In the movie “For The Love Of The Game,” Kevin Cosner is a major league baseball pitcher standing on the mound in the middle of Yankee stadium. The crowd’s noise level, the ballpark, and the stadium around him are so distracting; there would be no way he could focus on pitching a baseball accurately. However, the professional pitcher he portrays can filter out the noise or, as his character says, “Clears the mechanism.” In his mind, he filters out everything, and all he sees is the catcher’s mitt. He sees nothing but the task at hand.
Sensory Overload
Suppose you could imagine being an Army Apache helicopter combat pilot. Daily, you would sit in the cockpit of a machine with more gauges, warning lights, information, and noise than the average human could comprehend, interpret, and act upon all of the data being provided. This week’s guest discusses how when he was a pilot and the master warning light came on, his training took over. He was able to block out all the distractions present in the cockpit and just fly the aircraft.
Cramming For Finals
Many times in life, similar to final’s week, there are so many things fighting for our time and attention. We can get so distracted by all of the things around us that we can not get started; instead, we get paralyzed. The same feelings can surface in the corporate environment when large, time-sensitive projects put us in stressful situations. These are the times we need to put the blinders on and filter out all non-critical things in our peripheral vision. Our ability to do that will allow us to achieve our goals and just fly the aircraft.
Our Guest
This week’s guest is a retired Lieutenant Colonel and Apache helicopter combat pilot Bryan Price. Dr. Price earned a B.S. in U.S. History from West Point, an M.A. in International Relations from St. Mary’s University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University. Besides his numerous military accomplishments and commendations, he is a nationally recognized leadership development and terrorism expert. He is no stranger to being asked to brief Congress members and other high-ranking government and military officials.
Bryan Price is the founding executive director of the Buccino Leadership Institute at Seton Hall University and the founder of Top Mental Game. You will find his interview with me engaging and informative. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Video Podcast
Audio Podcast
Action Items
Get Feedback: Start today and seek out opportunities that can put you in contact with a mentor who can provide you feedback. You cannot achieve consistent personal development without having a feedback mechanism in place. A mentor can be the person who can be that mechanism who will provide feedback and take an active role in your success.
Just Fly: It is a fact that you will face a situation that will require your undivided attention. Set yourself up for success to “just flying the aircraft” by disconnecting from anything not critical to the task at hand. Instagram and TikTok will be waiting for you when you accomplish your goal. Find a quiet place, and do not forget to know what resources are available to you if you need assistance. Asking for help is a sign of someone invested in their self-improvement and never a weakness.
Do Not Be An Imposter: The Imposter Syndrome can hold you back from attempting what you can achieve. It is a mindset that can make you shy away from an opportunity to catapult yourself to the next level. Challenge your talents and skills and take a chance on yourself. You will only experience failure if you fail to learn and grow from a failed attempt.
Conclusion
You can get on a path to a good start in whatever it is you want to achieve if you just: Attempt what it is you want to accomplish, if you fail, seek feedback for improvement, and then clear all distractions to complete that task. Then repeat. Doing these things can and will help you get a good start.
Contact Me
I appreciate feedback of all kinds, so please email me any questions or feedback to scott@getagoodstart.com. Have a great week, and remember, it doesn’t take a lot to get a good start; you just have to start. Thank you.
