Poor "whatever it takes" is really getting a drubbing!
When I first started working from home, I heard "whatever it takes" a LOT!
Was I willing to do "whatever it takes" to develop my skills, build a business...or was I "not serious"?
Not liking either of those, my quest for a third option led me to my skate bag, where most of life's answers lurk within.
As an adult skater, I felt the sting of humiliation for fourteen long years, as I strove to master the mental game of competing/performing. Along the way, I watched my share of elite skaters, and I noticed that there always seemed to be a few in the very top ranks who had a reputation for being "inconsistent." Inconsistency could mean rarely having a clean short program and a clean long program in the same competition, or it could mean doing a particular jump well in practices and in warm-up, but rarely executing it in competition. Or, it could mean mentally giving up in a program, once an element was missed. I knew I would never join the ranks of elite skaters, but it finally occurred to me that I could do one thing as well as, or even better than, the top international skaters:
I could focus. In fact, I could have elite-level focus. "Championship focus" became a personal catch-phrase and the goal of all my performances. Everything else flows from championship focus.
If it works, and it does work really well for skating, can championship focus be the cornerstone for success in other areas of life? Is championship focus a good substitute for that vague-but-you-know-it's-awful "whatever it takes"? I believe it can. I work from home, and the dirty dishes can be a distraction. Will championship focus help me ignore them for a couple hours? Of course. Or, I have a writing deadline to meet. Can championship focus keep me off the internet? Absolutely. In fact, championship focus feels successful in and of itself. Focus produces targeted activity; targeted activity produces success (eventually). Championship focus is mastery over the self, and once the self is in hand, it really is possible to do....whatever it takes.
I find that my problem centers around the idea that “Champion Focus” takes a great deal of energy... sometimes I find it helpful to get through a situation doing “whatever it takes” until I have the energy to exert “Champion Focus” to a task. Love this concept and your explanations... good thing toward which to strive!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you shared your perspective, because I find exactly the opposite. Funny how different people internalize the same words differently, no? For me, "whatever it takes" sounds huge and unpleasant, while Championship Focus feels much smaller and more manageable, and your perspective is just the reverse! That's good for me to keep in mind!
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