Opening Story

I talked to a business professional recently who’s very good at what they do. High-level technician, high-level strategist, very good at their job. Their company knows it. They know it. The people who work around them know it.

The issue is, the rest of the world doesn’t. And this is a concept I see quite often with high-level performers. We get really good at what we do. Our skills get sharp. We put in the time, we learn, we grow, and we become really good at our craft.

But if nobody knows about it, leveraging those skills becomes incredibly difficult. Skills, technique, and ability are awesome, but they only create opportunities when people can actually see them. This becomes especially important when you’re trying to continue leveling up in your career or business, whether that’s trying to build a company, become known as a premium asset, grow your reputation within your community, or establish yourself within your industry.

You have to find a way to make your work visible.

The problem is, not a lot of people like being visible. That spotlight can freak people out sometimes. So we have to understand what’s actually getting in our way. First, what’s the obstacle to putting ourselves out there? Maybe we’re not sharing our work anywhere people can actually see it. Maybe we’re waiting for someone else to notice us. Maybe we’re doing great work but staying completely behind the scenes.

Then we have to ask ourselves why we’re scared of the spotlight in the first place. What are we afraid of? Is it judgment? Is it someone seeing our work and deciding it’s not as good as we think it is? Is it our own insecurity or imposter syndrome telling us that maybe we’re not actually as good as we think we are and eventually someone is going to expose that?

These are all real concerns, and they can create real problems. But we also have to recognize something: If you’re not visible, it’s very difficult for other people to recognize your value. You have to be willing to be seen if you want your skills, your work, and your ability to create opportunities for you.

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​The Performance Insight

Building a skill or ability takes a lot of time and effort. It requires willingness, learning, growth, failure, repetition, and everything in between. It’s a shame to put all of that work into yourself and then hide it from the world.

A lot of times, shame is one of the things that keeps us hidden. We’re afraid of what people are going to think. We’re afraid it isn’t good enough. We’re afraid someone will find the holes in our abilities or point out our flaws. And here’s the thing: there probably are flaws. There probably are areas where you can improve. That’s true for all of us.

We need to reflect, understand where we’re at, recognize where we need to grow, and continue improving. But that doesn’t mean we have to pretend we’re not good at what we do until we’ve somehow reached perfection. At some point, you also have to give yourself credit for what you’ve built. Give yourself your laurels. Let yourself actually recognize that the time, effort, and energy you’ve put into becoming better have created something valuable.

There are a lot of high performers I work with who are very good at what they do, but they’re scared to show the world. Don’t be one of those people. Let yourself be seen. And yes, it might not go the way you want it to. Someone might criticize you. Someone might not like your work. Someone might tell you that they don’t think you’re as good as you think you are. That’s okay. Because the opposite is also possible.

It could go better than you think. And if it doesn’t go well, like we’ve talked about in past editions, failure is data. You learn from it. You grow from it. You make adjustments and continue building. You don’t get to leverage skills that nobody knows you have. So give yourself a chance. Put the work out there. Let people see what you’ve built. And then take what happens next and use it to keep getting better.

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​The Science Behind It

There’s actually some interesting psychology behind why visibility can feel so uncomfortable, especially for high performers. One piece of this is the spotlight effect, our tendency to overestimate how much other people are noticing and evaluating us. We can feel like everyone is watching when, in reality, most people are far less focused on us than we imagine.

Then there’s the fear of evaluation. When we put our work out publicly, we’re creating an opportunity for other people to judge it. For someone who has tied a lot of their identity to being competent or successful, that can feel threatening. This is where things like self-efficacy become important.

Self-efficacy is our belief that we can successfully handle the challenges in front of us. When we have stronger confidence in our ability to respond to setbacks, criticism, or uncertainty, we’re more likely to take action despite those things. And that’s important because confidence doesn’t always come before visibility. Sometimes visibility is how confidence is built.

You put something out. You survive the criticism. You learn from the response. You realize the world didn’t end. You do it again. Over time, your brain gets new evidence: I can handle this. That’s why avoiding visibility can become a trap. Avoidance gives you temporary relief from the anxiety of being judged, but it also prevents you from getting the experiences that could teach you that you can handle being seen.

The goal isn’t to become someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. That’s probably unrealistic. The goal is to become someone who can say: “I care what people think, but I’m not going to let the possibility of judgment stop me from doing something meaningful.” That’s a very different mindset.

This Week’s Challenge

This week, make something visible that you’ve been keeping hidden. It doesn’t have to be huge. Maybe it’s:

• A post about something you’ve learned.
• A project you’ve been working on.
• A skill you’ve developed.
• An idea you’ve been afraid to share.
• A piece of your work you’re proud of.
• Reaching out to someone you want to work with.
• Finally putting yourself forward for an opportunity.

Before you do it, ask yourself:

“What am I actually afraid will happen if people see this?”

Write down the answer. Then ask:

“If that happened, could I handle it?”

If the answer is yes, put it out there. Don’t make the goal going viral. Don’t make the goal getting everyone to love it. Make the goal being willing to be seen. Then pay attention to what happens. Maybe you get an opportunity. Maybe you get positive feedback. Maybe you get criticism. Maybe almost nothing happens. Whatever happens, it’s data.

The point is to stop letting the fear of being seen keep you from giving your work a chance to create something bigger.

The Premier Mindset Podcast

3 Key Highlights From This Week’s Podcast | Episode 76: You Are More Than An Athlete

This week on The Premier Mindset, I sat down with Tara Wells, LCSW, sport social worker and founder of Finish Line Mindset.

Here are three things that stood out to me from our conversation:

1. Your Athlete Identity Doesn’t Have to Disappear​
Athletic identity can become unhealthy when being an athlete becomes the only part of who you are. Tara shared a powerful reminder: your athlete identity doesn’t disappear, it simply moves in and out of the spotlight. You can be an athlete while also being a friend, teammate, partner, parent, professional, student, and so much more. The goal isn’t to shrink your identity as an athlete, but to make room for everything else that makes you who you are.

2. Confidence Is a Practice, Not a Feeling​
One of the biggest misconceptions about confidence is that you can simply decide to have it. Confidence is built through practice, mistakes, feedback, and repetition. Sometimes you have to be willing to be bad at something today so you can become better at it tomorrow. Growth requires getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and learning that failure doesn’t mean you’re incapable.

3. Excellence vs. Perfectionism​
There is a major difference between pursuing excellence and pursuing perfection. Excellence focuses on the process: How can I continue to improve? Perfectionism focuses on the outcome: What if I fail? When athletes become afraid to make mistakes, they can become stuck before they even begin. Learning to take action, make mistakes, recover, and keep moving forward is one of the most important skills an athlete, and anyone pursuing growth, can develop.

If you’re an athlete, coach, parent, mental health professional, or simply someone interested in performance and human behavior, I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode. Its out now on Apple Podcasts, YouTube & Spotify.

🔜 What’s Coming Up

From Division I Football to Life After the Game | Ep. 77 of The Premier Mindset

Next week on The Premier Mindset, I’m sitting down with someone who knows the Division I experience firsthand, my former University of Nevada, Reno teammate, Alex Boy.

Alex was one of the best punters in Nevada football history, but our conversation goes far beyond what happened on the football field. We dive into what happens when the game ends, how athletes rebuild their identity, and how the discipline, resilience, and pursuit of excellence developed through sport can translate into a meaningful career and life beyond competition.

If you’ve ever wondered “What comes next?” after achieving something you’ve worked your entire life for, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

🎙️Episode 77 of The Premier Mindset, dropping next Sunday.

Closing Thoughts

There’s a difference between being good at something and being known for being good at something. The first requires developing the skill. The second requires being willing to let people see it. That second part can be uncomfortable. But if you’ve spent years developing yourself, don’t let fear, insecurity, or the possibility of judgment keep you from leveraging everything you’ve built. You don’t need everyone to like it. You don’t need everyone to understand it.

You don’t even need everyone to agree that you’re good at it. You just need to be willing to give your work a chance to be seen. Because you might be much closer to something incredible than you realize. But nobody can discover what you’re capable of if you never let them see it. Stop hiding the work. Let yourself be seen.

I’ll see you next week,

Premier Minds. Premier Results.

— Trent Mahler, LCSW
Founder, Premier Performance LLC

​https://www.premierperformancereno.com/​

P.S. I read every email, reply to this with your questions or feedback or just to update me, I would love to hear from you.

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