The Increase Your Impact Newsletter is your Monday morning edge, created for growth-minded individuals. Each issue is a 2-3-minute read that delivers actionable strategies and powerful stories straight from my work with the world’s top performers. I 'd love to have you join my weekly email list and join thousands of others who are striving to get better, just like you.
IYI Newsletter: focus on what you can control
|
Approximately a 3-minute read Hope you're doing well! Many, many years ago, I saw the movie The Mask of Zorro, and one scene that sticks in my mind has nothing to do with sword fighting. Alejandro Murrieta arrives at his mentor's dwelling, boiling with rage. His brother has been killed. His village has been crushed by a corrupt regime. He wants revenge, and he wants it against an entire army. He is untrained, undisciplined, and impulsive. His feeling of hopelessness has led him to heavy drinking. Don Diego de la Vega, the aging, imprisoned, all-but-forgotten Zorro, doesn't answer Alejandro's rage with a plan for the army. He points to a circle on the ground. "This circle will be your world," he tells him. "Your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise, there is nothing outside of it." Alejandro objects and begins to ask about the soldiers, the injustice, the vengeance waiting for him outside. Don Diego cuts him off. "They will exist when I tell you they exist," he replies. "Master this circle, and the circle grows. Master that one, and it grows again." The truth Don Diego understood was that Alejandro's problem was never the army. It was that he had made the army his entire field of vision, and, in doing so, had rendered himself useless. He was pouring his energy into a target he could not touch, and had nothing left for the one thing he could actually change: himself, today. We do this to ourselves. We consume ourselves with worst-case scenarios, decisions loved ones are making, or unfortunate circumstances we find ourselves in. These things are real. Our concern for them is not irrational. But concern is not the same as control, and the confusion between the two is what exhausts us. So the discipline is not to care less. It is to focus on our circle, as small as it may be. What is actually inside of that circle? Our effort. Our attitude. Our response to adversity. The way we speak to the people who live inside the walls of our home. The single next task we've been avoiding. The things we can control. Master the circle, and the circle grows. Have a great week! Justin Su'a At the Performance Advisory Group, we’re passionate about helping people live a process-driven life. If you’re a sports parent and interested in your child working with one of our Process Coaches, reply to this email, and I'll give you more details. If this email was forwarded to you and you want it to come directly to your inbox, click here to subscribe |
Justin Su'a
The Increase Your Impact Newsletter is your Monday morning edge, created for growth-minded individuals. Each issue is a 2-3-minute read that delivers actionable strategies and powerful stories straight from my work with the world’s top performers. I 'd love to have you join my weekly email list and join thousands of others who are striving to get better, just like you.
Approximately a 2-minute read Good Morning! There's a moment that happens in almost every serious pursuit, regardless of whether you're in professional sports, a student, an executive, or even at home. It's when the path becomes seemingly too difficult to bear. It's when you realize you underestimated how hard the journey would actually be. I once spoke with a professional athlete who was in the middle of this exact part of his path. He said things had gotten tough, and he wondered how much...
Approximately a 2-minute read Good Morning! Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about ambiguity. Not in some abstract, philosophical sense, but in the way it quietly shows up in everyday life when we are not completely sure what we are doing, why we are doing it, or whether we should fully commit to it. One definition of ambiguity is "a lack of exactness, " and that word, exactness, has been sticking with me because I’ve noticed how much hesitation and indecision can come from simply not making...
Approximately a 3-minute read Hello! When someone you care about is struggling, it’s easy to overwhelm them with corrections. I know it's coming from a good place. You want to help. You want them to get better. So you point out the missed detail, the poor word choice, the gap in preparation, or the pattern that needs to change. Then the conversation ends, but neither of you is sure what happens next. As a leader, one of your principal roles is to direct attention to what's next. Feedback...