THREAD: When I was in high school I was a running phenom.

Then I largely failed.

Here are lessons for the driven that I wish I knew when I was obsessively training and neglecting just about everything else:
Being really good at something at a young age narrows your world. It seems like nothing else matters. That's false.

We need mentors and adults in the world to provide perspective. Having the ability to zoom out is one of the most important skills you can develop.
There are other paths besides going all-in, all the time.

Being obsessed about something seems like a prerequisite for success. That hard work and the grind is what will get you there. That's an illusion.
Hard work absolutely matters.

But so does recovery, so does having friends, family, and hobbies, and other outlets. I know that sounds sacrilegious to the 'pushers', but there's a reason why Nobel Prize-Winning scientists are 3x as likely to have a hobby. We need a break.
Obsession can be both a gift and a curse. It all depends on how you utilize and handle it. Treat it with care. Learn how to direct it and use it when you need it. Learn how to turn the dial down, relax, and be in the moment.
Separate your identity from what you do

When you tie your identity too closely to what you do, anytime you fail at that thing, you will take it as a failure of your true self. It won’t be that I failed at running. It will I am a failure
If you can’t separate yourself from what you do, the losses will hit particularly hard. Instead, embrace your complexity. Understand that running is something that you are really good at. It’s a passion. Embrace how much you care about the sport. But remember it isn’t who you are
Develop a Short Memory and Stop Comparing

Comparisons lack context. We aren’t terribly kind or rational when it comes to our evaluations. We look to our best performance and have amnesia on the rest.
Don’t get stuck in comparison mode.

Don’t look fondly at the glory days and think that they hold some secret to success. It worked in that moment. That moment is now gone.

Focus on what you can do at the moment to get better. Not what worked or didn't in the past.
Keep things in perspective.

No one really cares how fast or slow you run in circles, or whether you published in some magazine or not. The only people who truly care will be there even if you fail at all of those things.

The people who leave, don't really matter.
Don't Follow Your Passion. Do Interesting Things.

Passion isn’t attached to a singular item. It isn’t a magical soul mate that will solve all of your woes. Passion is something to apply. It’s a state that lies in the interplay of interests, obsession, and curiosity. It’s a tool.
Keep it simple. Do interesting things.

That alone is the real key to success. Interests allow you to explore.

Allow your interests to percolate, fuel the ones that show promise, and the rest of the process will largely take care of itself.
Don’t let your goals weigh you down.

Concrete goals are good and fun…until they aren’t.

Your goals will slowly shift from aspirational to anchors. While well-intentioned, the very things that may motivate and push you forward can ultimately weigh you down.
Instead of placing the focus firmly on an external result, shift the focus internal. You can’t truly control if you ever run a mile in under 4 minutes, or write a NYT bestseller. What you can control is getting better.

Being a better runner, person, and student.
Don’t force things.

You are going to experience some tremendous highs and some depressing lows. You’ll question why you do this sport, your job, and much more. At times, life will appear meaningless.
When you force things, you become anxious, you press. You start pushing the boundaries of your principles as the external result begins to supersede the work. Don’t let it.
You can’t shove your way to success. Instead, all you can do is do the work to put yourself in position to succeed, and see what’s there.
If you enjoyed this thread, I tweet about the science and psychology of performance 2x a week, consider following along.

And if you like deep dive, I share a free weekly newsletter which you can check out there:
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More from @stevemagness

1 Feb
THREAD on Leadership and Culture

I've been fortunate to have a lot of successful mentors help along the way. One of the unexpected ones was in the world of football.

Here are 11 lessons I took away from a Super Bowl-winning General Manager on leading a successful team:
Everyone in the building reflects the organization.

Treat them all like they matter because they do.
Don't take motivation for granted.

We often assume the best athletes, the ones who are self-driven, are okay, and don't need motivation.

Don't. They are people. Check-in.
Read 13 tweets
29 Jan
THREAD: What is Great Coaching?

Here are 11 insights I've learned over the past 10 years in working with world-class athletes and coaches across sports.

On Learning, Motivation, Culture, and Sustainable Performance.

👇👇👇
1. Do the Work to Understand.

When you don't know what you're doing, you tend to focus on the small things that don't actually matter. You emphasize what you can control, not what has an actual impact

Do the work to differentiate what looks good versus what impacts performance
2. Drop the Ego. Find People Who Know More.

The best coaches seek out wisdom from others.

Fiercely guarding your "secrets" backfires. Coaching comes from conversation. The more smart thinkers you're talking to, the clearer your thinking will be.
Read 13 tweets
27 Jan
Figuring out who to listen to and what's right/wrong in the world of social media, podcasters, and experts of everything is difficult.

As a scientist and writer here's1 trick & 6 lessons on figuring out if a writer, podcaster, or expert should be listened to or not. 👇👇👇
First, the quick way:
See what an expert says about something in an area you have expertise in.

For example, I search for where they talk about exercise or athletic performance.

If they are wrong but confident in it. It tells you that something is wrong in their thinking
They overindex on superficial understanding and don't do the deep work.

It doesn't mean they'll be wrong on everything, but it should make you question whenever the person ventures away from an area where they've had 'skin in the game' success in.
Read 18 tweets
25 Jan
Leading into today's game, the Packer's defensive coordinator made his team watch last year's loss of the NFC championship.

Let's take a look at why focusing on the negative right before a big game might not be the best idea...

A Thread on hormones & priming for performance:
What we watch can prime us for performance. We intuitively know this. We can sense our emotions and moods change as we watch something good or bad.

But what we often neglect is the hormonal impact that occurs, which can cause a performance impact for days.
Let's walk through a few studies. In this study, researchers found watching a victory increased Testosterone levels by 44%. When watching a defeat, no significant change in T levels.
researchgate.net/publication/26…
Read 14 tweets
22 Jan
The "tough/hardass" coaching model occasionally works on the HS/college level because athletes have no control.

It largely fails on the pro level because athletes have more autonomy & understand their value

Pro's want to be treated as people, not subordinates.

Why? A thread:
It's not that young athletes don't want the same things (autonomy) as older. It's that there's an inherent power differential and they are nearly powerless to escape it.

They "survive" the 'tough' training, they don't thrive under it.
Human motivation is very simple. Self Determination Theory boils it down to 3 basic needs:
1. Feel like you belong
2. Feel like you can make progress
3. Feel like you have some control over your life (autonomy)
Read 13 tweets
19 Jan
With most jobs, you need to be two different people, depending on the situation.

The coach who is demanding and a perfectionist when correcting, yet caring and empathetic after a loss

The author who is creative and forgiving when writing, yet ruthless and critical when editing.
When writing I'm lax & forgiving. The goal is production. Good, Bad, whatever, put it on the paper

My editing self is critical & efficient. Focused on cutting. Trim all but the essential

Separating the 'self' allows you to create space so that the creative self doesn't hesitate
The editing is the hard part for me.

What I do to help is dump all of the ‘cut’ sections into a document titled “Future Ideas and Articles.”

It helps to think of it not as cutting, but as the beginning of a potential new project.
Read 4 tweets

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