Amateur or Professional?

There are 3 major adjustments that, if we don’t recognize from the onset, can sideswipe and derail us before we even get moving.

April 27, 2020

“The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones.”

— Steven Pressfield, Author

Today, every college football player who was eligible for the NFL draft will move from an amateur to a professional — regardless of whether they were drafted or not. In a few weeks, every college senior graduating will do the same.

So what is the difference? Obviously, the shift from a college campus to a business or home office involves money, as does the transition from a college football field to a pro stadium. But what else can we teach others about making that giant leap?

There are 3 major adjustments that, if we don’t recognize from the onset, can sideswipe and derail us before we even get moving. There are no mulligans in the professional game; no “do-overs,” no more “My bads” or scholarships.

Here are the 3 differences we must teach our rookies:

1. Amateurs have someone helping them. Professionals are on their own.

When you are an amateur, you have an extensive support system, people helping you, inspiring you, telling you it’s time to get to work. But when you become a professional, you are on your own. Inspiration must come from within, and no one will play the waiting game on you. Professionals work because working is their job.

2. Amateurs focus on what’s next. Professionals focus on their habits.

Amateurs focus on the outcomes, the end results. Professionals focus on the process of each day, working on their craft at all hours and staying in the moment. They are more interested in their daily routine than their next move.

3. Amateurs focus on what others think. Professionals focus on what they know.

Knowing is vastly different than thinking. Amateurs are always concerned about how they’re perceived by outsiders, which then causes them to make poor decisions. Professionals, conversely, focus solely on gathering objective information to help them become knowledgeable on the subject. This is what ultimately allows them to make the best decision. When amateurs enable others who lack the knowledge or expertise to facilitate an important decision, they risk making a grave mistake.

If we want to make an impact on our professional life, we need to start thinking like pros. We need to fine-tune our habits, create long-lasting routines, and always spend time learning. We always wanted to “go pro.” Now is the time we behave like one.

P.S. If you are in search of a book recommendation, our team at The Daily Coach highly recommends Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers by Jo Boaler. Our brains are not “fixed,” but entirely capable of change, growth, adaptability, and rewiring. The truth is not only that anyone at any age can learn anything, but the act of learning itself fundamentally changes who we are, and as Boaler argues so elegantly in the pages of this book, what we go on to achieve.

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