Why FOPO is killing your sales team's performance (and how to fix it)
Those folks that have experienced trauma and work through it, they're the best teammates. They are flat out the best because they've embraced the fragility. They've looked the dragon in the eyes and wrestled it down and become friends with the dragon. So now they go out into the world with the dragon. And it's awesome. They are the best of the best of the best teammates. But the ones that don't do the work... don't trust them. Do not trust them. They haven't done the work to know what they really stand for.
If you are chronologically stuck just trying to figure out if you're okay, it's a very low form of living. It's just a survival-based mechanism. So how do you quiet the default mode network? One way to do it is deep focus. So if you are hanging on the side of a cliff, and you are digging your nails into the side of the cliff, the mechanism of like, am I okay, only needs to be asked once. No. And then you need to go into action mode, right?
I've been fortunate to be part of some of the most extraordinary teams... none of that extraordinary feats or those outcomes, those winning outcomes happen by one person being the one. There's a team. Even an individual sport like surfing or tennis or whatever it might be, there's a team underneath the team... And you go further when you work with other people. And that's the essence of elite sport. That's the essence of great teammates in great companies.
- FOPO, or Fear of Other People's Opinions, is an excessive preoccupation with what others might be thinking of you, often showing up as anticipatory worry before interactions.
- The brain's Default Mode Network (DMN) is constantly active in the background, checking if you are 'okay' in the eyes of others, linking approval to safety.
- Chronically being stuck in this survival-based state of DMN, constantly worried about self-preservation, is a low form of living that prevents individuals from bringing their best forward.
- To quiet the DMN and shift focus to core performance, individuals can practice deep focus through high-risk situations (like elite sports) or meditation, allowing them to tune into their 'signal' instead of the 'noise' of external worries.
- Trauma, often misunderstood as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is better described as a 'protection of re-traumatization' which makes individuals feel alone and fragile, often leading them to keep others at a distance.
- Individuals who have experienced trauma and actively worked through it, wrestling with their inner 'dragon,' become the best teammates because they've embraced fragility and know what they truly stand for.
- Elite performers train three key areas: their body, their craft (e.g., selling skills), and their mind, with mental training being crucial for achieving optimal states like 'flow state' and managing internal activation.
- Mental imagery, including practicing both success and challenging scenarios (85% success, 15% challenges), is a powerful tool to program the brain, allowing individuals to 'work out' potential problems and build resilience before they occur.
- 200,000-300,000 years ago (The biological mandate for seeking approval and avoiding rejection was built into human psychology during this time period.)
- 10-15 years ahead (Big sport is generally this many years ahead of big business in investing in the performance attributes of their people, particularly psychological training.)
- 5% (The percentage of the population that is not able to see images in their mind's eye (aphantasia).)
- 90%+ (The percentage of the population able to use mental imagery to see images in their mind.)
- 85/15 ratio (The ideal ratio for mental imagery practice: 85% envisioning successful outcomes, 15% envisioning challenging situations to work through.)
- 128,000 feet (The height from which Felix Baumgartner jumped in the Red Bull Stratos project.)
RevBots.ai View:
- AI Sprinkler teams waste mental bandwidth on approval-seeking instead of revenue execution.
- Psychological training is the next frontier for ARM teams: it's the missing layer in tech stacks.
- The 85/15 mental imagery ratio mirrors pipeline management best practices for high performers.
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