Society often teaches us to overcomplicate life. Mentors, coaches, and teachers tell us to "Always be prepared! Practice, practice, practice!"
And the tough part is they are often right. At least in the beginning. We wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't have at least *some* structure.
But many of us take it a step too far. What do I mean?
Do you get nervous speaking in public? What about speaking in private? For most of us, saying the exact same words we say to our friends with ease gives us anxiety if we imagine saying them in front of a large audience.
What if I mess up? What if I forget what I wanted to say? These are all real fears. But they are fears that take care of themselves when we learn to trust our intuition.
Last week was an excellent reminder. For months, I knew I would be called on to speak at my brother Zach Homol's Do Hard Things Conference.
It took me a few months to set the framework of what I was going to talk about, but I never rehearsed my speech until 3 days before I made it. And I limited myself to one run-through per day until go-time last Friday. Why? Because I knew I intuitively understood how to communicate. That only my rational brain would get in the way.
All I told myself was to slow my communication down to the speed at which I could think through each portion. And that made presenting in front of 100 people very easy.
Baseball taught me how to rely on my intuition. And teaching thousands students the keys to my diet framework has proven to me that intuition is not only real, it's often an essential part of fitness success that coaches almost always ignore.
It’s important for us to cultivate our rational brains. But not to the point where they prevent our intuition from leading us when it knows best.
Schools don’t teach this. Sports and life teach this.