ARE YOU PRACTICING PROFESSIONALISM?
Consider the mental fortitude of a professional athlete. Their success is not just built on talent, nor is it measured by a single game. Instead, it’s the culmination of purposeful, methodical actions taken while no one is paying attention. Their entire being focuses on five critical development areas: visualization, recovery, support, reframing, and continuous training. Most of all, professional athletes understand one golden fact: being a professional is not a title you earn once and keep forever. It’s a standard you maintain daily.
Elite athletes don’t train once or for a few years and then expect to win every game, and they don’t consider each game the entirety of their ongoing training. The reason they’re often considered inspirational is because of their perceived commitment, wherewithal, and deliberate actions. These assumed traits are inferred from the consistent results they produce during moments when everyone is watching.
The same principles used by these pros apply far beyond sports. In fact, if you’re looking to elevate your career or any area of your life, adopting their professional strategy will be the most impactful improvement you can make.
The easiest place to evaluate these concepts is in your career. So, before we dive into determining your level of professionalism, let’s examine the five critical development areas.
1. Visualization
High-level performers do everything to surround themselves with images and visions of executing their efforts with excellence. They allow their minds to envision what each step toward a win implies. Outcomes are never left to chance or hope. They mentally rehearse excellence so that their minds can experience success before it even happens.
By using positive language and intentionally affirming self-talk, true professionals train their minds to see possibilities rather than threats. They disengage from negative influences and practice measured goal-setting techniques. They see it just as much as they live it, and they know that an misstep in the past, is a lesson for the future.
2. Mindful Recovery
Top professionals know that being present requires a level of balance. They know that when they’re training, they’re all in, and when they’re not, they should recover, because peak performance requires full commitment and intentional disengagement.
Things like tranquil sleep, emotional regulation, fun, and mental resets are not indulgences, but necessary tools for performance. True professionals avoid destructive coping habits and instead choose ways to recover that create long-term growth. From sleep and positive mind-body practices to fun, they give themselves the ability not to be so consumed by their goals that they still make time for rest. This often allows them to practice the art of stepping into the “now.”
3. Positive Support Systems
True professionals aren’t isolationists, nor do they surround themselves with mentors who focus more on comfort than truth. Instead, they surround themselves with other professionals and loved ones who provide direct communication and accountability. These people are critical to their success in overcoming blind spots and perceived obstacles. This is why high-level professionals are often required to work with multiple coaches and mentors. They accept that openly confronting their own egos uncovers greater results and helps them reach their ultimate goals. That’s why they maintain positive support systems built on trust, honesty, and mutual respect.
4. Opportunistic Reframing
Setbacks do not define a professional. Their response to it does. Rather than dwelling on the difficulties or reasons the obstacles emerged, high performers can reframe them as opportunities. Every challenge becomes a way to improve self-awareness, sharpen logical thinking skills, and overcome unseen weights holding them back.
Professionals don’t wallow in perceived entitlement or succumb to negative influences. Instead, they step into action by shifting their perspective. As opposed to wishing and waiting for perfect moments, they are adaptive while remaining focused on appropriate actions that move the mark forward.
5. Regular Training
The elite never stop training. They practice consistency over accepting experience as their sole mentor. They engage in different ways to keep getting better because they understand it’s that level of intentionality that creates mastery.
A true professional understands that years of performance do not define their status. Their commitment to consistent improvement is what really matters. This cycle of development opens unexpected doors and creates ever-lasting results as their careers evolve.
PROFESSIONALISM DISCOVERY SELF-EVALUATION
If you accept that the label of “professional” falls within these five categories, you can measure the strength of your current career (or any facet of life).
Reflect on what you do professionally and ask yourself the following questions. Rate yourself (with complete honesty) on a scale of 1 to 10 for each. A score of 1 indicates you don’t relate to the statement at all, while a score of 10 indicates you relate to the statement completely.
- I consistently visualize myself rising the ranks and eventually mentoring others. I do this by surrounding myself with physical reminders of achievement, and I often take moments to literally close my eyes and imagine achieving my goals in detail.
- I have complete control over my days, and my career never unintentionally spills into my personal life. I consistently get enough sleep, nourish my body and mind, and embrace emotions like laughter, happiness, and tranquility.
- Everyone around me is supportive. My support system and I don’t waste time talking about others. Instead, we explore ideas, share insights, and appreciate one another’s company. I know I can have deep conversations with the people I keep close because they are honest, direct, and able to help me explore topics, including those I have difficulty expressing.
- Obstacles give me a chance to be creative and learn. I’m more than solution-focused. I’m solution-driven. That means I don’t just see ways to overcome obstacles, I fully enact ideas and have complete follow-through. I step up during challenging moments because I know they offer opportunities, even if I can’t see them right away.
- I seek out ways to consistently gain knowledge and experience because I understand that there will always be ways to improve. I don’t limit myself solely to opportunistic training that’s readily available or lean into experience as a harbor for growth, because I see that consistent self-improvement unlocks unlimited potential.
Your self-assigned score, if honest, is your level of perceived professionalism. A score closer to 50 means you have great balance and lean into building more, while a score closer to 10 means you could benefit from additional exploration to improve your performance.
This test is designed to help you build a deeper self-awareness. One free from the burden of inconsistency and fear. The more you improve these five areas of your life, piece by piece, the more you find ways to merge your professionalism with your potential. Eventually, you’ll see that structure and determination are the winning components to balanced peak performance.
The final component of professionalism is its connection to purpose. Without this understanding, professionalism often collapses. This is why, in many businesses, you often see or hear your executive team explaining the value behind the products or services you collectively produce.
PURPOSE ANALYSIS
The reason why you want to be considered a professional falls into one of the following seven topics:
- Financial Gain
- Prestige/Recognition
- Control/Autonomy
- Influence
- Security
- Leadership
- Authority
You might think you know your reason, but a test exists to help you uncover and understand it more deeply. The grid below is designed to help you clarify what drives your pursuit of professionalism. It forces you to make meaningful trade-offs to rank importance and arrive at a definitive choice.
In each white box, you will see two options identified by corresponding letters. For that box, choose only one letter, regardless of the discomfort picking may bring. For example, in the box labeled “A or B,” choose if Financial Gain (A) is more important to you than Prestige/Recognition (B). Write down the letter of your choice on a sheet of paper or Post-it note. Stay true to yourself, don’t overthink it, and remember that there are no right or wrong answers. Allow yourself to be in the moment and choose.
When finished, count how many times each letter appears. The result is how you prioritize each topic relative to the others. The letter with the highest total represents your strongest underlying motivation. This is the lens that helps you evaluate your successes, opportunities, and efforts. The letter with the lowest count shows you what pulls your influence the least. Neither of these results is good or bad, but they do help you understand why specific goals energize you while others drain you of your energy.
Finally, examine the score you gave yourself in the Professional Discovery Self-Evaluation and compare it to your highest purpose analysis result. This reflects how consistently you act in the sense of what matters most to you.
When your behavior aligns with your strongest motivating factor, your efforts feel sustainable and purposeful. A high score paired with that motivating factor signals a deepened level of momentum and fulfillment. When these results aren’t there, your professionalism begins to erode. A lower score, combined with your motivating factor, uncovers a misalignment between purpose and effort.
Professional behavior is not improved by convincing yourself you have to do more. It is improved by aligning what you do with why you do it. When this alignment is present, it leads to more natural progress, clearer decisions, and a diminished sense of self-burdening.
Elite athletes don’t just train their bodies and improve their skills. They train their awareness. They continually revisit their vision, surround themselves with the right people, understand what they are recovering from, improve their reframing practices, and commit to ongoing development. Over time, structured control replaces random chaos, and determination becomes the strength that overcomes fear. Eventually, professionalism stops being something you chase. It becomes something you practice. And ultimately, something you embody.
