242. Preparedness Beats Frustration Every Time

September 15, 2026

You can’t expect to get better at anything you’ve never actually practiced, and Dr. Andrew Fix explains why performance and practice are two completely different skills.

Picture missing shot after shot on a basketball hoop you haven’t touched in years. Then getting annoyed at yourself for being rusty. Andrew unpacks the real gap. You have the ability. You skipped the practice. When was the last time you actually practiced the thing you expect yourself to be good at?

He explains why golfers who play a few rounds a year never improve, why runners who race every training session tend to get hurt instead of getting faster, and why top athletes spend far more time drilling and reviewing film than competing. The performance is only a small piece of the process. The rest happens in drills and film review.

Then he applies the idea to conversations. What changes if you prepare for a hard talk with your kid, your partner, or a client the same way an athlete preps for a big game, instead of hoping the right words show up on the spot? Communication breaks down for the same reason a jump shot does. Nobody rehearses it.

Pick the thing you keep getting frustrated about. Have you ever practiced it outside the moment it counts? If not, that’s where to start.

Quotes

“Practice is really where the gains can be made to acquire the skills that you’re trying to acquire, no matter what we’re talking about.” (01:24 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If we do anything like that, like we only do something occasionally, it’s always a performance, it’s always a game or a round of golf when we’re playing with no intentional practice, how can we expect to get better at it?” (03:57 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“We can get better at any multitude of things, but we have to practice them. And we have to practice different than when we’re performing.” (05:26 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Try not to get frustrated with yourself when something doesn’t go according to plan, when you didn’t put any real effort into getting better at that thing before the performance came up, before the opportunity presented itself for you to play.” (10:29 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Where you put that time and intention into, that area of your life is going to grow no matter what it is.” (11:15 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

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