Andy Neary argues that blaming bad prospects or lack of connections masks the real problem: not putting in deliberate practice when nobody's watching. Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Mike Trout got great through repetitive, boring preparation. Commit to treating your work as a craft, and you'll see measurable improvement within months.
Are you willing to put in the work when no one is watching? This is a topic that I have wanted to talk about for a little bit now. When I have conversations with insurance advisors and I hear them complaining or being frustrated about not having enough opportunities, my message isn't resonating with my prospects. What I hear more often than not is blaming external factors. My prospects don't get it. They're lazy. They don't want to do anything. No.
It'S not your audience, it's your message. And here's the problem. You are not putting in enough time when no one is watching to make yourself better. I go back to my days in professional baseball, and it used to frustrate me like no other, that when I'd hear people tell me that it must have been nice to play professional baseball, that I had the right connections that hooked me up with the agents and the scouts that got me a contract in pro baseball. And it really angered me. Because what they were ignoring, what they were overlooking, were all the countless hours that I put in making myself a better pitcher. Whether it was out at 6am running those five miles, or on the mound every single day doing the little drills, the boring drills that I had to do to get myself better, to become a better pitcher and give myself that opportunity to play professional baseball. I suggest you start doing the same. If you're not getting the results you want right now, whether it's in sales or any job that you have, stop thinking of your job as a job and start thinking of it as a craft. Start honing your craft. Do the work. Put the work in when no one is watching. You want to know what separates the good from the great. The great are willing to put the work in when no one is watching. The countless hours, the monotony. When you're watching TV and you see Tom Brady throwing that tough touchdown in the super bowl, you see LeBron James driving the lane and dunking, or you see Mike Trout hitting the home run, you go, oh, it must be nice to have their life. What you're overlooking is the countless hours of monotony, of boredom that they put in to become who they are today. And you're not willing to put those hours in. You're just showing up for your meetings. You're just thinking you can get there, be there and have the talent to win. And. And the reason you're not winning is because the others who you are competing with are putting in the time to get better. You're not. So if you're out there today, you're listening to this, you're in sales or any other career, and you're not getting the results you know you deserve to have. It's because you are not putting the time in when no one is watching. It's the work you put in when no one is watching. Whether you're in sales, you're a speaker, you're an HR director. I don't care. Start putting in the time and the effort to make yourself better every single day. I promise you, if you do that.
One month from now, one quarter from now, one year from now, you will be getting the results you want. Because you will be so much farther along than you are today. Because those who achieve greatness are the ones who are willing to go through the monotony and boredom of success to get there.
