I recently had a conversation with a military pilot instructor (and golf partner) that stuck with me.
His whole training philosophy came down to two words: situational awareness. And the enemy of it? Target fixation — what happens when you become so locked onto one thing that you lose everything around it. The goal becomes the threat.
He’d seen it end careers. He’d seen it end lives.
In business, it’s quieter than a crash. It looks like chasing the same leads that worked three years ago. Recruiting the same profile. Running the same playbook in a different market. You’re not failing — you’re just fixated. And fixation feels a lot like focus until it doesn’t.
Situational awareness is the antidote. It’s not complicated, but it is a discipline:
- Perceive what is actually happening — not what you expect.
- Understand what it means given everything else you know.
- Act on what you understand before the moment passes.
Most people skip straight to step three. That’s how you fly a perfectly good plane into the ground.
Whether it’s sports, business, or the market you’re working right now — the skill isn’t focus. It’s knowing when to zoom out.
Read the full story of what target fixation costs — and what to do about it: Is Your “Success Radar” Jammed by Old Signals?
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