We step up to bat in the bottom of the 9th.
At the goal line with seconds on the clock.
One putt away from victory.
These are the glory moments.
The ones that catch the attention of everyone. They are etched in our memories and in history.
But they are no more important than the first pitch, throw or tee shot.
Those count just as much.
They are just as critical to the outcome.
And that’s how we should focus our minds.
No more pressure on the last hit than the first. No more extra thinking or tooling to make it “perfect”.
Keep doing what has been working before. The outcome will be the outcome.
The more pressure we put on ourselves the more likely it is that we’ll tense up and overthink and perform poorly.
A better alternative is to stay focused on each attempt. The one right in front of us. And treat it the same as the ones before only with the added benefit of experience layered on top.
When the pressure is on, the question we might want to ask ourselves is “who is putting the pressure on us?”
We control how we react to the situation so we can determine how “big” of a moment we are making it.
The Greats know how to silence the crowd and shrink the moment.
How will we react next time we face a similar situation?