The Concept Every Successful Person Understands Intuitively
Understanding how this works will shed light on the mystery of success
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that for someone to be able to be freed up to create and do their best work, they must have their basic needs met.
The person who is standing in a torrential downpour without an umbrella has only one concern at that moment-getting out of the rain and drying off. He isn’t concerned with what’s for dinner, having to see his in-laws at thanksgiving, or how his 401K has performed that week.
You must do what is necessary to set your mind free to play.
Your mind gets weighed down by immediate concerns-some important, but most are not.
You can pair down your list of creative roadblocks by understanding that you actually have less control of things than you think we do.
You cannot control your boss's mood.
You cannot control the weather.
You cannot control whether or not your parents take precautions against COVID.
With what is left, you can either cross them off your list by completing them or making a plan to soon.
Win Forever
Pete Carroll, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks calls his coaching philosophy “Win Forever”.
It is holistic, meant to address the individual player’s wellbeing from his home life to his relationships with his teammates to his production on the field and his career goals.
He’s one of the best college and NFL coaches of all-time so it’s worth taking a look at the inner workings of his success.
One of the main tenets of the philosophy is relentless and thorough preparation; going over all potential scenarios and running through plays so many times that all thinking is no longer necessary and it becomes second nature to the player.
When game day comes around, the players' mind is cleared of all of their “needs”.
They know their responsibilities.
They know what to expect.
They’ve gone over all contingent scenarios beforehand.
They’re freed up to go out and perform at the highest level.
It works the same for you in your professional and home lives.
If your chores are taken care of,
if your bills are paid,
if you have open communication with your spouse and you’re on the same page with the kids,
then you’re ready to perform at your best.
Otherwise, when you go to start that business or go out and start the search for a new job, you will not be able to give your best because other concerns in the back of your head will pop up and take away from your focus.
Set the Stage For Your Success
High performance and success are products of sustained focused energy towards a worthwhile goal.
Therefore, we must do what is necessary to make this as easy and as do-able as humanly possible.
Here is another example.
Imagine that you are an Olympic swimmer. You’ve trained for 3 years 6 days a week.
Hours per day.
You haven’t eaten sugar in 3 years.
Today’s the day. You’re swimming against the best swimmers in the world competing for the gold.
Your coach gets a phone call: the Olympic team’s credit card has been declined for the hotel rooms.
Does your coach ask you to help him figure out the problem?
Not a chance.
Your coach wouldn’t dare let you in on the stressful situation behind the scenes.
You’ve got one thing on your mind, and that is the gold medal in the butterfly stroke.
If your goal is professional and personal success, you must do what is necessary to set the stage for that success.
Would Shakespeare prefer his play to be performed on the street during the bustle of the noon hour or would it be more impactful being performed in a grand theater with the lights dimmed and the crowd in silent awe taking in every line?
The answer is obvious.
Set the stage for your success.
