I have a theory about many high achievers.
I think we get most of the necessary steps to becoming our best.
- We know the importance of being intentional with our goals & process.
- We understand how vital it is to get our daily reps and practice in.
- We absolutely know how big the act of performance is.
But I think we forget the fourth step that is the one that is what separate good achievers from those who become great.
Have a guess what it is?
Watching the post-game tape.
We put so much emphasis in the process leading up to performance (the goal-setting, the practices, etc.) that we often forget that the post-game moments are just as important.
It's in this setting that we:
- Evaluate what we did well: building our confidence, and setting up a foundation to use for next time.
- Evaluate what we did poorly: creating learning opportunities for what we can improve on before next time, build awareness for necessary practice reps before our next performance
- Detach ourselves from the outcome. It's happened. You can't change how that sales pitch went or what the final score was - but you can rewatch it, take notes, and win or lose, use it as a building block for getting better.
Too often we skip this final step after the performance because our sole focus was in that performance moment. We forget that the entire chapter runs past that performance - and how we will/won't use the lessons from it to be better in our next outing.
Don't overlook the importance of reviewing your performance.
- Celebrate your positive work.
- Make notes of where you fell short & how you can improve before next time.
Going from good to great requires a new level of self-awareness that can only be built by reviewing your process & performance after it's taken place. You can't skip the step if you want to be great.