Ep 677 | The Preparation and Psychology of Game Day

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. When a professional athlete steps onto the field or the court or the track, something important has already happened. The work has already been done. And game day itself is really just the reveal. The hours of preparation, you know, the conditioning, the film study, the nutrition, the recovery, the mental reps, all of that determines what happens when, when the lights come on. Here's the thing. I think most people in sports, professional sports, they get that. They've— they're at that level for a reason. But most people in business do not behave the same way. Most people in business don't have a training camp. In other words, they just show up on game day to a big meeting, to a negotiation, to a sales pitch, and they wing it. Not saying they don't have a plan, but did they have the same degree of preparation as professional athlete? See, you would never tolerate from a pro athlete this winging it approach. It would never be tolerated. Yet in business, or business people, they allow for it in themselves every single week. If you want to perform like a professional in business, I think you've got to start preparing like one. Maybe said differently, if we believe the professional sport that we play is business, then why do we not prepare like LeBron or anybody that plays a professional sport? Let's back up and break down what I would call the athlete's blueprint. Okay, let's talk about how the elite athletes prepare. First, They have some significant physical conditioning. They don't just play their game, they train so they can play their game. I mentioned LeBron. LeBron's like legendary for spending a crazy amount of money every year on his body. I've seen it reported as like $1.5 million. I've seen LeBron say that's not true. Yes, he has a lot of money to spend, But no matter how we spin it, the guy is taking a significant chunk of change and spending it just on his, his body every single year. Why? So he's physically conditioned to perform at the highest level possible. The pro athlete, the elite athlete studies film. They watch themselves. They watch their team. They watch their opponents to understand patterns and to expose weaknesses. When you think about their pregame routine, what are they doing? They're warming up. They're taking the same shots. They're getting into a rhythm. They're mentally working through what has to happen that day. If you look at a Steph Curry in the NBA, that guy's warm-up is scripted to the minute. I mentioned visualization, mental visualization. Michael Phelps, great example. He mentally rehearsed every single race, and the guy did, you know, participate in a few races. And when I say rehearsed, he thought stroke by stroke until in his head he had already won that race. And then the elite athlete goes through all of this, and then after they compete, they immediately get into recovery mode, which is sleep and nutrition and ice baths and massage and meditation. They treat recovery as training. Every single thing is intentional. Nothing is left to chance. Chance. And I think that's why the game day, uh, I wouldn't call it effortless, but they show up on game day in a, in a much different headspace and physical space. Now, I already mentioned it, but there should be a parallel here that we are thinking about as entrepreneurs with respect to business. This should translate to business. What's your version of that level of preparation? Remember, You're a pro, you're playing the sport of business. Every sales call, every presentation, negotiation, leadership meeting, that is in fact your game day. So what's your conditioning look like? How's your physical and mental fitness? Are you fueling yourself properly? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you maintaining energy for what might be a 12, 14, 16-hour day? In my mind, business conditioning looks like a morning routine and strength training and meditation, hydration, movement. Yes, these things are to benefit your health, but it goes without saying, the healthier you are, the better you should be able to perform in the business world. For example, when the stress spikes, you don't fold. How about film study? I don't expect us all to be reviewing film, necessarily, but do you review your performance after a pitch or a meeting? Do you debrief and, and ask yourself, hey, what went right and what didn't, and how do I improve? Most pros in the business world never listen to their own calls. They never rewatch their presentations. But if you take the best of the best, they're doing things just like that. They are recording and reviewing and ultimately refining their craft. When I think about pregame routine, again, drawing parallels, do you have a consistent mental and physical routine before you do important work? Maybe that's reviewing your notes, maybe it's visualizing the conversation, maybe it's just as simple as breathing deeply for 60 seconds and getting focused. But just like Steph Curry shooting from the same spot every warmup, Your consistency before your game builds confidence when you get in the game. Visualization, like Michael Phelps, do you mentally rehearse success? Before a client meeting, do you imagine the ideal outcome, the client's reaction, your body language, your tonality, your voice tone, your questions? If you've already seen success, you'll, you'll act like it's inevitable. And then when I think around recovery, how do you rest and reset? See, the pros don't burn out because they schedule recovery. They take it seriously. And I think as a professional business person, as an entrepreneur, you should too. Now, that may be, you know, not necessarily the ice bath, although for some of us it might be, but walks, reading, family time, workouts. These things aren't necessarily breaks. They're the investment that lets you go hard the next day and the next day after that. If we want to get, you know, drill down more specifically around what I would call real examples of business preparation, let's talk about the salesperson's warm-up. Before that salesperson dials the first prospect, maybe they read affirmations, maybe they review yesterday's wins, maybe they role-play an objection handle. It's their version of stretching before sprinting. Or how about the business leader or CEO's film room after a major presentation? Does the CEO ask your team maybe to debrief what landed, what missed, what can— what could be sharpened? Is there a recording? I mean, we use Zoom an awful lot. How often do you watch the recordings after they're after the meeting's been held and you could hear and see the hesitations, you could hear every filler word. How about for the negotiator, specifically the negotiator's visualization before you walk into a deal discussion? Could you spend 10 minutes actually picturing both sides, seeing the emotional dynamics, rehearsing calm under pressure? And then when I think about the entrepreneur in general or the entrepreneur's conditioning, entrepreneurs should and could train like an athlete, which means strength work, cardio, breathwork, because the entrepreneur above most all else needs to have mental resilience. They need to have decision quality. And that depends on physical readiness. I think this is how the best perform when it matters and it's not just about talent. It's what I'm describing here. It's preparation. There's a big difference between amateurs and pros. Amateurs show up hoping that they perform all right. Pros show up expecting to and that's likely because they've already done the work. The difference isn't the day of the game, it's the days that lead up to it. So, if you're inconsistent in your preparation, you'll be inconsistent in your performance. In sports, they oftentimes say you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training. Well, that's very true in business too. You don't rise to the sales pitch, you fail to your preparation. You don't rise to the negotiation, you fail to your practice. You don't rise to your leadership, you fall to your habits. So, I think you've got to prepare it like a pro, right? Every day is game day for someone. Maybe for you, it's a day you pitch a new client or present to investors or lead your team. Through change. I think the real question is, will you show up like an amateur or like a professional? The pros are ready before the whistle blows. So, your action item as we wrap up today is to build your own pregame routine. Before your next big meeting or pitch or decision, start working through what's my conditioning going to look like? How will I move my body and breathe and fuel up? What's my review process? What's my visualization process? How will I focus? And how am I going to reflect afterward? Make this your standard because again, pros don't get ready on game day. They get ready for game day. That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.