I have always been fascinated by professionals, those people who are masters of their craft, who function at an elite level, and who can produce results that many of us mere mortals can only dream about. Whether it be in sport, business or in the arts, they appear to be able to execute their strategies with precision, and seem to handle pressure with ease. So I was ecstatic when I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to have lunch with a professional golfer. Here was a fantastic opportunity to have a one on one conversation with a professional, and seek to identify the ‘secret ingredient’ that separates the pros from the amateurs.
It was a fascinating conversation and I was very fortunate to be able to gain an insight into the world and routine of a professional, and what made them ‘tick’. We discussed various professional sportspeople across multiple sporting disciplines, and I was extremely curious to understand what made the difference at the elite level – was it luck or was it skill? Interestingly, sportspeople at the elite level are very talented, and typically there is not a big gap between the top ranked player and the bottom ranked player, in terms of talent. In fact elite sportspeople have a number of traits or attributes in common, including : Continue Reading