In the age of social media, we’re constantly seeing what everyone else is doing: traveling the world, speaking on stages, promoting their latest book… 

But the reality is, we’re only seeing a very small snippet of people’s lives. 

The secret to success is what you do in the unseen hours — the reps behind the scenes. 

You might see this email, listen to my podcasts, sign up for a coaching session…but that’s the final product. 

What you don’t see is how much I effort I put into getting here: You don’t see me busting through my limiting beliefs with coaches, facing my fears, journaling my visions, meditating at home, going to classes, attending events, doing energy work…you get the point. 

You see, repetition is the mother of all skill, and it isn’t always pretty. 

My first blog post wasn’t great, the sound quality on my first podcast was poor, my first meditation was filled with distracting thoughts. 

But through repetition, I’m more confident writing, I’ve discovered the best podcasting microphone, I’m able to focus on my breath for much longer and sustain more inner peace.

All top-performers have this one thing in common: They commit to the fundamentals.

No one explains this better than Alan Stein Jr., author of Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets From the Best of the Best, who I had the privilege of interviewing for my latest podcast. 

He shared a story about how he saw Kobe Bryant practicing basic footwork drills, and he asked why he was doing such basic drills. Bryant replied, “I never get bored of the basics.”

Thing is, we don’t see all those hours of Kobe Bryant putting in the effort to practice the fundamentals—we see him making shots and winning trophies.

We live in an instantly downloadable world that encourages us to skip steps. 

We are taught from social media to chase what’s hot, flashy, and sexy—and to ignore what’s basic. But the basics work. They always have and they always will.

If you’re looking to improve your performance it’s not in the fancy shiny objects. It’s in drinking water, working out, getting rest, being around positive and inspiring people, improving your writing, speaking skills, and so on.

If you want to be a writer, start by writing an article. If you want to have a bakery, master baking cookies. If you want to launch a coaching business, start with coaching someone pro bono. 

It’s not glamorous, but trust me, you’ll be rewarded in public for what you do in private.

So tell me: What do you when no one is watching?