What drives you? Process, PRESSURE, Perfection, or Play? (Part 2)

As an athlete, I always loved the big moments. The World Championships. The Grand Final. If you're driven by pressure, then chasing the impossible, with the pressure of an audience, will fuel you.

Where does your motivation come from?

As an athlete, I always loved the big moments. The World Championships. The Grand Final played on center court with thousands of fans. The single chance to perform at your best. 

Turns out, not everyone is like that. I’ve had some incredible beach volleyball partners over the years show me that whilst my drive comes from pressure, we are all a little different. 

This is part 2 of a 4 part series. 

1. Process

2. Pressure

3. Perfection

4. Play

Let’s dive into Pressure.

Driven by the PRESSURE

Katie and I were the team with none of the advantages. We rarely got to train together as we lived in different states. We were both short, with no true blocker between us. We had to weigh up every dollar for coaching and for travel as we got zero funding. And both of us had to spend our non-training time working as a result.

Our goal was to play on the World Tour. But at the beginning of the domestic season the National Coach told us ‘You are too old, too short, and not left handed. I will never select you to the Australian team.’ I was 26. The Tokyo Olympics were won by two 39 year olds. 

Katie and I went into the first event of the season with something to prove. 

The match to try and win our pool and progress, we came up against an Olympian, and her new partner. And we found ourselves down 9-14 in the third set. 

The third set in volleyball only goes to 15 points.

It was over. 

The crowd was getting up to leave. Looking for a more interesting game. 

But Katie is a fighter. And I live for high pressure moments.

One point at a time. 

We sided-out with Katie hitting the ball cleanly down the middle of the court. 10-14.

My serve. 

Unlike tennis where serving is the advantage, in beach volleyball it is the receiving team that is more likely to win the point. 

Standing at the service line, I had to take a risk.

I tossed the ball up, jumped, and gave it a soft tap. A surprise short serve. It barely cleared the net, and dropped on the sand in front of them. 11-14.

‘You’ve got this.’ Katie said. ‘Keep serving her.’ 

I stood back at the service line. Took a deep breath. Felt the pressure of the moment. And served short again. Disbelief on their faces. Again, they scrambled for the ball, arms outstretched. And it hit the sand. Ace. 12-14.

The few friends who had stayed to watch the game started to mummer. 9-14 is considered impossible to win. But 12-14. Anything could happen. 

Back at the service line. Our opponents each took a step forward, ready for the short ball. And I served high and deep. The wind caught, swirled the ball. And it caught her awkwardly in the shoulder. Unplayable. 13-14.

Back at the service line. And Katie switched up the blocking call. All match we’d blocked line. Now she flashed me the cross court signal. A big choice under pressure. Serve. 

A clean pass from them this time. Great set. As our opponent’s eyes shifted from the court to look up at the ball I sprinted across the court to cover the line. And Katie… she crouched low. Out of sight. And leaped into the cross-court block. Right as the hitter unleashed on the ball. 

There is a sound a great block makes as it smacks solidly into your hands. I still remember that sound today. 14-14.

‘Let’s goooooo!’ I screamed. Around us, people turned back to look at our court. 

Back to serve. Deep breath. One more short ball. Targeted at the same player. This time she dug it. And her partner, frustrated by the string of lost points, tried to take control of the game by hitting it. Katie read it. Dig, set, and she put it cleanly away on the sand. 

15-14. The game is to 15, but you have to win by 2 points. We’d saved 5 match points in a row, and now earned our own. 

‘Let’s put the pressure on them,’ I whispered to Katie. ‘Look to pull off the net.’

Serve. They passed cleanly. Set. And then Katie ran back from the net. Both of us acting as defenders. Leaving the net wide open for our opponent to hit it. It should be an easy kill. But at match point, after having lost 6 in a row… the pressure not to miss is insane. 

Our opponent leaped up, took a huge wind up with her arm. 

‘Nobody!’ came the call from her partner. ‘No block!’

She unleashed with all the power she had. And the ball hammered into the sand like a rocket. 

A meter out the back of the court. 

16-14. Victory.

Driven by pressure. 

What matters to PRESSURE driven people 

For a Pressure driven person, these things light them up. For someone not driven by Pressure… these things can cause anxiety, underperformance, and stress.

1) Seemingly impossible goals

• Long odds of success

• Someone tells you it’s not possible

• Transformational or groundbreaking projects

• The highest impact tasks within a team

• When someone believes in your potential to achieve the impossible

‘We must always aim for the impossible. If we lower our goal, we also diminish our effort.’ ~ Dorothy Day

2) High energy

• Loves getting started

• Passion, excitement and fun

• Intense positive moments - adrenaline, a big game etc

• Coming up with lots of ideas

• Optimistic about the future

‘Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.’ ~ Warren Buffett

3) More pressure

• Deadlines to add timing pressure

• An audience

• Competition or an opponent

• High performance standards

• The opportunity to exceed the expectations of someone you admire

‘To achieve great things, two things are needed. A plan, and not quite enough time.’ ~ Leonard Bernstein

4) Saying ‘yes’

• When people ask for help, immediately saying yes

• Rising to a challenge

• Spontaneity eg. Making last minute travel plans

• Making it happen, even with an already full calendar

‘I’m a great believer that saying yes is a lot more fun than saying no.’ ~ Richard Branson

5) Being an exception

• The chance to win recognition

• To make your work ‘wow’ or impressive

• Standing out, being special in some way

• Thinking outside the box or the rules

• When someone personalises things for you

‘In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.’ ~ Coco Chanel

Designing your life for more drive

Think of a sales person who lives for signing the toughest deals. She makes progress in leaps and bounds, rather than daily consistency - always going for the big win. She’s at her best when there are 3 days left in the quarter, she’s already made quota but is going for the ‘knock it out of the park’ target that no one in the team has ever hit before. 

When the team was tasked with expanding into a new sales territory, she showed up with tons of energy and creative ideas to help the team get going. And she put her hand up for the toughest part of the plan - winning the marquee client in that region that would help domino the rest of the sales. 

She’s also your go-to person in the team if you need help with something - she’ll almost always say yes and find a way to make it happen. And will never, ever miss a deadline. She likes to work with an audience - publicly committing to hitting targets, and in return receiving praise in front of the whole team when she does. 

You don’t need to be driven by Pressure to make a good sales manager. But she’s designed her role to work for her Pressure drive. Can you do the same?

Ask yourself…

• What would it look like to aim for 10x more? 

• How can I add public pressure to a task with a deadline, audience, or a person I would hate to disappoint?

• Can we make this more fun?

• What are the unique strengths I bring to my team? How can I spend more time using the skills that make me stand out?

• Can I keep some buffer in my schedule so I can wholeheartedly say ‘yes’ to requests for help?

• What’s the highest impact project in my company? Can I contribute to that?

• What’s the one thing that if I achieved that, it would make everything else easy?

Ultimately, Pressure driven people love the impossible. Crazy hard goals, extra pressure, and the chance to stand out. 

And if you’re driven by PRESSURE, this blog is your cheat sheet to feeling more motivation. And if you’re not driven by pressure, perhaps it helps you understand your teammates and colleagues who are just a little better. Watch their eyes light up when you tell them a target is impossible, or you give them recognition for being exceptional. 

This is a 4 part series, so stay tuned for some of my other beach volleyball partners who taught me the other drives: PROCESS, PERFECTION and PLAY.