The statement speaks to confidence and fear. Have you ever seen a squirrel leap between treetops or run along telephone wires? The squirrel has total confidence and no fear. Imagine what that squirrel could do if he was in business.
Well, probably not a lot, because he’d still be a squirrel.
But imagine what YOU could accomplish if you thought like a squirrel. Do the preparation, have a solid plan, then act swiftly with razor sharp focus and confidence. You could be unstoppable.
The difference between the squirrel and us is when the squirrel decides to leap from the telephone wire to the tree, the squirrel will look and run, whereas we would look, think,then run.
Often times we only train for a task. We never stop and give ourselves the time to trust in our own abilities, or to just trust the process in general.
Sometimes we focus too much on performing and we end up creating pressure that doesn’t need to exist for ourselves. Fear creeps in when the risk of failure is looming. This is what holds people back from being the best they can be.
Dr. John Elliot taught a sports phycology class. He asked the class, “with the 2x4 on the ground, could you walk across it without falling off?” Of course, they all answered “yes, no problem”. Then he asked, “now if we raise the same board 50 feet into the air, could you make it across without falling?” The number of people that felt they could do it dramatically decreased. The same task in a different situation had totally different results.
So, after you’ve done the training and the preparation, work to develop the trusting mindset. Don’t let fear or other influences creep in and affect your performance. By simply trusting in your own abilities, you will become a clutch performer and the person everyone goes to for the win.
So go, think like a squirrel and jump.