I saw the quote below from NeatPrompts this week and can’t get it out of my head:

I talk with coaches, athletes, and executives all the time. They tell me what they want - the championship, the promotion, the breakthrough performance. But they aren't honest with the cost. They want the outcome without accepting what it actually takes to get there. Wanting something doesn't get you anything. It comes down to what you're willing to do. To me, it's just one question: Am I willing to pay the price for what I want?

Greatness lives in the gap between what you want and what you're willing to sacrifice to get it. Most people live in that gap their whole lives, wondering why they never made it. They wanted it badly enough to talk about it, to dream about it, to say it out loud. But they weren't willing to pay the price.

Ask yourself:

Wanting something doesn't make you deserving of it. Being willing to sacrifice for it does.

Thirty minutes before Olympic races, Apolo Anton Ohno's brain would attack him. "Did you train hard enough?" "That guy looks stronger than you." "What if you mess up?" Every athlete at that level experiences this. The difference is what they do next.

Most athletes try to block these thoughts out. They fight them. They tell themselves "Don't think that way" or "Stay positive." Ohno did something completely different. He said: "This is normal. It's okay. Now let it go."

Why this works: Fighting negative thoughts makes those thoughts stronger. The act of trying to suppress a thought actually reinforces it. Your brain hears "don't think about messing up" and focuses on "messing up." Accepting the thought removes its power. When you acknowledge "yes, this doubt is here, and that's normal for humans under pressure," you stop wrestling with it. You can let it pass and redirect to what you can control.

Before big moments, expect doubt. It's not a sign something's wrong - it's proof you care about the outcome. When doubt shows up, think: "That's normal for humans under pressure. Now, what do I control?" This mental framework - accept, acknowledge, redirect - is how elite performers stay composed when their brains try to sabotage them.

👉 Inside Premium this week, I break down all five of Apolo Anton Ohno's mental training secrets - including how he used visualization to program his nervous system for success and the breathing technique that kept him calm. This is the complete mental system behind eight Olympic medals. → Upgrade today

Kirby Smart said it perfectly: "Don't be a blame guy. That's the first sign of loser mentality when you blame someone else for a mistake." Great teams don't play the blame game. They take ownership and responsibility. But blame isn't the only toxic game that destroys teams - it's just the most obvious one.

There are six games that high-performing teams refuse to play: blame, complain, comparison, gossip, avoidance, and excuse. Each one erodes trust, fragments focus, and creates a culture where mediocrity can hide.

These games are seductive because they feel productive in the moment. Blaming someone else protects your ego. Complaining bonds you with others over shared frustration. Comparing yourself to teammates gives you temporary relief if you're ahead or motivation if you're behind. Gossiping makes you feel connected through shared information. Avoiding difficult conversations feels easier than confronting them. Making excuses provides rational explanations for falling short. But none of these games make you better. They just make you feel better about not being better.

The reality is we're all subject to these games, and we all make mistakes. Nobody is immune to falling into blame when something goes wrong or complaining when conditions aren't ideal. The difference in championship cultures isn't that these temptations don't exist - it's that there are systems and standards that make playing these games socially unacceptable. When someone starts blaming, the team redirects to solutions. When someone starts complaining, the team refocuses on what they control. When comparison, gossip, avoidance, or excuses show up, the culture doesn't tolerate it because everyone understands these games destroy what they're trying to build together.

Smart's insight about blame being "the first sign of loser mentality" applies to all six games. The moment you externalize responsibility - whether through blame, complaints, comparisons, gossip, avoidance, or excuses - you've given away your power to improve. Championship teams take ownership. They address problems directly. They focus on their own performance instead of others'. They have hard conversations instead of avoiding them. They find solutions instead of reasons why things didn't work. The question isn't whether you'll be tempted to play these games. You will. The question is whether your culture makes it easier to take ownership or easier to play games that make mediocrity comfortable.

For coaches and leaders:

For athletes and performers:

All of these posts and more are in the Coaching Vault.

What I am reading and listening to:

📚 Book: The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack canfield

🎥 Video: Clark Lea (Head Football Coach Vanderbilt‬) on Beating #1 Alabama, Instilling Character & more

🎧Podcast: Confidence, Anxiety, and Resilience | AMA Vol. 4 with Dr. Michael Gervais

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