Football analysts often talk about a quarterback’s vision, the way they can quickly assess a developing play. They see openings, they make adjustments, and in a few seconds, they calculate the timing of a throw—all while staring down a charging herd of super athletes, giant linemen clawing forward, fighting for the sack.
When you watch the close-up replays of a professional quarterback making a play, they look calm and collected despite the chaos developing around them.
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In interviews with athletes, especially the most experienced ones, they sometimes talk about how the game “slows down.” They can see the field more clearly, and they feel like they have the time to choose the best play. Beyond football, you can see this kind of vision at the highest levels of any competition. Boxers are somehow able to slip a punch by mere millimeters. Baseball players hit 90 mile-per-hour fastballs. Basketball players dribble between the legs of opponents.
When you gather vast amounts of thoughtful practice and field experience, you can develop skills that to outsiders look superhuman.
In sales—such as in life insurance and annuities—we might not be dodging linebackers, but we have the same opportunity to slow the game down. Early in our careers, every appointment feels like an entirely new problem. We encounter roadblocks we didn’t expect. Prospects ask questions we weren’t prepared for.