The Illusion of Choice: Why Choices are Killing Your Performance

 The Illusion of Choice

 April Theme: Decision-Making

If you want to be great at something, you have few choices. In fact, you may have no choice. Choices are just an illusion for those who want to be great at something.

We all love having choices. From the food we pick on a menu to the videos we watch on YouTube; we all love choices. But at some point, can giving ourselves too many choices actually work against us?

In the area of mindset, one thing a growth mindset or a positive mindset does not account for is the number of choices we give ourselves.  What if having too many choices actually prevents us from being great?

Who Can Benefit

Whether you are already an elite athlete, an aspiring future star, a coach or athletic director, or a person who is simply motivated to do better and be better: we all have a tool in our tool bag called, “choices”. Choices...

You’ve Already Decided: How to Outsmart Yourself for Elite Performance

Head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Nick Saban, is arguably the most successful college football coach in college football since 2007. He and his teams have won the national championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017. And the years he and his teams haven’t won the championship, they are always present among the top teams in the nation.

MAKE THE COMPLEX SIMPLE

His coaching style is simple: Make complex things simple. Listen to Saban speak at a conference, seminar, or practice, and you’ll quickly realize that college football’s most successful coach is consistently preaching simplicity.

ESPN filmed a series of shows following Coach Saban’s interactions with many of his players at practice. At one practice, Coach Saban was visibly upset with his team about their physical and mental performance. He blew his whistle loudly and waved the entire team to the center of...