I am not sure if you are aware… there are all these ads. We see them all the time on social media.
I, weirdly see golf one’s all the time. Here are some of my favourite ones.
This one coach promises that a 10-ball sequence will turn fat, shots, thin shots and whiffs into perfectly flushed shots, with highlighted text saying ‘flush contact trick’.
Another coach claims… his swing tip makes it impossible to slice.
And my favourite… ‘this thumb trick makes it impossible to miss’.
Now…
I am not saying these tips, tricks and hacks can’t add value…
However, there is way more involved than just a ‘thumb trick’ in making contact with a ball.
Why do these ads work…
Cause we want the shortcut. The easy way out.
Why?
A simple answer is… Cause learning is uncomfortable, it feels hard.
Think of the money-making ads… these grabbed my attention for a period of time. Weirdly the person selling them, normally says… this took me 10 years to learn… in my 3-month program I will teach you everything I know to get you to 10X your business.
Who wouldn’t be interested in that?
The problem… what they learned in 10 years… they can’t teach all of that in 3 months.
Plus you won’t get all of that stuff into your body to know everything they know.
Then there are the athletes I work with… they want success now… and all the time.
And so they look for a quick fix to solve all their problems.
So to me for a moment…
Last year I was sitting, just out of curiosity, in another one of these presentation-type things where they tell you about how successful their system is in generating quick money. Somewhere in this talk the presenter ‘gave advice’ to a young coach which roughly came to encouraging them to hack their income system and make more money… that is when I realised.
I want the 10, 15, 20-year journey. I want all the experiences because those experiences make me the person and coach I am.
See, I shifted careers 3 years ago, from working as a full-time cricket coach, and part-time mental performance coach, to…
Working as a full-time mental performance coach, and sporadic cricket coach.
In this process, our budget took a huge hit, so naturally I was looking for quick ways to get this new venture going.
This led to more frustration than anything else as my need for speed was met by the slowness of my effort and the process of shifting my brand and reputation.
I realised that if I took the longer approach I would gain so much more, than simply seeking the tip, trick, hack, quick fix.
Here are some of my awareness about playing the long game.
There is no long-term gain in skipping steps. When you walk the path… the highs and lows, along with all the emotions… there is learning, understanding, knowledge and experience that you will not have if you just get a quick fix. This creates a gap in your game that will in all likelihood be your downfall at higher levels.
Spend time on your next step. Instead of spending so much time looking for the magic bullet… spend time on your next growth area. Perhaps that area is mental and not technical… perhaps it’s emotional, not mental… perhaps it’s tactical or physical… learn your next lesson!
Make your basics better. A hack that works for one, in all likelihood won’t work for another. The basics, or fundamentals don’t change. Become better at the basics and let your game have a solid foundation on which to build your skills.
Work on you. Most hacks are physical or tangible… a grip, a swing, a strategy, or an Excel spreadsheet to track something. Better performance is an inside-world thing more than an outside-world thing. Working on the way you view yourself as an example will have a far greater effect on your performance than a trick.
The struggle is the magic sauce. First, it tests your resolve, ie. how important is this for you? Second, struggle, pain and failure are the mechanisms through which you become better.
I don’t know about you…
For me, I know I want the 10-year journey. I am ok with the failure, to learn how to have less of that. I am ok with the success, of understanding how I am at my best. I want the journey so that I can gain every ounce of the experience in the pursuit of being the best mental performance coach I can be…
It is what allows me to meet the needs of my clients.
It is what allows me to write this blog.
It is what allows me to be confident in myself and my abilities.
It allows me to understand myself and my limitations.
It allows me to know what I like and dislike.
It allows me to be more assured about who I work with and who not.
It allows me to learn my values, and what I stand for.
May you have the journey that best serves you.