Which are you?

Pattern A or Pattern B?

This question came to me from a few people, so I'll explain it for everyone.
"You talk about elite performers collapsing. But some sustain for decades. What's the difference?"

After watching this pattern across NFL, Special Forces, and Fortune 500, two distinct patterns emerge.

𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗔: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹
Some elite performers sustain by distorting their Life Model.
They're trained—formally or informally—to suppress drivers that would interfere with performance.
"Ignore your security concerns. The mission matters."
"Pain is just information. Keep going."
"The team is your only attachment. Nothing else matters."
This works.
Inside the environment.
For a while.

It breaks when:
• They leave the environment (the original drivers reassert)
• The environment changes (new leadership, new culture)
• It clashes with who they actually are (moral injury)

This explains post-retirement athlete collapse.
Veteran reintegration struggles.
The executive who was "unbreakable" for 20 years - then wasn't.

The model was distorted for performance. Remove the environment that supported the distortion, and the architecture fails.


𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗕: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺
Other elite performers sustain by keeping their Life Model intact - but building external systems that restore what work depletes.

Work threatens Attachment?
Strong family and relationships outside work restore it.

Work threatens Security?
Financial stability or support network compensates.

Work threatens Independence?
Autonomy in other life domains provides balance.

The performer sustains because the system restores what gets depleted.
Not distortion.
Restoration.


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Pattern A performers look invincible.
Until they're not.
The collapse is sudden and complete.

Pattern B performers look more human.
They have limits.
They protect time.
They maintain relationships.
But they sustain for decades.



𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀
You can build either pattern.

Pattern A environments produce short-term results and long-term casualties.
"Push through. The mission matters. We'll recover later."

Pattern B environments build restoration INTO the architecture.
"What's depleting you? What's restoring it? Is the math sustainable?"


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘀𝗸

For yourself:
"Am I sustaining through distortion or restoration?"

For your people:
"Are they performing because they've suppressed what matters - or because something is restoring what we deplete?"

The first is a time bomb. The second is sustainable.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘆.

Pattern A pays later.
Pattern B pays as it goes.
You decide