Most of you are probably aware of one of the best football coaches of all time, Vince Lombardi. He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won many championships under his coaching. One story that you may not have heard, however, speaks volumes about how he was able to win so consistently. Whether you are an entrepreneur, an employee, a parent, or an investor, this principle can help you win more consistently, too, in your life. Here now is an excerpt from James Clear about Coach Lombardi.

“It was July of 1961 and the 38 members of the Green Bay Packers football team were gathered together for the first day of training camp. The previous season had ended with a heartbreaking defeat when the Packers squandered a lead late in the 4th quarter and lost the NFL Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Green Bay players had been thinking about this brutal loss for the entire off-season and now, finally, training camp had arrived and it was time to get to work. The players were eager to advance their game to the next level and start working on the details that would help them win a championship.

Their coach, Vince Lombardi, had a different idea.

He took nothing for granted. He began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before… He began with the most elemental statement of all. “Gentlemen,” he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand, ‘this is a football.'”

Yes, you read that correctly. He actually had the audacity to show these grown men – most of whom had been playing the sport since they were little tykes – what a football looked like. His point was simple: he, as their head coach, wanted to make sure that he taught them everything they needed to know to succeed – starting with the BASICS.

If one of the greatest coaches of all time taught the most basic of all basics about his profession to professionals, then maybe it is time for you to revisit the basics, too.

Who knows? Maybe – like the Packers did later that year – you, your career, your business, your relationship with your child or your investment portfolio can “win the championship” this year, by becoming the best version possible. Don’t you think it’s time to get back to the basics yourself? As a former mentor of mine said years ago, “If you never leave the basics, you never have to go back to them.”

You will be amazed by how far this process will take you. You just need to trust the process, starting today.