differentiator, it’s an entrance fee. Once you get in the door there are specific skills, strategies, and training techniques that separate the best from the rest. Moreover, there are only two ways to acquire this knowledge and execute on it.
1) Learn from the best and copy what they do
- Identify the best performers in your field using an objective measurement.
- Do the research to figure out exactly what specific skills, strategies, and training techniques they use to enable them to perform at their best.
- Practice for thousands of hours to teach yourself how to copy what they are doing to near perfection.
- Figure out how to incorporate what makes you unique to customize those skills, strategies, and training techniques to fit your strengths as you continually practice improving.
2) Find a coach who can teach you how to copy what the best people do
- Find a coach who has experience both coaching the best performers and helping people become the best by improving from a skill level similar to you.
- Spend thousands of hours learning from the coach the specific skills, strategies, and training techniques you need to become the best.
- Continue to get feedback from the coach as you practice those specific skills, strategies, and training techniques for thousands of hours on your own.