Ideas in the Wild: Alan Stein, Jr. is Revealing How the Highest Performers Manage Stress, Avoid Stagnation, and Beat Burnout
What makes the best the best? Ultimately the best are where they are because of the mindset, habits, and rituals they have — both in their respective “arenas,” but also in private, during the unseen hours. Success isn’t something that happens. It’s something one must attract and create.
The highest performers in all walks of life have taken full ownership. They got to where they are and have stayed there because they have chosen to establish, tweak and repeat positive habits. They understand that you can’t be selective when it comes to excellence, that how we do anything is how we do everything.
Based on his years as a successful basketball performance coach — training superstars like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant — and a speaker and trainer to major companies like Pepsi and Amex, Alan Stein reveals the keys to lasting, unimaginable success in Sustain Your Game. Readers will learn the framework for how to beat stress, stagnation, and burnout from the advice of top CEOs, journalists, social scientists, and more. I recently caught up with Alan Stein, Jr. to learn more about why he wrote the book and the ideas he shares with readers.
Why did you write this book?
My time as a coach with top high school players led me to opportunities with pros, so I’ve seen both sides of the coin — what it takes to get there and what it takes to remain there. Experience has taught me that success is a choice, and I want to inspire and empower people and organizations to make that choice.
My last book, Raise Your Game, was all about bringing your A game to your job, your relationships, and your life. But that is really only half the battle. Keeping it up is even harder. The commitment to raising your game — in any area of life — is no easy feat. But the commitment to sustaining your game is even more challenging.
An athlete has to execute — on the play, for the season, and for a career. In business, publishing, or whatever your field, succeeding along these three timelines are equally important: the moment (short term), the stretch (medium term), and the long haul (long term).
Sustain Your Game is about facing the particular challenges of all three timelines:in the moment, we have to battle stress; in the stretch, we have to fight stagnation; and in the long haul, we have to beat burnout. This book is for high performers who want to learn practical strategies and actionable tools on how to sustain their game across all three timelines.
What’s an idea you share that really excites you?
Succeeding along each of the three timelines requires discipline. And discipline is doing what you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has faded.
I believe in motivation, but I never confuse it with discipline. I meditate every day whether I’m motivated or not. I make my bed whether I’m motivated or not. I don’t always want to get up early, work out, travel for work, but I do it with or without the motivation. I do it because I’m disciplined.
Discipline has a negative connotation and is often associated with punishment. But I think of discipline as the opposite: it is the foundation of freedom. Do what’s hard now so things get easier later. Mental coach and entrepreneur Todd Herman told me that “most people want the noun without the verb,” which is a great way to put it: they want the result without doing what it takes to get there. It’s a common misconception that you need to be motivated before you act, when oftentimes we have it backward: acting first will end up motivating you.
When it comes down to it, we are our habits. It takes anywhere from twenty-one to sixty-six days to instill a new habit, depending on its difficulty. But there is no habit you have that can’t be wiped out if you truly want to. And there’s no new habit that you couldn’t instill if you put in the time and discipline.
How will implementing your idea improve your readers’ lives?
In sports or business or anything else, the best aren’t the best by accident, genetics, or good fortune. They are at the top because of their commitment to the fundamentals. True superstars never get bored with the basics, and they never underestimate their importance.
Sustain Your Game will give readers the tools to perform their best in their arena, wherever that may be. It will help them manage stress, wherever it shows up; fend off stagnation, however it presents itself; and beat burnout, whenever it rears its head.
Readers will also learn how to give up perfectionism and focus on continual progress. Are the wheels still moving? Which direction are they headed? These are the things we should look for. It’s bigger than the day to day, though each day brings an opportunity to refine and contribute to it.
Sustain Your Game is built upon a simple premise: each of us will always be under construction, a work in progress, and constantly evolving. The goal is to be moving toward our highest potential, toward making a meaningful contribution, and toward becoming the best version of ourselves. In essence, live the life you love and love the life you live (a mantra I had tattooed on my arm several years ago).
