Moment 57 - Why You Need To Forget About The End Result: Sir David Brailsford

May 13, 2022 11m 25s 8 insights
This episode discusses a philosophy of focusing on process over outcome to improve performance and reduce emotional hijacking. It emphasizes understanding one's own emotional and logical brain, setting controllable targets, and developing empathy for others' behaviors.
Actionable Insights

1. Forget Outcome, Focus Process

Actively forget about the final result or outcome of your performance because focusing on it can reduce your chances of success by triggering emotional responses like fight, flight, or freeze.

2. Separate Dreams from Targets

Distinguish between a ‘dream’ (the ultimate, often uncontrollable outcome) and ’targets’ (the controllable actions and processes you can take), then base your plan around these actionable targets.

3. Recognize and Park Emotion

Train your mind to recognize when emotion is taking over, acknowledge it as just emotion, and consciously set it aside to prevent it from illogically dictating your behavior.

4. Develop a ‘Bring Back’ System

Create a personal system or routine (like tying shoelaces) to talk yourself back into the present moment and refocus on the immediate process when you find yourself worrying about future outcomes.

5. Understand Your Emotional Triggers

Dedicate time to self-reflection to understand your emotional brain, identify what triggers your less-than-best self, and recognize the difference between your emotional and logical responses to gain insight into your behavior.

6. Train Mental Skills Consistently

Understand that mental skills can be trained like physical muscles; consistently overload your mind with challenges and allow time for adaptation to strengthen your mental resilience and performance.

7. Empathize Before Reacting

Before reacting emotionally to someone else’s behavior, especially if they seem angry or troubled, pause to consider their perspective and what might be causing their emotional response.

8. Cultivate High Ambition

Maintain high ambition and enthusiasm, believing that you can achieve significant goals, even those that seem unprecedented, and actively stretch your beliefs about what’s possible.