Is that a Fact...or a Story?

For the first 56 minutes of the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers, Seattle QB Russell Wilson was playing the worst game of his life.

The Seahawks were shut out in the first half, behind 16-0. With less than four minutes to go, it wasn’t much better; they trailed 19-7. 

Wilson had thrown four interceptions for the first time in his career. Most competitors in this situation would have folded. That didn’t happen. Russell Wilson led his team to two touchdown drives in two minutes to take the lead. 

Then, after Aaron Rodgers led a Packers’ drive to tie the game with a field goal sending it to overtime, Wilson led the Seahawks on the game winning drive with a 35 yard TD strike to Jermaine Kearse to deliver Seattle to the Super Bowl.

How does a person in the midst of the worst game of their career - at the most inopportune moment - somehow find a way to let go of what has just happened and perform at crunch time?

I’ve had the opportunity to spend the last two weeks working with a top B2B SaaS company helping to onboard and train a new SDR Team. As I spent time in the trenches with them, I was reminded of the importance of Russell Wilson’s story. 

When I learned more about how he was able to rise to the occasion, I realized his process and philosophy was perhaps the most important concept I had ever learned about high performance.

Welcome to the world of neutral thinking.

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“The most dangerous bias when discussing our performance is our innate privileging of the past.”

This quote was from the late Trevor Moawad, author of It Takes What It Takes and mental performance coach of Russell Wilson, University of Alabama Football, and countless Fortune 500 companies such as Salesforce, J & J, Workday, McDonald’s, and Pfizer.  

According to Moawad, bias is everywhere, buzzing around our psyche. Moment after moment, we are constructing meaning from what we take in, filtering objective data and twisting it through the distorted lens of our own perceptions. This biased lens we have is simply an inherent limitation of the human condition.

Unlike other motivational systems, neutral thinking attempts to strip away the illusions and delusions in our minds. In doing so, we are liberated to do the following:

Accept the past and what has just happened.

Embrace the present moment.

Create the future.

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THE ILLUSION OF CHOICE

One of Moawad's concepts that really hit me was what he called the Illusion of Choice.

Some people see each day as full of pivotal moments. They believe that in these key moments, we are defined by making choices that determine our success.

I understand and agree with this point of view. Moawad takes it one step further by challenging you to consider when to make these decisions.

To clarify, Moawad believes that if you want to be elite, these aren’t choices at all. You decide in advance that you simply do what it takes on a consistent basis.

If you want to be elite, he believes there are non-negotiable actions you must take every day. Actions you must do - and must not do.

For an elite athlete, those “dos” might be proper nutrition, proper sleep, film study, focus during cardio and weights, and proper stretching and cool down. In making those consistent choices, one avoids other actions such as staying out late, poor food choices, and alcohol and drugs.

When you review the list, you realize these aren’t choices. They are requirements.

So in the pursuit of excellence, you can either decide in advance you will do what it takes to be elite - or not - and suffer the consequences.

As I spent time training the new SDR Team the past two weeks, it struck me that there is also a series of non-negotiable actions one needs to execute in order to be elite in sales:

Getting out to a fast start every day - as opposed to delaying the first phone call.

Taking good notes on calls - as opposed to weak notes.

Organizing your leads - as opposed to sloppy CRM management.

Making enough dials to give yourself a great chance to connect and win - as opposed to going down rabbit holes that burn time in the day.

Speaking clearly and succinctly - as opposed to using filler language, rambling on, or rushing through key talking points.

Mindfulness of tonality - as opposed to no awareness or reactionary tonality.  

When you think about these actions, are they really choices, or are they simply the price of admission to be elite in sales? 

THE PAST IS NOT PREDICTIVE

A lot of motivational systems focus on forgetting the past. They will encourage you to forget the negative things that have happened and simply focus on the positive ones to build confidence.

Moawad’s camp of neutral thinking strongly disagrees with this approach.

He believes that how you feel about your past performance is not relevant. Success is determined by what you do as opposed to how you feel.  

As a result, if we want to be high performers, we need to focus on the consistent behaviors that lead to success. Perhaps the most challenging - and necessary - action required for success in sales (or any endeavor, for that matter) is the ability to accept what has just happened. 

As prospects fail to pick up the phone over the course of a day, it is easy to start building a story in your head. Narratives begin to grow.

“No one is picking up the phone…”

“Today is not my day…”

“Maybe I just don’t have it today.”

These stories are not particularly helpful in the present moment. 

More importantly, their real threat is their impact on the future.

How so? If I stack enough into a story, what impact will it have on my actions?

I will probably stop picking up the phone…or at a minimum, slow down my pace of calls…which will give me less of a chance to book a meeting.  

Our biases can also show up in many ways. Sadly, we are capable of constructing all kinds of false stories. Each day prospects hang up the phone in the middle of sales calls. What often happens? We begin to construct stories around why.

“When he heard X, he hung up. He probably doesn’t like X.”

“These guys probably already have another solution in place.”

“He sounded old. He’s probably not on board with tech.”

In believing these stories, we are probably less likely to do what the elite salesperson would do: simply accept that the prospect hung up, and call them again at the next appropriate time in the cadence.

As I hear these statements, I’ve begun using a simple question as a challenge:

“Is that a fact…or a story?” 

This is neutral thinking in action. It’s the constant reminder that what I do, not how I feel about what happened in the past, that will determine my future.

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Just because you believe in a concept doesn’t mean you always execute in line with your beliefs.

In building my own business, I’ve begun to recognize how damaging my stories can be as blockers to taking consistent action.

“Mark, you’re too old to start a business.”

This story delayed me from taking this initial step for years.

I've also come to recognize that just because you discover that one story isn’t true, it doesn’t mean you are impervious to other false narratives that hold you back.

Here are some others I’ve fallen prey to this year:

“Mark, don’t reach out to so many people. If they want what you have to offer, they’ll find you.”   

“Mark, forget social media…that’s only for young people.”

“Mark, you’re too old to learn how to use tech and AI. Do everything old school.”

All these are stories I’ve created in my mind at different low points in 2024. None of them are  factual. But I’ve created them all the same.

On my worst days, because I HAVEN’T used neutral thinking, and instead, gotten wrapped up in how the stories made me feel, I’ve lost the discipline to take consistent action and had to accept the consequences.

These last few weeks have reinforced my belief in the power of neutral thinking. I’m doubling down on helping others with this concept.

I’m also focused on cultivating more self-awareness so I get better at catching myself when I slip into stories that take me off course.

As I look ahead to 2025, I’m taking time this week to review and commit to what it takes to build an elite business. 

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As fate would have it, I began this piece early Sunday morning. As I was finishing it this afternoon, I couldn’t help but smile watching the end of the Washington-Philly game.

Trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Washington’s rookie QB, Jayden Daniels, couldn’t seem to get out of his own way.

After throwing an interception in the middle of the 4th quarter, it was the team’s 5th turnover on the day. For context, in over 225 NFL games played this season, only one team who committed five turnovers won a game.

Despite this brutal 3 ½ quarters, Daniels didn't quit. 

Getting the ball back with a little over a minute to go, and now down 5 points, Jayden Daniels stood tall and led his team down the field in a final drive. With six seconds to play, he fired the game winning touchdown for a 36-33 Commanders win.

I don’t know if Russell Wilson and Jayden Daniels know one another. Nor do I know what was going through Jayden Daniels mind after throwing that last interception.

But somewhere in heaven, after watching Daniels lead this Washington comeback, I would like to think Trevor Moawad is looking down and smiling.