What high performing athletes have in common.

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Athletter

I study high performing athletes and thinkers for fun.

Here's one thing they all have in common...

The Four Burners Theory (how to decide what to sacrifice):

Imagine your life as a stove with four burners:

1) Family 2) Friends

3) Health 4)Work.

Each burner represents a major aspect of your life.

To have balance, we're told we need to focus on all four.

The problem?

You're spreading yourself too thin.

The point: You can’t have all four burners firing at the same time.

Many people try to have it all:

A flourishing career, perfect health, rich social life, and quality family time.

The reality? Something’s got to give.

The Four Burners Theory says:

"In order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners."

"And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two."

Why?

Because spreading yourself thin means you can't focus on one area.

One of my favorite quotes from Naval:

"The universe is rigged in a way that if you have one desire and focus on it , you will get it."

The more research I do on the highest performers in the world...

There’s a clear trend to their success.

Pick one thing and obsess about it.

So... do you just neglect everything and pursue one of these goals?

Well…

That’s one solution.

The highest performers priortize their main focus and go all in...

Everything else is on the backburner.

But this doesn’t have to be forever:

You can break your life into seasons.

Seasons where you focus on one aspect of your life.

Example: During your 20s focus on work to build a foundation.

As someone who wants to do everything at an elite level...

The Four Burners Theory opened my eyes to the brutal reality:

To maximize your potential, you need to make sacrifices.

Main Lesson:

Pick your 1-2 priorities in life and concentrate your focus.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading!