Trevor Moawad advises elite athletes and teams in the mental practices that achieve excellence. I listened to a podcast recently where he talked about his coaching.

One of the programs to which he has access is the University of Alabama football team coached by Nick Saban. At Alabama, they talk about the “process” of excellence as compared to the outcome of winning.

The belief is that if you build and adhere to excellent practices that the outcome will take care of themselves.

Moawad says that he has learned that people who repeatedly succeed have learned what habits excellence requires and have employed the discipline to incorporate them into their lives too.

That sounds simple enough, but as I reflected upon it, it isn’t simple at all.  Understanding the habits of leaders is more than merely copying what you see others doing. It’s digging deeper.

Moawad said the excellent athletes are students of “why” and “how” they achieve results. They have a clear view of the path to excellence. They have walked the path. They have turned the process into habits. They repeat them.

Dig deep. Learn the habits. Employ them.

That’s more specific than “work hard,” “don’t quit” and “hustle.