Our Performance Equals Our Potential...Or Does It?

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

“Success and failure come with great interference.”  Winston Churchill

I received this drawing from one of my Facebook friends this week. I do not know it’s origin but was taken by its truth. So many times we expect a “B-line” to success without any detours or bumps in the road. But “what it really looks like” is much more accurate.

Interference has its way of creeping in. I have always felt there were two types of interference. One is the uninvited and unwelcome that can show up at any time in the form of a neighbor, family member, or personal problem that needs your attention. Then there are the sought after and sometimes even fabricated interferences used as an excuse to escape the task at hand. Either must be overcome in order for us to move forward to success.   

Marketing is no different. We will be distracted along the way but will need to correct and get back on track. I once heard the example of the guided missile used. We are all similar to a guided missile. We are constantly going off track and must be guided back on track. Unlike the guided missile we do not have the convenience of technology constantly monitoring us and guiding us back. This we must do ourselves.

David L. Cook, PhD is a renowned performance and sports psychologist. I found one of Dr. Cook’s points in Mindset of a Champion: Performing Your Best When it Means the Most to be particular to writers and their performance. We assume our Performance equals our Potential. But Dr. Cook says Performance equals Potential minus Interference. Dr. Cook told of Magic Johnson speaking to the Washington Wizards. They had their best year in over ten years and were headed to the playoffs.  Magic told them as the playoff begins interference mounts. Managing interference at this stage of the game is vital. Dr. Cook said he was there to prepare them for the interference that was about to come in their life. All the hype had to be overcome in order to win the playoffs. I recommend writers seek his help with interference by getting a copy of Mindset of a Champion: Performing Your Best When it Means the Most.

Watch for an interview with Dr. David L. Cook author of Golf’s Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links of Utopia and its movie adaptation Seven Days in Utopia, in the November issue of Southern Writers Magazine.