Squirrel Brain

Great performers are well trained, experienced, smart, and in some cases, amazingly talented. But when they are achieving greatness their minds are more akin to squirrels rather than Einstein’s.

Similarly to a squirrel, the best do what they do best without questioning their abilities - they have total faith in their skills. Have you ever seen a squirrel scurry across a telephone wire? What do you think was going through its mind? Nothing - squirrels don’t think, they just scurry.

They are not up there on that telephone wire thinking - “Oh wow this is pretty high up, the wind is quite strong today as well today. If I make a wrong move I am going to fall, and that fall is really going to hurt. It would probably kill me actually, that would be terrible. Ok, concentrate left front foot, now back right foot, wow this is actually much harder than it looks”

Focus on the task at hand, not the external factors.

For example, the act of selling is very different from trying to be a salesman. That business studies diploma isn’t going to be what closes the deal. In fact, if you are thinking about what you should do, then you are just going to look a little foolish, and more than likely fail to close the deal. When you’re in the middle of a deal, you’ve got to switch that part of your brain off, trust yourself, have that squirrel brain.

Recall an occasion when you performed your best, then remember a time when you performed your worst. Compare the two performances and ask yourself, “what made the most difference between these two performances?” Could it have been your mental state that made the most difference?

It doesn’t matter what occasion you remember specifically beyond that the difference between great performances and average performances is mostly mental. Once you ascertain a certain level of skill, it will be your mental strength that will begin to make the difference. The stronger your mind, the better you will become, and as a result, the better the performance.