You Shouldn't Need a Crisis to Become Who You're Capable of Being

Some people are at their absolute best when something goes wrong.

Give them a problem, and they’re incredible.

They find energy, get creative, make decisions, and figure shit out.

Take the problem away, and somehow they become less effective.

There’s a difference between being good under pressure and needing pressure to be good.

I was talking with someone I coach who had just come off a really good stretch at work.

He was making money, had several opportunities moving forward, and was finally getting back to a level of performance he knew he was capable of.

But he noticed something about himself that bothered him.

As soon as things started going well, he took his foot off the gas.

A little while earlier, he’d dealt with an unexpected expense that took a meaningful amount of money out of his savings.

It bothered him, and that discomfort created urgency.

He started reaching out to people, building relationships, finding opportunities, and working with a level of

focus he hadn’t been maintaining before.

And it worked.

He made the money back.

Then, almost immediately, his activity dropped.

What’s interesting is that nothing about his ability had changed.

He didn’t suddenly become less intelligent, less creative, or less capable of doing the work.

The only thing that changed was how much pressure he felt.

And I think this happens to a lot more people than we realize.

When life becomes stable, some of the most capable people struggle to access the same version of themselves that shows up when everything is on the line.

And if you’re not careful, you can spend years building a life where something has to go wrong before you become the person you’re capable of being.

Think about what that actually means.

You have the ability.

You’ve demonstrated it.

You know what happens when you focus, when you commit, when you stop negotiating with yourself and do the things you already know need to be done.

But you don’t consistently do them until your circumstances become uncomfortable enough that you feel like you have no choice.

So you end up in this strange cycle.

Something goes wrong, you work like crazy, you fix it, you feel better, you relax, and eventually your performance slips enough that another problem brings the urgency back.

And because you’re good at recovering, you can convince yourself that everything is working.

But is it?

Or have you just become really good at recovering from situations you keep helping create?

I want to be clear.

I’m not saying every emergency is your fault.

Life happens.

Unexpected expenses happen.

Businesses slow down.

People get sick.

There are plenty of circumstances we don’t control.

What I’m talking about is the part you do control.

If you know you can perform at a certain level, and you’ve repeatedly demonstrated it, why does something have to threaten your comfort before you’re willing to access that ability?

That’s not really a question about motivation anymore.

It’s a question about who or what is directing your behavior.

Because if the world has to make you uncomfortable before you act, then the world is making a decision you should be making yourself.

And you might be incredibly capable while still having very little control over when that capability shows up.

I don’t think the answer is to make your life unnecessarily difficult.

I want this person to have savings.

I want him to have security.

I want him to enjoy the money he’s making.

Those are good things.

But I also want him to recognize that comfort and complacency are not the same thing.

You can have a stable life and still pursue something demanding.

You can be financially secure and still choose to work with intention.

You can be grateful for where you are without deciding that there’s nothing left worth building.

The issue isn’t that you need more pressure.

It’s that you need to stop outsourcing your ambition to circumstances that may or may not cooperate.

Because being able to respond when life demands something from you is valuable.

Being able to act before life has to demand it is something else entirely.