Few professional performers – sports, intellectual or artistic – show up for their major event without preparation.
Having pure skill is no longer sufficient to differentiate yourself.

Give yourself a situational advantage. Be positioned to see all possible plays, and to think ahead three moves. Learn to think as your coach, as your competitor. Understand how outside forces – from weather to economics – can change the playing field at a moment’s notice.

It’s as if you had trained to play football, and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a Quidditch game.

At that moment, being able to handle change, make the transition and then implement strategy will give you an advantage.

Those with this situational advantage may not be the biggest or the smartest, but they are agile and poised for opportunity. They have a wider perspective – watching the coach, the crowd and the sidelines. They take chances and risk to get ahead. And they understand that if they fail, they can try again, differently.

High performance – in sports,  business or life – requires an element of mental conditioning and strong EQ skills that create  a positional advantage especially in shifting moments of uncertainty.

If learned and put into practice, these skills can persist throughout life.