An athlete's approach to life
I have always been fascinated by athletes. The sacrifices, the pressure, the discipline these are the qualities that atheletes work on day in and day out.
If you think about it, they have been following the same schedule for decades. Embracing the monotony. At the top level all athletes are very talented. But, the best of the best are just built different. It can't be talent that differentiates #1 and #20. The difference is purely mental.
This is a list of first principles that I have seen the top 1% of athletes follow , irrespective of their sport :
Master the fundamentals
Forget the fluff, master the fundamentals at a deep level. You can easily filter out people who are great at something and people who are geniuses by their mastery of the fundamentals. The know the technicalities of their sport at a very granular level.
Work on your weaknesses
Be supremely critical of your performance . That’s the only way to improve . Analyse from a bird’s eye view. Detach your own inhibitions , pride , ego from your identity. And direct all your attention to improve with manic insistence. Don't take criticism from someone you wouldn't take advice from. Analyse your weaknesses and work on them relentlessly.
Study the greats
There have been great men and women before you, with worse odds than you, lesser resources than you. Who went on to do far greater things than you can possibly imagine. Be humble and learn from them. Study them. Embody them. Iron sharpens iron.
Focus
All this will be null and void. If you are unable to focus on your craft. It should feel like worship. All those fools who boast about work-life balance just don’t get it. They have never been in an environment where excellence is expected. It will not feel like work. Obsession takes over. The world will try its very best to convince you that you have lost your mind. Good. It means you are definitely doing something right. Focus on what matters. Focus on being an undeniable force in your sport. All the wealth, women, cars will not feed your hunger for excellence as much as winning will. To win, you must focus on what matters.