Remember your poise. Poise is often the hidden or missing element to success or dominant performances. To reference the great Muhammad Ali, too many people aim to sting like a bee but forget to float like a butterfly. 

Fortunately, souls like Beyoncé got Ali’s memo. Recognize her poise in the form of grounded energy prior to performing “I Was Here” in the clip below. You can just see she has it and as a result her greatness/energy is spread consistently throughout the song.

Football legend Ray Lewis explaining what he is like on game day – “I’m the calmest person ever in my room before the game … I like complete silence. Everything is slow. I move real slow. I spend a lot of time w/ God in the mornings … For me to still be able to have the same passion that I have, I have to calm totally down because I know what happens as soon as I pull into any stadium. If I get off the bus, if I’m pulling into Ravens stadium, it all changes. I promise you, it’s like a switch. I don’t try to control it no-more. From the moment that switch clicks on, I’m like ‘ok the hell with it, let’s go.’ Now it’s a totally different mentality” (13:25 – Ray Lewis Interview)

The above inner peace cultivation is a necessary requirement to tap into his “mode” on game days. His poise prior to battle leads to his outer fury/intensity & gladiator-like entrances >>> Ray Lewis pre-game Introduction

Poise is an overlooked characteristic of greatness. A lion is not who she is just because of her attack, but her poise before it. You do what you do – in the manner you do it – because of your poise before getting after it. Prior to reaching external success, you must first develop this internal success. So before putting your hustle into a goal, put it in yourself. Dig deep & self-create the poise necessary to unleash the best version of yourself.