Inspiration and Life
7 Basics for Staying at the Top
Stay at the top of your game
Did you know all high-performers share the same basics? Are you at the top of your game, or do you desire to get there? While being at or getting to the top of your game can mean different things to different people, let’s focus on an important part of life, your career. There are a few basics high-performers do that can separate you from the crowd and either put you on top or keep you there.
What it means to be at the top of your game
Being at the top of your game originated in the sports world and applied directly to any professional. You are a professional practicing your profession. Do you not see yourself this way?
According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, a professional is defined as anyone “engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.” This means what you do to earn a living makes you a professional. Regardless of what you do!
Whatever your job is, why not get to the top of your game? Some fundamentals or basics professionals do in every field to get on top and stay at the top of their game include:
- Preparing
- Getting back up
- Not stopping short
- Competing against yourself
- Overcoming yourself
- Applying consistent effort
- Working on yourself
Are you at the top of your game at work? Do you want to be? If so, let’s look at what underlies each of these fundamentals.
Preparing
Are you familiar with the Scout motto “Be prepared”? Millions of Scouts and former Scouts worldwide not only know the motto but believe in it. If you are unprepared, what will you do when you face a hardship? As the old saying goes, “a little preparation goes a long way.”
“By failing to [prepare], you are [preparing] to fail.” Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
Those who work to prepare for what is to come are often considered lucky. But those who prepare know It is more than luck. It is called work! This was recognized by Seneca two thousand years ago!
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Seneca (c. 4BC — 65AD)
There is a great deal of truth in the necessity of preparing in life. Practically everyone is familiar with the adage that success is 90% preparation and 10% perspiration. The more you prepare, the more you set yourself up for success and staying at the top of your game. How much preparation have you done this year? This month? This week? Today?
“It’s not the will to win that matters — everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Paul “Bear” Bryant (1913–1983)
Are you prepared, or do you prefer to continue through life unprepared?
Getting back up
In life, it is inevitable you will fail at times. It is what we humans do! It is how we learn and improve. It is how we rise to the top of our game. To stay at the top, you cannot be afraid to fail. There is no room there for the risk-averse. Those who get to the top and stay there learn the lesson of getting back up each time they fail.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela (1918–2013)
If you’ve never had a setback, keep working long enough, and you will! Everyone eventually experiences difficulty in their career. How you go through it and come out of it is up to you. If you believe in yourself and have the right attitude, the probability of coming out on top is extremely high.
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” Vince Lombardi (1913–1970)
Never view failing as being defeated. While failing may set you back, get up and begin the work of overcoming the defeat and get back on track to win. Take the attitude that if you lose, you can play another game, and each time you do, your chance of success increases.
“Being defeated is often temporary, giving up makes it permanent.” Marilyn von Savant (1946-present)
What is an example of getting back up in your life?
Not stopping short
When you learn the lesson of not stopping too soon, you will go far in life. By not stopping short, you can not only get to the top, but you can stay there.
“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” Ross Perot (1930–2019)
Stopping short is for ordinary and average people, not those who excel. Did you know in the sales profession, 8% of the salespeople make 80% of the sales! A National Sales Executive Association study concluded that 80% of sales occur after the fifth sales call, yet 92% of salespeople give up before making five calls! This applies to many other professions as far too many quit before they succeed! It’s no wonder so many people get stuck in life. If they would only go a little further and not give up, their success rate would skyrocket. Have you given up on anything of late?
Learn from the wisdom of one of the greatest inventors of all time:
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison (1847–1931)
How can you develop the strength of not stopping short?
Compete against yourself
Rather than compete with others, why not compete with yourself? Is there any more worthy adversary?
Someone else may be better at something, for now. Yet if you work on who you are and who you are becoming, you will not only improve yourself, you will likely eclipse everyone else in the process. All it takes is time, patience, persistence, and perseverance.
“The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” Steve Young (1961-present)
You are your best competition. When you strive to learn, grow, and improve each day, investing in yourself, you accumulate enormous potential with which you can work. The value you produce will pay huge dividends for the remainder of your life.
“The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.” 14th Dalai Lama (1935-present)
As you compete against yourself, regularly improving, you cannot help but rise to and be at the top of your game.
How are you competing against yourself? If you aren’t, when will you start?
Overcome yourself
The greatest enemy of most people is themselves!. The self-limiting beliefs, negative self-talk, poor self-esteem, and a bad attitude can hold you back if you let them. These are areas you must become vigilant in overcoming. Otherwise, they will overcome you. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
“Remember: We all get what we tolerate. So stop tolerating excuses within yourself, limiting beliefs of the past, or half-assed or fearful states.” Tony Robbins (1960-present)
To get to the top of your game, you must work on and overcome that ever-present part of yourself telling you what you can and can’t do. Rather than letting it attempt to protect you from failing or looking weak, push ahead with great enthusiasm for what you are working toward accomplishing!
Whatever you do, believe in yourself and remove the limits you or anyone else has placed on your life, and remember:
“Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.” Les Brown (1945-present)
Do you recognize the part of you that tries to hold you back? If so, how will you overcome it?
Applying consistent effort
Getting to and staying at the top of your game requires being consistent, meaning you must keep moving forward each day. Moving forward, no matter how little or how much progress you make, will eventually get you to where you want to go.
“Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
While you are working at being consistent, why not work on yourself by taking the following advice from a young lady who left an indelible mark on the world in her short life:
“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day.” Anne Frank (1929–1945)
Are you one of the few to apply consistent effort in your career? If not, how can you become one who does?
Working on yourself
There is nothing more important than working on yourself when it comes to getting to the top of your game and staying there. The most significant piece of advice you will ever get for your career and life is from America’s foremost business philosopher:
“Work on yourself more than you do on your job.” Jim Rohn (1930–2009)
Not only will working on yourself get you to and keep you at the top of your game, but it can also do more than all of the education in the world.
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” Jim Rohn (1930–2009)
There is little doubt the most valuable thing you can do in life is to work on yourself. This work makes you who you are and who you are becoming. By working on yourself, you can live a full, productive, successful life at the top of your game!
“To double your income and success, triple your investment in personal development and professional mastery.” Robin Sharma (1964-present)
How are you working on yourself? If you aren’t, when will you start?
Final thoughts
Start small and begin building each of these fundamentals into your life. As they become a natural part of who you are, you will undoubtedly rise to the top of your game and stay there your entire career. In this process, you will strengthen an important part of your life’s foundation, your attitude. With the right attitude, you will become unstoppable!
I leave you with the wisdom of one of America’s greatest poets to encourage and challenge you:
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine — and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
Go forth, work on yourself to generate the version of you that will create the future you deserve!
LinkedIn |Twitter| Medium| UncommonSense| AmazonAuthorPage | Parlor
Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION
Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!
