Do Your Job!
Let’s pretend you play for an NBA basketball team, and your job is to guard the number one player from the opposing team. Two of your best friends also play alongside you, and their job is to do the same as you against other players. If you all focus on doing your “job” (guarding for 48 minutes), then you have a greater chance of winning the game itself. If, on the other hand, all of you become distracted and focus instead on the desired outcome (scoring the most points possible), you put victory at risk. Why? Because thinking about the final result versus the “job” can take the emphasis away from where it needs to be.
Comparing this to a swim meet competition, most swimmers do far better by focusing on what’s required to achieve the best time versus the time itself. Also, thinking exclusively about the final result can lead to “questions of panic” like, “What if I don’t make the time?”