This is going to involve a lot of sports talk, so stay with me here.
I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan since I knew what the NFL was. As a Packers fan, I’ve been extremely lucky to watch two of the best play quarterback for the past 25+ years: Brett Favre and now Aaron Rodgers.
Week over week, the Packers seem to flirt with losing. And more times than not, Aaron Rodgers will get the ball at the end of the game with very little time left and orchestrate a ridiculously efficient game-winning comeback drive.
And no one is surprised anymore – in fact, they’ve come to expect it. Down three points yesterday, the commentators said at the beginning of the drive that 1:13 remaining was giving Rodgers too much time. Sure enough, he marched the team down the field and threw the winning touchdown.
But if it’s really that expected and common, why don’t the Packers score on every drive?
I know that sounds kind of absurd. Of course a team isn’t going to score on every drive, or even nearly every drive. But really, what’s the difference?
I think that backed into a difficult situation with a lot on the line, two things happen:
- The level of focus increases
- A team’s appetite for risk increases
You may see where I’m going here. It stands to reason that if the team could consistently raise their level of focus and/or appetite for risk across the board, they would be unstoppable.
I would bet that it’s the same for any “performer” regardless of the work you are doing. If you increase your level of focus and take more calculated risks, you are likely to have better results on average over the long term.
Or you could emulate the Browns, if you prefer.