The Blueprint for Greatness

How to be Successful This edition of the newsletter is inspired by an executive I am coaching who shared this article with me. I've now watched hundreds of elite athletes prepare and compete at the highest levels. A big part of my work has been figuring out what separates the best from the rest. Here are the ingredients I think it takes to become the best at what you do. Subscribe to Momentum Talent x Effort x Team x Luck These four factors belong together. Individually, none of these is...

The difference between performing at your peak or crumbling under pressure isn't about talent—it's about having the right mental tools. Research with elite performers shows three key strategies can transform how you respond consistently when the stakes are highest. When my client stepped onto the court for the championship game, his hands were trembling. Despite being one of the most talented athletes I'd worked with, he was experiencing what many high-performers face: the gap between knowing...

Most people never get this right. They focus on talent, effort, and discipline — thinking that’s what separates the elite from everyone else. But the truth? It’s not just about the individual. It’s about the environment they operate in. If you put a world-class athlete in a team with a losing culture, what happens? If you take a high-performing executive and surround them with disorganized chaos, what happens? Even the best performers struggle when they’re in the wrong system. That’s why,...

The gap between good and great is measured in milliseconds. Crossing that chasm requires more than physical training alone. At the NBA or Olympic level, where athletes' physical traits are remarkably similar (most NBA players are between 6’7” and 6’11”, for example), psychological skills separate champions from competitors. This is especially true when intensity is highest. Systemic mental skills training gives athletes a significant edge, especially in high-intensity sports requiring...

Most sport or performance coaches don’t fail because they aren’t good at coaching. They fail because of how they think about coaching. Beliefs shape behaviors. And if the beliefs you have about coaching, business, and success are wrong… you can grind away for years and still feel stuck. I’ve worked with over 700 high-performers across my career, and the biggest problems are never in practical skills or talent. They’re in limiting beliefs and myths fed to you by society or inner doubts. I...

Most high performers fail for the same reason. They focus on one piece of the puzzle—training, mindset, recovery—but ignore the rest. This leads to inconsistency, burnout, and frustration. Some days they feel unstoppable. Other days, they crash hard. Most people hyperfocus on pushing themselves harder while neglecting the foundations that enable sustainable excellence. They don't have a system that ties everything together — performance, well-being, and positive development. That’s what we’re...

Free webinar: If you'd like to attend our free webinar from Momentum Labs this month, you can sign up here. Here’s everything I published in February on peak performance. For Peak Performers I’m still writing a daily newsletter here. Each day I provide a short educational bit and an action step you can take (though I took a few days off to send a few more emails here). You can find the full archive here. I also wrote: Compete with yourself, every day 7 simple (not easy) steps to get 1% better...

Most old-school mental toughness thinking causes burnout. We’re told the only way to succeed is to push through, work harder, and ignore exhaustion. Coaches, leaders, and society reward relentless effort while treating rest as weakness. But this mindset leads to fatigue—and destroys performance. Burnout isn’t a sign of toughness. It’s a sign of inefficiency. Studies show that overtraining without proper recovery leads to declines in cognitive function, increased injury risk, and lower...

We all want to perform at our best. But here’s something I’ve learned after over a decade of coaching elite athletes, founders, and CXOs: Most high performers are operating with half the tools they need to succeed. They believe it’s all about effort, talent, and pushing harder. But even the most skilled professionals hit a ceiling when they don’t have the right systems to stay consistent. I’ve seen this play out at the highest levels of sport… A Wake-Up Call from the Sidelines Back when I...