Keep Chopping Wood. Wednesday, May 24

Wednesday, May 24

In sports, sales, and life, we often discuss the idea that you need one win. Getting your first sale is the most difficult, running your first mile is the most difficult, and going to your first day at the gym is the most difficult. But you just need one.

Closing one deal gives you the confidence you can close 100 deals. Getting one win gives you the confidence to win every time you step on the court or field. You may have believed you could get the one, but now you have the data point that makes it true. Getting one is a breakthrough moment. Because once you get one, it’s easier to get the next one. And then you get the next one, which gives you the two things you need to keep going: confidence and momentum.

This idea isn’t just a touchy-feely thing; it’s real. I saw a study the other day that shows what happens in the brain when you do something difficult. It lays down a complete track or a pathway. It’s essentially saying you started something, and you finished it. And that pathway makes it more likely you’ll finish the next hard thing. It’s the path of building resiliency and mental toughness.

On the flip side, if you don’t finish the hard thing - if you give up before you close your first deal, quit before you get a win, or decide to sleep in rather than go to the gym - your brain creates a gap. It shows you started something but didn’t finish. And that gap will make it harder for you to complete the next difficult thing. It will make it easier for you to quit.

If you want to be about getting better, you have to do hard things. You have to get your one win. You have to stay in the game. Is it easy? Of course not. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

The one hard thing you’ve been putting off, considering giving up on, delaying? Do it today. Go get your win.

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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin