Approximately a 3-minute read

Happy Monday!

This week’s newsletter is about three quiet forces that shape performance:

The first is crab mentality — the subtle pull that drags you down when you start to rise.
The second is embarrassment — the price of admission to mastery.
The third is overcomplication — building systems that collapse the moment pressure hits.

If you want to build a culture that wins and a standard that lasts, you have to address all three. Let’s dive in:

crab mentality.

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“Your success makes me a failure, which is why I can’t let you be better than me.” This mindset is called the crab mentality—and it’s one of the most common culture killers for your team.

A bucket full of crabs doesn’t need a lid because if one crab tries to climb out, the others will yank it back down. No one escapes. Everyone loses.

The same behavior emerges in bad cultures.

You start improving, making progress, and rising when all of a sudden—the whispers begin. The eyes roll. You receive subtle digs. And before you know it, your supposed supporters start pulling you down. That’s the crab mentality in action.

Break yourself free from this bad team habit through these two things:

First: Refuse to be pulled down. Some people will be threatened by your success. Stand tall anyway.

Second: Don’t become the crab. Cheer for your teammates as they win and applaud their progress.

The tide rises all ships.

Call out the crab mentality when you see it. And build a culture where people push each other up, not pull each other down.

try it:

This week, when someone around you succeeds — pause. Instead of comparing, competing, or minimizing someone else's success, encourage them. Make a conscious effort to lift others up. If you do this, you won't only thrive yourself, you'll have a positive impact on the culture.
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embarrassment.

If you want to master anything, you have to be willing to look a little foolish at first.

Talk to any top figure skater or coach, and you’ll learn this: the figure skaters who make it look easy have fallen more times than you can imagine.

​Alysa Liu is a perfect example of this. Last week, she won Olympic gold in women’s figure skating—not by avoiding mistakes, but by embracing every misstep along the way.

Thousands of falls in the dark lead to flawless routines on the biggest stage.

Most people want the reward, but few are willing to endure the repetition and embarrassment required to get it.

What looks foolish at first becomes second nature if you stick with it. That’s how greatness is built—one imperfect attempt at a time.

try it:

Pick one thing you’ve been avoiding because you might look bad and do it. Expect it to feel awkward, but then do it again the next day. Track your "falls" instead of your wins and celebrate the lessons you learn from each one. Pushing through embarrassment is a competitive advantage that many people struggle to overcome, and this week, you're embracing it.

simple systems.

One reason your system might be failing you is that you’re designing it as if you're a robot.

You’ve built it as if you’ll always remember, always be locked in, and always have the time and energy to execute what you set out to do.

However, you’re human.

You have limited attention, energy, time, and willpower.

Design your system not only to work on your best days, but, even more importantly, on your worst.

In my work with these elite athletes, coaches, and executives, the goal is to build systems that require less thinking—fewer decisions. Clearer priorities. Actions that are obvious and automatic.

When stress hits, you default to your systems.

Here’s the test: If your system only works when you feel great, you don’t have a system.

Build one that works when you’re tired, stressed, and distracted.

Keep it simple so that you can stay consistent.

try it:

Look at your current system, process, or routine. Ask yourself: Could I still execute this if I were exhausted? If the answer is no, create a simplified version. The goal isn't a perfect system; it's one you can execute on your worst day. Build it for consistency, not intensity.

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​​Hope you have a great week!

Justin Su'a

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