You are the Driver, Not the Car

There is an element of confidence and detachment that comes with professional sports. It makes their performance better to separate themselves mentally in very specific ways yet remain completely engaged to lock in and push. As one athlete said to me, “You are the driver, not the car—if you confuse the two, you crash.”

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We see that on the sidelines—we’ve all watched as athletes self-destruct on the field, track, or court. Perfectly capable people with all of the talent in the world can hit the wall or pull off the most unthinkable victories of their careers.

The difference maker is their head game. 

Pro sports are as personal as performance gets. The puck you hit or the ball you throw is seen as a reflection of who you are. Fans come to watch you play, wear jerseys with your name on the back, and invest time, energy, and money into watching what you can do. You *are* the game to everyone around you…and that expectation, if ingested, can mess with many athletes’ headspace day in and day out.

In reality? It messes with a lot of founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and executives, too. You’ve got to know where the person ends and the craft begins—how to use your emotions and not allow them to sink you. These are all interlinked but separate.