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Welcome back to Total Barnage.
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Welcome back to another episode.
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Today I am going to be talking about Stephen Pressfield's book, Turning Pro, and some of the ideas that he discusses in this book.
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This is a book that I read about probably about three years ago now.
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This was before I went out to the US to try my hand at advancing my running career, which is still a work in progress.
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It was a decision that I made.
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I was inspired to read it after reading one of his other books called The War of Art.
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And I was interested when I was in my final year at uni when I was deciding to go and pursue my running career as my main purpose.
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I wanted to give more to it and I wanted to change my mindset.
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So I read this book, Turning Prime.
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I was excited to read it.
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I wanted to see how I would view things differently if I changed my mindset towards acting like a professional rather than an amateur.
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And going through this book, I just want to give a couple of ideas, some things that have stuck with me.
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And since just preparing for this episode, going back through some of my notes that I made a few years ago, and then adding a little bit more of maybe what I've learned in the process and uh trying to encourage you to.
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I think we have a lot of things on this podcast, maybe about getting things done, how to get stuff done, uh, what you what is necessary to get things done.
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But this is more the next stage.
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This is for those of you that are really kind of excited to learn more, that have um got that fire, that inspiration that you don't just want to do things to a minimum standard, you're not really someone that likes to do the bare minimum, and you want to maybe elevate your performance, you want to understand more about yourself on the journey and actually get more out of it.
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So, the main thing about this book that I see that I take from it are kind of three ways to describe this.
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The first is Stephen Pressfield's way of comparing the amateur versus the professional, uh, and I will go through some of the qualities that the amateur um presents, possesses in this book, and then how you shift to what that looks like as a professional.
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There is then the more sports psychology term of mastery versus performance, mastery being the process of learning, focusing on skill acquisition and continuous personal improvement versus performance, which is more about specific outcomes, you want to validate your competence, it's kind of constant comparison.
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So, for example, mastery is saying, you know, I've I've done my best and I've done all that I can do, and then performance is maybe saying that you missed a goal that might have been based on certain um circumstances, certain things that are out of your control, but you're focusing on just purely the the outcome.
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Uh, it is the zero sum view, so zero sum in performance, meaning you know, if someone else wins, then you lose, like there can only be one winner, rather than a positive sum view of um, yes, there might be you know more things that you could have done, or by the metric, there is a position that you could have um achieved that is greater than what you've done, but on the whole, it's that there are more winners, and we can all get something out of the process even if you don't win.
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So it's more of a self-understanding, more of an infinite game mindset.
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Uh, and then one more thing, a perspective that I'd like to add to it is that there is the idea of ticking the box, just getting things done, which you know is is difficult in itself.
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That just getting things done is is tough, having discipline to do it, um, having the execution just to get things done is difficult.
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But then there is the next stage, which is to fill in the box, to do things to completion, to get more out of what you're doing, to really explore a more of a personal philosophy, a personal approach to um to your pursuit, whether it be in the gym, whether it be at work, in relationships, and it's to raise that standard to understand uh more about the pursuit, more about yourself as a reflection of the actions that you have, how you interact with people, um, and to have that constant progress.
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So it's more about the process rather than uh the outcome.
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So let's get into that's a quick overview of the difference between the amateur and the professional.
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The amateur has a zero-sum view of reality.
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If they win, someone else loses, if someone else wins, they lose.
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The amateur also has a performance mindset, they're focused on specific outcomes, they are controlled maybe by the opinions of others, are always constantly comparing themselves to others, and the amateur therefore uh kind of lives in a state of fear and in that finite state and can't explore as much as the professional.
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So that first thing, zero sum versus positive sum view of things.
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Um, for example, you know, in in the gym, if you're looking around and you are seeing people lift more than you, um, they are you know, there is a certain lift that you're doing in a class or in a session, um, and you see that someone's lifting more, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're not doing enough.
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There are so many factors towards it.
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Uh, this person may be a different age, they may be a different gender, they may be training for, first of all, for a different period of time, may have different experience in it, but also might be training for a different domain, and they might have specific goals that they're focusing on.
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There's then more variables, right?
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Not even just inside the gym, but outside, like what's their what's their life like, what is their you know situation at home, in their relationships, have they got kids, have they not everything like that.
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So it makes it very difficult to to actually compare.
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And if you're constantly comparing just one measure, um, then you're missing the whole picture of what you can put into it, and actually it's distracting you if you use it as a kind of negative form of comparison of saying, Well, you're not enough because you're comparing on that particular metric, you're actually missing out on a hell of a lot of growth and fulfilment in your own journey.
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Um, and this is where the positive sum view of the professional, the sort of mastery aspect of it, comes into play.
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Where just because someone is lifting different to you, less or more, doesn't make your efforts any less you know, any less admirable.
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Um, it doesn't mean that you are behind in any sort of way.
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Um however, I would say on that case, that and Stephen goes into it in in his book, is that the professional always looks for feedback um to get better themselves.
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So, you know, think of instead of just like immediately instinctively comparing yourself to someone else, think, okay, is this person's achievement is that highlighting something within my process that I might be lacking?
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Um if I see them showing up every day, or if I see them all the times that I'm there, does that mean for me that you know, am I putting in as much as I can?
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Am I investing as much effort as I can?
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Do I have standards that should be higher?
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Um, should I set higher standards for myself and be inspired by someone else's progress rather than using it as constant comparison?
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Uh I see you know competition is something about striving together, not just competing against each other, but it's more collaboration with each other for a higher goal, um, whether it's for a team or an individual or you know, something greater than yourself.
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So in the well, in the Latin, complao or competo to compete means to strive together, and that is the kind of infinite view, the infinite game mindset of competition is not that you know there are medals in day-to-day life.
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When it comes to sport, there are finite games, finite rules, but day to day this doesn't necessarily apply, and even within sport, those things are again that's that singular measure of success on that day with that effort.
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Um, there is a lot more to the story.
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So adopting a positive sum view where you can win and someone else can win, um, instead of adopting the zero sum view of just because someone else wins means that you lose, or you lose is uh a great perspective shift of turning pro, going from the amateur to the professional.
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Another one that Stephen talks about is being controlled by the opinions of others, which is the amateur view of things.
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Uh, you are constantly living in a state of fear, and you are dominated by this resistance to really be your full self, to really go for something, to really, really give it a go.
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Um, and that is the main thing that Steven talks about in his book The W The War of Art, um, which turning pro kind of builds on, which is this idea of resistance, you'll have these these thoughts of others' opinions and being basically kicked out of the tribe, um, being excluded from the tribe, and you know, if you decide to turn pro and live out your true calling and really give things a go, you will have to live up to who you really are and what you're truly capable of.
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And Stephen makes the argument that a lot of people don't want to see that, a lot of people don't want to be exposed by actually what they're capable of, they're more fearful of having to achieve that success from at or compared to the fear of failing.
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So it's more about you know, the fear of success, the fear of looking foolish, um, the fear of underachieving if you really go, go for that.
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Instead, you can adopt the professional view and the professional mindset, which is being courageous, which is what Mark Manson talks about, saying about being non-needy versus needy, which is the idea that you value your idea, your opinion of yourself more than someone else's opinion of you, and you have to be the one to back yourself, you have to have the courage to act in the face of fear.
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Um, and that idea of fear, Stephen talks about, is that the difference between the amateur and the professional, they both live in a state of fear.
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The professional is also terrified, and he also makes the argument that maybe they're even more terrified because they have the awareness of what they do, they're not in a state of demi-denial, they're in a state of acceptance, and once you're in a state of acceptance, you can you can see your potential, what you could be doing every single day, rather than ignoring it and putting it out of your mind.
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Um, so that awareness may mean that the fear is even greater, and that's the difficult thing about shifting to the kind of professional mindset and embodying that that role.
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But the difference between the amate and the professional, they both live in states of fear and terror, but the difference is how they act in the face of fear.
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So the amateur does not act because they fear being seen, because they are controlled by the opinions of others.
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But the professional acts in case of fear, they lean into this resistance, they face their fears, they be courageous because they understand that being seen is the path to maybe some element of success, but the path to understanding themselves better and going after their true calling in life.
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I mean, you know, I talk about this in a broad sense because this book is very it's very philosophical about the uh someone's true calling.
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And Stephen talks about his um his journey of overcoming resistance and becoming a writer rather than what he was doing before.
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But this can apply to anything that you might have a fear about.
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And see, in a gym and fitness sense, um, it is you know just not half-assing something, and it is getting over the fear of being seen in the gym.
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Um, it is really leaning into the resistance of those thoughts that maybe say that you know you're not the type of person that um can lose weight or can be consistent, you're gonna have to go against as Charlotte and I talked about in the previous episode, you have to go against that narrative that you have for yourself and switch it up.
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And this is another part of the book which Stephen talks about, which is that the the decision to turning pro is free, it doesn't cost anything, it's something in your mind.
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Um the it doesn't make it any less difficult than a financial decision, something which is based on conditions, but it is that you can decide to be a professional.
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Uh I once I read this book because I kind of wanted that mentality shift, um, everything kind of changed the way that I viewed that my priorities as a runner and the things that I did that contributed to me, you know, even three years into this process with two and a half years of those being being injured, is it's completely changed my outlook and my approach to injuries and setbacks and leaning into those and not being defined by them, trying to shed my allow my identity to shed when these setbacks come about and getting the most out of the setbacks and not just wishing life away in between those and saying, Well, I'll pick up when when I'm healthy again, I'll pick up when things aren't as difficult, and I'll just try and suppress and hide away from all of the all the negative and just kind of live live what I would see as the positive.
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But it is making that decision to approach things like a professional, setting an ideal and saying, Well, you know, this is the opportunity for for growth, this is the opportunity for understanding what else can I do between now and then to make sure that I get the most out of it, make sure that I'm filling the box and not just going through the motions, being on autopilot, uh wishing it away, sometimes doing something, sometimes not.
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Stephen's got this idea of part-time pros, where it's you're the amateurs are they are still fearful of really committing to turning pro because of that fear of being seen, that fear of well, failure that you'll see what you're actually capable of.
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Um you might say that yeah, I could do it if I wanted to, but why haven't you done it yet?
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There's gonna be there's something there that is the fear of okay, I think I can do it, so that's enough, but actually there's a lot more in the process, it's so much more about doing turning that theory into practice, turning that thought into action that will expose you on the journey, but then also expose you to so many more learnings, lessons, how you can understand yourself better and the world around you.
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So he has this idea of part-time pros that dip their toe in, don't commit fully, but that idea of being a part-time pro is the same as being an amateur.
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Uh it's acting on inspiration, it's acting on motivation, it's not being consistent and and being the driving force behind your efforts.
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Um and that is another thing that he he talks about.
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He talks about the amateur is ready tomorrow.
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They're gonna start tomorrow.
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Diet starts Monday.
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Um they they don't you know they wait for inspiration to come, they wait for a motivational talk, they keep going on their phone and going through these great speakers, uh, talking about how you know how you need to get yourself up, get yourself out.
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Um, and although you can use those, if you actually, if it actually does inspire action, then fantastic.
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But if you're just using those as a bit of a um as a bit of medication, just something that makes you feel good and feel inspired rather than actually using it for action, then it's pretty worthless.
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Uh it doesn't actually move the needle, it doesn't actually make progress, uh, it's just another form of procrastination in in the face of kind of learning theory.
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Uh the the main thing, the main learnings come from actually putting things into action um and practicing it compared to the professional who doesn't wait for inspiration, they know that inspiration follows once they start doing the thing.
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So, this is the whole idea.
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You know, we've spoken about a couple of couple of times in in the podcast.
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Probably if you've listened to consistent episodes, probably more than you'd like to hear.
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But it is about the motivation is the reward for action, it doesn't come before.
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Um motivation is at the gym, it is ten minutes into your run, it is uh you know the motivation is ten minutes after you've turned the TV off and started writing, or the motivation is after you've started that hard conversation, and you can then start to see how things are are panning out.
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Um and acting in in face of in face of fear, in face of that negative emotional side, that demotivation, uh the resistance, the thoughts, anything which is preventing you from doing it, it's all on the other side of that.
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You just need to lean into it and and uh pretty much just just do it is the is the long and short of it.
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So um yeah, the amateur is ready tomorrow, the professional acts and lives in the present, lives in the present, now is the most important thing.
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Um the amateur lives in the past and the future, thinking about tomorrow, thinking about the past, not actually doing anything.
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Uh they'll act when they feel like it, which means they'll always be inconsistent because spoiler alert, for those that have ever talked to anyone that has got anything done um well and has has been consistent, that it's not like they want to do it the whole time.
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Um another thing about the amateur is they get easily distracted.
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Uh the amateur doesn't have a clear focus, they get easily distracted in maybe a fitness sense by um by quick fixes, by detox tease, by uh fad diets, they get easily distracted by a new a new treatment therapy.
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They get distracted by the cold plunges, the ice baths, the cryotherapy, the you know, the acupuncture, the saunas, rather than really sticking to the process of right, maybe let's just get eight hours of sleep a night, maybe let's put down the phone for an hour a day and just maybe sit and allow things to catch up to us and to reflect on what's what we've done well, what we haven't, and going and going to the gym rather than watching another video about how to train optimally and just doing it imperfectly.
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So being having a clear focus, not being distracted by all of the noise, and working out what is the what is the signal, what are the simple things that are actionable, uh staying hydrated, eating the right foods more often than not, training consistently, getting enough recovery in and just getting things done rather than all of the extra um the 1%ers.
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Think about doing the 90% first.
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And then when you're doing it, it's doing it fully.
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It's it's filling in the box, it's doing things to completion.
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When you're at the gym, it is focusing on your form, focusing on your technique, it is recovering between sets, it's having the right amount of recovery, it's not you know going on your phone whilst you're doing a leg press or a leg extension.
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It's making sure you are being present fully in the activity and getting the most out of it.
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Um and once you decide to be to prioritize presence during the activity, maybe putting your phone away or but having a making a playlist so that you don't look at your phone and keep changing the song, is that you will be so much more in tune with the activity, with the pursuit, engaging with the the lift or the exercise that you're doing, and you can feel How it is.
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You can maybe then explore.
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You can look at oh, what happens when I just like maybe turn my ankle this way?
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What happens when I shift my hips and pivot them slightly?
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Um, what happens if I breathe in a different way?
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Like these things are all beyond just doing, you know, lifting the weight.
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This is more investigating the process of lifting or running or cycling or or or walking or doing something that you haven't done before, and you'll pick up and through awareness, those things will you may not know how to approach it, you may not know the answers, but you can more easily access the questions to then have the curiosity to build on from there.
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So not being distracted, giving your energy to the task at hand, deciding.
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I think we talk about you know, we talk about balance with work, life, work-life balance.
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Um, a lot of the time that balance isn't you know how many hours at work or how many hours outside of work.
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The balance really is being fully present at the time and having the priority of focusing on the task at hand, and that saves a lot of energy.
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Um, because if you are, you know, if you're a lot of the time, if you're distracted, then you are everywhere at once, but you're also nowhere at once.
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So that is distraction.
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Professionals don't get distracted, or if they do, they are aware and bring that attention back to the present moment.
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Amateurs are easy distracted, go everywhere, get caught by the quick fixes, forget about their um, forget about their goals.
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And you know, this isn't this isn't like the intention is is about being a professional.
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You're still allowed to be distracted.
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We always get distracted.
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It's dep it's really difficult now.
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Like I get distracted.
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This is the reason why the reason why I um have re-injured myself in the process of coming back from surgery on my other side is because I got distracted by trying to get the most out of my training on a the level of performance and being as strong as I can when actually my goal is to be pain-free.
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So, you know, it's it's it's a difficult thing in practice.
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You know, I'm not I'm not perfect in any sense in this, and I'm still still learning and still trying to work out how it is going through it to to keep focusing on the simple stuff and maybe understanding you know what is valuable to me, is although I've got these big goals of of coming back and uh into the running world and performing at high level, and I want to make the most out of the time that I have um when I'm injured to get as strong as possible and work on the weaknesses, you can all always overreach.
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Um and for me, it is them focusing on and saying, Okay, actually, I want to be pain-free walking rather than super super strong but be stiff or be injured.
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So that's distraction.
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The next one, super simple, very relevant in today's world, is the amateur has instant gratification, and the professional defers gratification.
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So a really simple way to put this into practice is uh having that thread between your different selves, so your today self and your tomorrow self, and in the moment when there is something that is temptate tempting, there is a temptation, there is something which uh instant gratification might undo your um your progress and prevent you from achieving those results.
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Is taking a little pause, uh stopping to think, you know, come tomorrow, will I regret this decision?
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Is this setting me up for building momentum?
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Is this aligning my short-term impulses with my long-term goals?
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So the the better that you can defer gratification, um, the more consistent you'll be, and the more you'll have control and stop being ruled by temptation and be able to have a kind of stronger base, a stronger um, I'd say a stronger inner ability, a stronger capacity to um have agencies say no to the things that don't um don't serve your goal, and have a a better judge of what is good for you and what is not, um whilst also being you know whilst caring for yourself and sometimes saying like yeah, you don't need to be on it the whole time.
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This is sometimes where you can kind of let yourself let your hair down.
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On that note, the amateur lacks compassion for themselves.
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So it's interesting, there's a there's a kind of a balance here.
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So the amateur gives in to instant gratification, the professional defers gratification and is quite ruthless about that.
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But the professional actually has compassion for themselves, so if they were to get something wrong, if they were to give in to that temptation, um they can learn from it uh and forgive themselves, have compassion for being someone that is not that is not perfect.
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But the amateur is someone who's a lot more rigid, they may give in to that temptation, have that instant gratification, um, fail to uh to resist the cookie or to resist the doom scrolling before bed, um, and then they will judge themselves heavily for it.
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So there is a balance um between having compassion for yourself, but also being ruthless, setting a standard, understanding when that standard's been crossed, holding yourself to that standard and uh and building and learning from it, and but also giving yourself a bit of a bit of forgiveness.
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In the last one that uh I will touch upon is that the amateur seeks permission from others and the professional doesn't seek permission from others and has a a stronger sense of self-worth.
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I feel like a lot of the times, especially in the kind of culture that we we live in in the UK, it's quite cynical.
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Uh you'll get taken the piss out of if you really go for something, um, if you are, you know words words like try hard, keto, all of that, you're basically gonna get taken the piss out of for really giving something something a go.
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:49.039
Uh but and so you might need to be told or feel like you need to be told that you need permission to go for it.
00:28:49.200 --> 00:29:02.240
You need permission from someone else to say, you know, go on, go and uh go go to the gym, go lift some weights, go change your your exercise routine, change your mindset.
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:23.200
Um we're kind of waiting for these people to be able to tell us that it's socially acceptable to do it, or and I think that's the best thing about you know kind of listening to to podcasts or having information out there is is there are those sparks of inspiration to realise that you know okay, well if they can do it then then I can do it, and it gives me permission to to move forward.
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:29.599
So you don't need to have permission, but you may need to give yourself permission to do it.
00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:46.720
Um so give yourself permission to fail, give yourself permission to not get things right, give yourself permission to really commit and go for it, um, give yourself permission just to you know get to the gym without relying on someone else to be there.
00:29:46.960 --> 00:30:05.279
If you if you always go with a with a partner, with a friend to a class or on a run, park run, whatever, and for some reason they're ill or they can't make it, or they had a few last night, and even maybe you had a few last night, don't wait for permission from them to go and do it.
00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:08.400
Like if they don't if they don't turn up, it doesn't make a difference.
00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:23.119
So you're not comparing yourself to someone else, and you've got to use use yourself, use your idea of mastery to really understand yourself and make progress, and to have control over your actions and influence over your efforts.
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:51.039
That is the key, and to do it anyway, and use it as an opportunity to see how the environment or how motivation of others can help you, and then realize that yes, you can use motivation of others to hold you accountable, but ultimately you should be able to hold yourself accountable regardless of external circumstances, regardless of other people doing the same thing as you, regardless of comparison.
00:30:51.279 --> 00:31:03.119
So the amateur seeks permission, the professional does not seek permission, the professional gives themselves, allows themselves to go forward and do what they want to do.
00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:09.440
So that is uh Stephen Pressfield's book, Turning Pro.
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:10.480
There's a lot more in there.
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:12.480
Um I've only kind of scratched the surface.
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.079
Uh it's very, very accessible.
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:33.039
He does it in quite a nice way where he will give, kind of like I've like I've given a little checklist of um these traits, these qualities, and then he'll go and add a little bit more obviously context, a little bit more of a storyline, um, his personal experience, and then what he's witnessed, how it impacts other people.
00:31:33.279 --> 00:32:18.799
And so, yeah, Stephen Pressfield, Turning Pro, in short, it is the amateurs are dominated by fear and resistance, and they live in a state of denial, and the professional has the same fear, maybe even more, but the difference is that they decide to face their fears, they have courage, they go forward, they are ruthless, they defer gratification, they're compassionate towards themselves, they don't fear being seen, they see it as the path to a greater understanding and success, and they live in the present, they don't wait for inspiration, and the ultimate truth is that the tribe that you fear that you will be kicked out of doesn't actually exist, and that you will be okay even if you fail.
00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:22.240
So I hope you enjoyed this episode.
00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:42.720
Uh I understand there is a hell of a lot of information there, um, but I think you know, to I could do probably an episode on each of these things and bring in a lot more examples, but um, as a quick fire half-hour synopsis of a book uh inspired by a podcast I listen to called David Senra.
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:50.720
He's got a podcast called Founders, and that goes through synopsis of biographies of uh successful people and their traits.
00:32:50.799 --> 00:33:06.799
And I thought it'd be quite nice just to bring a book that has influenced me and my and has really changed my mindset, my approach, my perspective on uh the way that I show up in the world, the way that I show up, my interaction with my pursuit, with running, with setbacks, with injuries, uh and also my coaching.
00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:08.720
So hope you enjoyed this.
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.160
Um share it with a friend.
00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:30.559
If you feel like they're in that spot where they just need to do it, they they're dipping their toe in the water, they're being a part time pro and they need a reality check to face their fears and to really um do you know what either what their true calling is or if they're stuck in a job that they hate and they need that that little nudge to uh to keep going.
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:31.839
So thank you for listening.
00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:35.759
Uh have a great rest of your day and uh see you next time.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.919
Welcome back to Total Barnage.
00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:03.520
Welcome back to another episode.
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:15.439
Today I am going to be talking about Stephen Pressfield's book, Turning Pro, and some of the ideas that he discusses in this book.
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:19.440
This is a book that I read about probably about three years ago now.
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This was before I went out to the US to try my hand at advancing my running career, which is still a work in progress.
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It was a decision that I made.
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I was inspired to read it after reading one of his other books called The War of Art.
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And I was interested when I was in my final year at uni when I was deciding to go and pursue my running career as my main purpose.
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I wanted to give more to it and I wanted to change my mindset.
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So I read this book, Turning Prime.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:51.920
I was excited to read it.
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I wanted to see how I would view things differently if I changed my mindset towards acting like a professional rather than an amateur.
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And going through this book, I just want to give a couple of ideas, some things that have stuck with me.
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:22.239
And since just preparing for this episode, going back through some of my notes that I made a few years ago, and then adding a little bit more of maybe what I've learned in the process and uh trying to encourage you to.
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I think we have a lot of things on this podcast, maybe about getting things done, how to get stuff done, uh, what you what is necessary to get things done.
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But this is more the next stage.
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This is for those of you that are really kind of excited to learn more, that have um got that fire, that inspiration that you don't just want to do things to a minimum standard, you're not really someone that likes to do the bare minimum, and you want to maybe elevate your performance, you want to understand more about yourself on the journey and actually get more out of it.
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So, the main thing about this book that I see that I take from it are kind of three ways to describe this.
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The first is Stephen Pressfield's way of comparing the amateur versus the professional, uh, and I will go through some of the qualities that the amateur um presents, possesses in this book, and then how you shift to what that looks like as a professional.
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There is then the more sports psychology term of mastery versus performance, mastery being the process of learning, focusing on skill acquisition and continuous personal improvement versus performance, which is more about specific outcomes, you want to validate your competence, it's kind of constant comparison.
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So, for example, mastery is saying, you know, I've I've done my best and I've done all that I can do, and then performance is maybe saying that you missed a goal that might have been based on certain um circumstances, certain things that are out of your control, but you're focusing on just purely the the outcome.
00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:45.280
Uh, it is the zero sum view, so zero sum in performance, meaning you know, if someone else wins, then you lose, like there can only be one winner, rather than a positive sum view of um, yes, there might be you know more things that you could have done, or by the metric, there is a position that you could have um achieved that is greater than what you've done, but on the whole, it's that there are more winners, and we can all get something out of the process even if you don't win.
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So it's more of a self-understanding, more of an infinite game mindset.
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Uh, and then one more thing, a perspective that I'd like to add to it is that there is the idea of ticking the box, just getting things done, which you know is is difficult in itself.
00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:11.360
That just getting things done is is tough, having discipline to do it, um, having the execution just to get things done is difficult.
00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:41.040
But then there is the next stage, which is to fill in the box, to do things to completion, to get more out of what you're doing, to really explore a more of a personal philosophy, a personal approach to um to your pursuit, whether it be in the gym, whether it be at work, in relationships, and it's to raise that standard to understand uh more about the pursuit, more about yourself as a reflection of the actions that you have, how you interact with people, um, and to have that constant progress.
00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.639
So it's more about the process rather than uh the outcome.
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So let's get into that's a quick overview of the difference between the amateur and the professional.
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The amateur has a zero-sum view of reality.
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If they win, someone else loses, if someone else wins, they lose.
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The amateur also has a performance mindset, they're focused on specific outcomes, they are controlled maybe by the opinions of others, are always constantly comparing themselves to others, and the amateur therefore uh kind of lives in a state of fear and in that finite state and can't explore as much as the professional.
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So that first thing, zero sum versus positive sum view of things.
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Um, for example, you know, in in the gym, if you're looking around and you are seeing people lift more than you, um, they are you know, there is a certain lift that you're doing in a class or in a session, um, and you see that someone's lifting more, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're not doing enough.
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There are so many factors towards it.
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Uh, this person may be a different age, they may be a different gender, they may be training for, first of all, for a different period of time, may have different experience in it, but also might be training for a different domain, and they might have specific goals that they're focusing on.
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There's then more variables, right?
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Not even just inside the gym, but outside, like what's their what's their life like, what is their you know situation at home, in their relationships, have they got kids, have they not everything like that.
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So it makes it very difficult to to actually compare.
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And if you're constantly comparing just one measure, um, then you're missing the whole picture of what you can put into it, and actually it's distracting you if you use it as a kind of negative form of comparison of saying, Well, you're not enough because you're comparing on that particular metric, you're actually missing out on a hell of a lot of growth and fulfilment in your own journey.
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Um, and this is where the positive sum view of the professional, the sort of mastery aspect of it, comes into play.
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Where just because someone is lifting different to you, less or more, doesn't make your efforts any less you know, any less admirable.
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Um, it doesn't mean that you are behind in any sort of way.
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Um however, I would say on that case, that and Stephen goes into it in in his book, is that the professional always looks for feedback um to get better themselves.
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So, you know, think of instead of just like immediately instinctively comparing yourself to someone else, think, okay, is this person's achievement is that highlighting something within my process that I might be lacking?
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Um if I see them showing up every day, or if I see them all the times that I'm there, does that mean for me that you know, am I putting in as much as I can?
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Am I investing as much effort as I can?
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Do I have standards that should be higher?
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Um, should I set higher standards for myself and be inspired by someone else's progress rather than using it as constant comparison?
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Uh I see you know competition is something about striving together, not just competing against each other, but it's more collaboration with each other for a higher goal, um, whether it's for a team or an individual or you know, something greater than yourself.
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So in the well, in the Latin, complao or competo to compete means to strive together, and that is the kind of infinite view, the infinite game mindset of competition is not that you know there are medals in day-to-day life.
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When it comes to sport, there are finite games, finite rules, but day to day this doesn't necessarily apply, and even within sport, those things are again that's that singular measure of success on that day with that effort.
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Um, there is a lot more to the story.
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So adopting a positive sum view where you can win and someone else can win, um, instead of adopting the zero sum view of just because someone else wins means that you lose, or you lose is uh a great perspective shift of turning pro, going from the amateur to the professional.
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Another one that Stephen talks about is being controlled by the opinions of others, which is the amateur view of things.
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Uh, you are constantly living in a state of fear, and you are dominated by this resistance to really be your full self, to really go for something, to really, really give it a go.
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Um, and that is the main thing that Steven talks about in his book The W The War of Art, um, which turning pro kind of builds on, which is this idea of resistance, you'll have these these thoughts of others' opinions and being basically kicked out of the tribe, um, being excluded from the tribe, and you know, if you decide to turn pro and live out your true calling and really give things a go, you will have to live up to who you really are and what you're truly capable of.
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And Stephen makes the argument that a lot of people don't want to see that, a lot of people don't want to be exposed by actually what they're capable of, they're more fearful of having to achieve that success from at or compared to the fear of failing.
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So it's more about you know, the fear of success, the fear of looking foolish, um, the fear of underachieving if you really go, go for that.
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Instead, you can adopt the professional view and the professional mindset, which is being courageous, which is what Mark Manson talks about, saying about being non-needy versus needy, which is the idea that you value your idea, your opinion of yourself more than someone else's opinion of you, and you have to be the one to back yourself, you have to have the courage to act in the face of fear.
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Um, and that idea of fear, Stephen talks about, is that the difference between the amateur and the professional, they both live in a state of fear.
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The professional is also terrified, and he also makes the argument that maybe they're even more terrified because they have the awareness of what they do, they're not in a state of demi-denial, they're in a state of acceptance, and once you're in a state of acceptance, you can you can see your potential, what you could be doing every single day, rather than ignoring it and putting it out of your mind.
00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:13.279
Um, so that awareness may mean that the fear is even greater, and that's the difficult thing about shifting to the kind of professional mindset and embodying that that role.
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But the difference between the amate and the professional, they both live in states of fear and terror, but the difference is how they act in the face of fear.
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So the amateur does not act because they fear being seen, because they are controlled by the opinions of others.
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But the professional acts in case of fear, they lean into this resistance, they face their fears, they be courageous because they understand that being seen is the path to maybe some element of success, but the path to understanding themselves better and going after their true calling in life.
00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:06.080
I mean, you know, I talk about this in a broad sense because this book is very it's very philosophical about the uh someone's true calling.
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And Stephen talks about his um his journey of overcoming resistance and becoming a writer rather than what he was doing before.
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But this can apply to anything that you might have a fear about.
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And see, in a gym and fitness sense, um, it is you know just not half-assing something, and it is getting over the fear of being seen in the gym.
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Um, it is really leaning into the resistance of those thoughts that maybe say that you know you're not the type of person that um can lose weight or can be consistent, you're gonna have to go against as Charlotte and I talked about in the previous episode, you have to go against that narrative that you have for yourself and switch it up.
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And this is another part of the book which Stephen talks about, which is that the the decision to turning pro is free, it doesn't cost anything, it's something in your mind.
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Um the it doesn't make it any less difficult than a financial decision, something which is based on conditions, but it is that you can decide to be a professional.
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Uh I once I read this book because I kind of wanted that mentality shift, um, everything kind of changed the way that I viewed that my priorities as a runner and the things that I did that contributed to me, you know, even three years into this process with two and a half years of those being being injured, is it's completely changed my outlook and my approach to injuries and setbacks and leaning into those and not being defined by them, trying to shed my allow my identity to shed when these setbacks come about and getting the most out of the setbacks and not just wishing life away in between those and saying, Well, I'll pick up when when I'm healthy again, I'll pick up when things aren't as difficult, and I'll just try and suppress and hide away from all of the all the negative and just kind of live live what I would see as the positive.
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But it is making that decision to approach things like a professional, setting an ideal and saying, Well, you know, this is the opportunity for for growth, this is the opportunity for understanding what else can I do between now and then to make sure that I get the most out of it, make sure that I'm filling the box and not just going through the motions, being on autopilot, uh wishing it away, sometimes doing something, sometimes not.
00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:57.360
Stephen's got this idea of part-time pros, where it's you're the amateurs are they are still fearful of really committing to turning pro because of that fear of being seen, that fear of well, failure that you'll see what you're actually capable of.
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Um you might say that yeah, I could do it if I wanted to, but why haven't you done it yet?
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There's gonna be there's something there that is the fear of okay, I think I can do it, so that's enough, but actually there's a lot more in the process, it's so much more about doing turning that theory into practice, turning that thought into action that will expose you on the journey, but then also expose you to so many more learnings, lessons, how you can understand yourself better and the world around you.
00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:37.759
So he has this idea of part-time pros that dip their toe in, don't commit fully, but that idea of being a part-time pro is the same as being an amateur.
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Uh it's acting on inspiration, it's acting on motivation, it's not being consistent and and being the driving force behind your efforts.
00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.679
Um and that is another thing that he he talks about.
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He talks about the amateur is ready tomorrow.
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They're gonna start tomorrow.
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Diet starts Monday.
00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:16.559
Um they they don't you know they wait for inspiration to come, they wait for a motivational talk, they keep going on their phone and going through these great speakers, uh, talking about how you know how you need to get yourself up, get yourself out.
00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:21.839
Um, and although you can use those, if you actually, if it actually does inspire action, then fantastic.
00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:32.160
But if you're just using those as a bit of a um as a bit of medication, just something that makes you feel good and feel inspired rather than actually using it for action, then it's pretty worthless.
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:42.000
Uh it doesn't actually move the needle, it doesn't actually make progress, uh, it's just another form of procrastination in in the face of kind of learning theory.
00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:56.720
Uh the the main thing, the main learnings come from actually putting things into action um and practicing it compared to the professional who doesn't wait for inspiration, they know that inspiration follows once they start doing the thing.
00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.480
So, this is the whole idea.
00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.079
You know, we've spoken about a couple of couple of times in in the podcast.
00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:06.720
Probably if you've listened to consistent episodes, probably more than you'd like to hear.
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:13.200
But it is about the motivation is the reward for action, it doesn't come before.
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:36.480
Um motivation is at the gym, it is ten minutes into your run, it is uh you know the motivation is ten minutes after you've turned the TV off and started writing, or the motivation is after you've started that hard conversation, and you can then start to see how things are are panning out.
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:50.400
Um and acting in in face of in face of fear, in face of that negative emotional side, that demotivation, uh the resistance, the thoughts, anything which is preventing you from doing it, it's all on the other side of that.
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:58.319
You just need to lean into it and and uh pretty much just just do it is the is the long and short of it.
00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:08.319
So um yeah, the amateur is ready tomorrow, the professional acts and lives in the present, lives in the present, now is the most important thing.
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:14.720
Um the amateur lives in the past and the future, thinking about tomorrow, thinking about the past, not actually doing anything.
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:29.920
Uh they'll act when they feel like it, which means they'll always be inconsistent because spoiler alert, for those that have ever talked to anyone that has got anything done um well and has has been consistent, that it's not like they want to do it the whole time.
00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:35.119
Um another thing about the amateur is they get easily distracted.
00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:55.759
Uh the amateur doesn't have a clear focus, they get easily distracted in maybe a fitness sense by um by quick fixes, by detox tease, by uh fad diets, they get easily distracted by a new a new treatment therapy.
00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:33.039
They get distracted by the cold plunges, the ice baths, the cryotherapy, the you know, the acupuncture, the saunas, rather than really sticking to the process of right, maybe let's just get eight hours of sleep a night, maybe let's put down the phone for an hour a day and just maybe sit and allow things to catch up to us and to reflect on what's what we've done well, what we haven't, and going and going to the gym rather than watching another video about how to train optimally and just doing it imperfectly.
00:20:33.680 --> 00:21:00.799
So being having a clear focus, not being distracted by all of the noise, and working out what is the what is the signal, what are the simple things that are actionable, uh staying hydrated, eating the right foods more often than not, training consistently, getting enough recovery in and just getting things done rather than all of the extra um the 1%ers.
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.119
Think about doing the 90% first.
00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:07.279
And then when you're doing it, it's doing it fully.
00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:10.319
It's it's filling in the box, it's doing things to completion.
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:25.200
When you're at the gym, it is focusing on your form, focusing on your technique, it is recovering between sets, it's having the right amount of recovery, it's not you know going on your phone whilst you're doing a leg press or a leg extension.
00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:31.759
It's making sure you are being present fully in the activity and getting the most out of it.
00:21:31.920 --> 00:22:00.799
Um and once you decide to be to prioritize presence during the activity, maybe putting your phone away or but having a making a playlist so that you don't look at your phone and keep changing the song, is that you will be so much more in tune with the activity, with the pursuit, engaging with the the lift or the exercise that you're doing, and you can feel How it is.
00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:02.960
You can maybe then explore.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:08.079
You can look at oh, what happens when I just like maybe turn my ankle this way?
00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.759
What happens when I shift my hips and pivot them slightly?
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.480
Um, what happens if I breathe in a different way?
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:19.680
Like these things are all beyond just doing, you know, lifting the weight.
00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:43.119
This is more investigating the process of lifting or running or cycling or or or walking or doing something that you haven't done before, and you'll pick up and through awareness, those things will you may not know how to approach it, you may not know the answers, but you can more easily access the questions to then have the curiosity to build on from there.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:50.880
So not being distracted, giving your energy to the task at hand, deciding.
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:55.039
I think we talk about you know, we talk about balance with work, life, work-life balance.
00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:01.279
Um, a lot of the time that balance isn't you know how many hours at work or how many hours outside of work.
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The balance really is being fully present at the time and having the priority of focusing on the task at hand, and that saves a lot of energy.
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:22.720
Um, because if you are, you know, if you're a lot of the time, if you're distracted, then you are everywhere at once, but you're also nowhere at once.
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So that is distraction.
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Professionals don't get distracted, or if they do, they are aware and bring that attention back to the present moment.
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:42.880
Amateurs are easy distracted, go everywhere, get caught by the quick fixes, forget about their um, forget about their goals.
00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:49.279
And you know, this isn't this isn't like the intention is is about being a professional.
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You're still allowed to be distracted.
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We always get distracted.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:54.000
It's dep it's really difficult now.
00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.599
Like I get distracted.
00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:17.119
This is the reason why the reason why I um have re-injured myself in the process of coming back from surgery on my other side is because I got distracted by trying to get the most out of my training on a the level of performance and being as strong as I can when actually my goal is to be pain-free.
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So, you know, it's it's it's a difficult thing in practice.
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You know, I'm not I'm not perfect in any sense in this, and I'm still still learning and still trying to work out how it is going through it to to keep focusing on the simple stuff and maybe understanding you know what is valuable to me, is although I've got these big goals of of coming back and uh into the running world and performing at high level, and I want to make the most out of the time that I have um when I'm injured to get as strong as possible and work on the weaknesses, you can all always overreach.
00:24:51.440 --> 00:25:04.319
Um and for me, it is them focusing on and saying, Okay, actually, I want to be pain-free walking rather than super super strong but be stiff or be injured.
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:06.799
So that's distraction.
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The next one, super simple, very relevant in today's world, is the amateur has instant gratification, and the professional defers gratification.
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So a really simple way to put this into practice is uh having that thread between your different selves, so your today self and your tomorrow self, and in the moment when there is something that is temptate tempting, there is a temptation, there is something which uh instant gratification might undo your um your progress and prevent you from achieving those results.
00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:50.960
Is taking a little pause, uh stopping to think, you know, come tomorrow, will I regret this decision?
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Is this setting me up for building momentum?
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Is this aligning my short-term impulses with my long-term goals?
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So the the better that you can defer gratification, um, the more consistent you'll be, and the more you'll have control and stop being ruled by temptation and be able to have a kind of stronger base, a stronger um, I'd say a stronger inner ability, a stronger capacity to um have agencies say no to the things that don't um don't serve your goal, and have a a better judge of what is good for you and what is not, um whilst also being you know whilst caring for yourself and sometimes saying like yeah, you don't need to be on it the whole time.
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This is sometimes where you can kind of let yourself let your hair down.
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On that note, the amateur lacks compassion for themselves.
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.960
So it's interesting, there's a there's a kind of a balance here.
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So the amateur gives in to instant gratification, the professional defers gratification and is quite ruthless about that.
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But the professional actually has compassion for themselves, so if they were to get something wrong, if they were to give in to that temptation, um they can learn from it uh and forgive themselves, have compassion for being someone that is not that is not perfect.
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But the amateur is someone who's a lot more rigid, they may give in to that temptation, have that instant gratification, um, fail to uh to resist the cookie or to resist the doom scrolling before bed, um, and then they will judge themselves heavily for it.
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So there is a balance um between having compassion for yourself, but also being ruthless, setting a standard, understanding when that standard's been crossed, holding yourself to that standard and uh and building and learning from it, and but also giving yourself a bit of a bit of forgiveness.
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:16.480
In the last one that uh I will touch upon is that the amateur seeks permission from others and the professional doesn't seek permission from others and has a a stronger sense of self-worth.
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I feel like a lot of the times, especially in the kind of culture that we we live in in the UK, it's quite cynical.
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Uh you'll get taken the piss out of if you really go for something, um, if you are, you know words words like try hard, keto, all of that, you're basically gonna get taken the piss out of for really giving something something a go.
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Uh but and so you might need to be told or feel like you need to be told that you need permission to go for it.
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You need permission from someone else to say, you know, go on, go and uh go go to the gym, go lift some weights, go change your your exercise routine, change your mindset.
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Um we're kind of waiting for these people to be able to tell us that it's socially acceptable to do it, or and I think that's the best thing about you know kind of listening to to podcasts or having information out there is is there are those sparks of inspiration to realise that you know okay, well if they can do it then then I can do it, and it gives me permission to to move forward.
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:29.599
So you don't need to have permission, but you may need to give yourself permission to do it.
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Um so give yourself permission to fail, give yourself permission to not get things right, give yourself permission to really commit and go for it, um, give yourself permission just to you know get to the gym without relying on someone else to be there.
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If you if you always go with a with a partner, with a friend to a class or on a run, park run, whatever, and for some reason they're ill or they can't make it, or they had a few last night, and even maybe you had a few last night, don't wait for permission from them to go and do it.
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Like if they don't if they don't turn up, it doesn't make a difference.
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So you're not comparing yourself to someone else, and you've got to use use yourself, use your idea of mastery to really understand yourself and make progress, and to have control over your actions and influence over your efforts.
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That is the key, and to do it anyway, and use it as an opportunity to see how the environment or how motivation of others can help you, and then realize that yes, you can use motivation of others to hold you accountable, but ultimately you should be able to hold yourself accountable regardless of external circumstances, regardless of other people doing the same thing as you, regardless of comparison.
00:30:51.279 --> 00:31:03.119
So the amateur seeks permission, the professional does not seek permission, the professional gives themselves, allows themselves to go forward and do what they want to do.
00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:09.440
So that is uh Stephen Pressfield's book, Turning Pro.
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There's a lot more in there.
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:12.480
Um I've only kind of scratched the surface.
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.079
Uh it's very, very accessible.
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:33.039
He does it in quite a nice way where he will give, kind of like I've like I've given a little checklist of um these traits, these qualities, and then he'll go and add a little bit more obviously context, a little bit more of a storyline, um, his personal experience, and then what he's witnessed, how it impacts other people.
00:31:33.279 --> 00:32:18.799
And so, yeah, Stephen Pressfield, Turning Pro, in short, it is the amateurs are dominated by fear and resistance, and they live in a state of denial, and the professional has the same fear, maybe even more, but the difference is that they decide to face their fears, they have courage, they go forward, they are ruthless, they defer gratification, they're compassionate towards themselves, they don't fear being seen, they see it as the path to a greater understanding and success, and they live in the present, they don't wait for inspiration, and the ultimate truth is that the tribe that you fear that you will be kicked out of doesn't actually exist, and that you will be okay even if you fail.
00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:22.240
So I hope you enjoyed this episode.
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Uh I understand there is a hell of a lot of information there, um, but I think you know, to I could do probably an episode on each of these things and bring in a lot more examples, but um, as a quick fire half-hour synopsis of a book uh inspired by a podcast I listen to called David Senra.
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:50.720
He's got a podcast called Founders, and that goes through synopsis of biographies of uh successful people and their traits.
00:32:50.799 --> 00:33:06.799
And I thought it'd be quite nice just to bring a book that has influenced me and my and has really changed my mindset, my approach, my perspective on uh the way that I show up in the world, the way that I show up, my interaction with my pursuit, with running, with setbacks, with injuries, uh and also my coaching.
00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:08.720
So hope you enjoyed this.
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Um share it with a friend.
00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:30.559
If you feel like they're in that spot where they just need to do it, they they're dipping their toe in the water, they're being a part time pro and they need a reality check to face their fears and to really um do you know what either what their true calling is or if they're stuck in a job that they hate and they need that that little nudge to uh to keep going.
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:31.839
So thank you for listening.
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Uh have a great rest of your day and uh see you next time.
