Mastery vs Performance - Which Leads To Long Term Online Success?

Ever been "in the zone" as you do something? Could be something as common as brushing your teeth, taking a swing in golf, or driving a car.

Doing any of these things seems nearly impossible the first time you think about trying them.

So many steps involved. So much that could go wrong.

Driving a car for the first time is an overwhelmingly complicated task. You've got pedals to work with your feet, controls to work with your hands, mirrors and windows to check and recheck, signs and signals to obey… and forget it if there’s anyone else on the street.

I recently read a great article in Men’s Health called "The Science of Swish" by Christopher McDougall, and it got me thinking. Christopher interviewed three guys: one throws tomahawks with freakish accuracy. One performed delicate surgeries with incredible speed - until he retired and landed in the record books for the most successful consecutive free-throws (2,750 without missing a single one). The third was a professor who’s drawn some pretty interesting connections between primitive man’s ability to throw stuff and the nature of being "in the zone."

Tomahawks, surgery, basketball, and survival of the species.

Yeah, that’s a lot of ground to cover, but it’s all tied together by a couple of concepts that could make all the difference in having an online business that’s actually successful.

Let’s look at this - but first a question:

What do you think works better?

1) Focusing on the end results you want
2) Focusing on the process that produces the end results

(Hint: Think of Nike’s slogan.)

Saying you'll get better results by thinking about the end result rather than the process seems counterintuitive. I mean, look at how many "How to" books are out there alone!

Process seems to be the king. Performance is supposed to be the guarantee, right? Look at sports, business, even school, and you can see this hard-wired drive to perform, to get results by following a process.

It’s called a performance orientation. And while it beats just sitting there with no drive, motivation, or action, when it comes to getting results, it comes in a distant second to something much more powerful:

A mastery orientation.

This is how people get extraordinary results, experience extreme levels of personal growth, and live with more satisfaction, happiness, and peace than you might even think is possible.

Let’s see what these guys in the article had in common:

The tomahawk guy’s technique was basically to look at the target and throw. Fast.

The surgeon basically did the same thing in surgery - sounds a little scary, but it was mysteriously far more accurate and ultimately safer for the patients.

When he retired, he used the same process to get good at throwing free throws. Really, really good. In fact, he made 2,750 throws in a row, and ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records. Again… the same basic process: fast, instinctive, focused on the end result.

Of course, it didn't start that way.

Just go out and start throwing sharp objects in your backyard and see what happens. Or try using some of those sharp objects to do a really quick surgery on someone, for that matter.

What came before the "don't even have to think about it" mastery?

A system.

These guys learned every step of a winning system, practicing over and over until it was second-nature to them. They got so good at what they did that it became instinctive.

How’s this apply to having an online business?

It’s really the same thing.

If you focus on learning and mastering the system then results will come.

If you focus on results only, you might achieve them, but you may never be able to duplicate your success.

As a bonus, with mastery, you'll also usually get much greater results now and long into the future along with a high level of personal satisfaction and happiness because you see the growth you went through and achieved.

Getting into this mastery zone involves moving quickly from your conscious mind to your subconscious. The conscious mind has its place, but not in the zone. It likes to stop and ask questions, point at problems, analyze stuff to death. The subconscious is raw power, instinct, speed.

In fact, that’s what Dr. Joe Vitale’s talking about when he says, "Money loves speed."

In mastery, results seem effortless, fun. You look back on what you accomplished and it’s satisfying because you brought it all and created success from thin air. It’s the ultimate satisfaction.

Of course, all this assumes you have a proven system to follow and master. If you don't, then check out Nitro Blueprint System. It not only gives you the system, but also the simple strategies you need to get into mastery mode when using it.

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