Anyone CAN reach elite performance but the majority don’t.

Want to know why?

Elite performance of any kind — personal or professional — is (1) EXCLUSIVE and (2) ELUSIVE.

Reaching elite is EXCLUSIVE because it has a price. The cost is more than the average person wants to invest. It’s that simple. People who pay the price go further than those who don’t.

An obvious truth that doesn’t get enough attention: most people don’t put sustained effort into being elite at their craft. They put effort into being employable. They put effort into repeating patterns they’ve already built.

The main reason there aren’t more people operating at elite levels isn’t because it’s so difficult or impossible to achieve. It’s because they feel like it’s too hard to try.

Actually getting to elite is far more realistic than people understand.

Reaching elite is ELUSIVE for two main reasons:

(1) There’s no clear, certain, guaranteed path to follow. You have to create paths. You have to take paths that twist, turn, backtrack, and change direction. There are no trail signs to elite. You constantly feel lost on the way.

(2) The closer you get to elite the more the standard goes up. Expectations are higher. Work is harder. Competition is more intense. Mistakes are exposed. Criticism is louder.

Some people don’t like or want those feelings of pressure. So they avoid anything that would create it.

Once you get to elite, you don’t get relief. The path resets.

New goals and levels get revealed. New obstacles and challenges arise. You’re right back to chasing a higher standard again. After all your effort to get there in the first place.

Isn’t it fun?

Embrace the chase.