Small Steps to Big Wins

Struggling to focus? Shaun White, three-time Olympic snowboarding champ, ditches his iPhone during training camps, silencing notifications to sharpen his mental edge. In a 2020 Men’s Health interview, he shared how this small tweak—cutting digital noise—boosts recovery and focus to nail tricks like the Double McTwist 1260.

Similarly, the British Cycling team, led by Dave Brailsford, used “marginal gains” to dominate, winning 60% of 2008 Olympic cycling golds by optimizing tiny habits like sleep and hygiene.

We all face our phones’ constant pull. As a parent, I felt this when my daughter was born—focusing on her, which should be easy, was tough with my phone’s grip. It’s not weakness; phones are designed to hook us and its driving attention extinct.

You can fight back with neuroscience-backed rituals like phone-free hours. Start small, and like Shaun and British Cycling, we’ll stack gains for sharper focus, health and ultimately maximal performance where you want.