ep61-allon-khakshouri

Ep61: The Difference Between ‘Amateurs’ and ‘Professionals’ | with Allon Khakshouri

My guest today is Allon Khakshouri, a sports agent who managed three of the world’s #1 tennis players including Novak Djokovic. He is also a best-selling author who specializes in high performance habits and helping ambitious entrepreneurs (and creative professionals) to feel more energized, productive, and inspired.

Having worked with some of the world’s top athletes, Allon is a master at understanding the psychology behind the highest levels of performance, and this interview is SUPER dense with a ton of information. Our conversation hits a wide variety of topics, but at the core of our conversation is deciphering the fundamental differences between “amateurs” and “professionals.”

What is it that makes top achievers so unique, no matter their field of expertise? Is it their skills? Their work ethic? Is it genetic? Or are they just luckier than everyone else?

Do those at the highest level of their craft set goals differently than everyone else?

Or do the most successful people simply have a different mindset? And if so, how can you cultivate the mindset of a true professional at the top of their game.

If you have ever felt like you could be or should be further along in your career or your business and you want to break through to your next level of potential, Allon is definitely someone who can help you get there. If after listening to this interview you are inspired to dig even deeper, Allon has been kind enough to offer all of you listening a free copy of his 26,000 word ‘Ultimate Guide to High Performance’ which will show you how to accelerate your business or career growth and get more high value work done in a day than most people accomplish in a month.

Win a One 1-Yr Subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud or Frame.io

» Click here to leave a review of this episode in iTunes (or Apple Podcasts)

Here’s What You’ll Learn:

  • Developing the ability to perform your best in those career defining moments
  • Pushing yourself beyond your limits by embracing new challenges with optimism
  • The important differences between Amateurs and Professionals
  • Being intentional and setting a clear vision for your goals
  • Mastering skills so you can adjust to difficult tasks quickly and produce at an elite level
  • What it means to have a Growth Mindset vs. a Fixed Mindset
  • How your goals feed into your identity and your character
  • Starting meditation and training your focus as a skill
  • Learning to rely on more that just your talent

Useful Resources Mentioned:

‘Ultimate Guide to High Performance’

Allon Khakshouri

Our Generous Sponsors:

This episode is made possible by our proud supporters Adobe. Leave a review of this episode in iTunes or Apple Podcasts and you’ll be entered to win a yearly subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, an essential package of video creation tools that I personally can’t live without. What’s so cool about creative cloud is how easily you can move from ingest to editing, and from color grading to 3D compositing, thanks to smooth integration between Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. To win yourself that yearly subscription, just leave an honest review of this show in iTunes or Apple Podcasts.

You can also enter to win the 12 month ‘Pro Plan’ from our sponsor Frame.ioan amazing online collaboration tool where you can comment and interact directly with your videos providing instant feedback, rather than constantly going back and forth via endless email chains. (And you know how I feel about email and productivity.) Even cooler your comments can be imported directly into your editing software of choice, and it’s so intuitive, easy to use, and dare I say “pretty” that Frame.io won an Apple Design Award. Leave a podcast review in iTunes to be entered to win your 12 month ‘Pro Plan.’

This episode is made possible for you by Ergodriven, the makers of the Topo Mat, my #1 recommendation for anyone who stands at their workstation. The Topo is super comfortable, an awesome conversation starter, and it’s also scientifically proven to help you move more throughout the day which helps reduce discomfort and also increase your focus and productivity. Click here to learn more and get your Topo Mat.

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Guest Bio:

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Allon Khakshouri is a sports agent who managed three world #1 tennis players, including Novak Djokovic. He is also a best selling author and helps ambitious entrepreneurs introduce high performance habits and strategies to feel more energized, productive and inspired to become leaders of their industries. He is also a Member of the ATP Council.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Elyse Rintelman. The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).


Note: I believe in 100% transparency, so please note that I receive a small commission if you purchase products from some of the links on this page (at no additional cost to you). Your support is what helps keep this program alive. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Zack Arnold (ACE) is an award-winning Hollywood film editor & producer (Cobra Kai, Empire, Burn Notice, Unsolved, Glee), a documentary director, father of 2, an American Ninja Warrior, and the creator of Optimize Yourself. He believes we all deserve to love what we do for a living...but not at the expense of our health, our relationships, or our sanity. He provides the education, motivation, and inspiration to help ambitious creative professionals DO better and BE better. “Doing” better means learning how to more effectively manage your time and creative energy so you can produce higher quality work in less time. “Being” better means doing all of the above while still prioritizing the most important people and passions in your life…all without burning out in the process. Click to download Zack’s “Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Creativity (And Avoiding Burnout).”