Performance with a "Meh" State of Mind

Performance. It has become almost synonymous with definitions of attaining success, goal achievement, and turning challenges into winning formulas.

For any Olympic athlete, it is years in the making to reach his or her peak, the aim to achieve the maximum attainable. To make sacrifices. It all may come down to one moment, maybe two, where all the work done needs to be put out in the open. And yet, we remain human beings. The deception can be bitter when the podium is not reached.

These determined people have a clear goal in mind. The road leading to gold is planned and strategically set. Even the smallest details are not overlooked. The stories of how some professional athletes travel with their own bed, use different socks, or fine-tune their recovery to the second are nothing but admirable. And shows how far their perfection to performance goes.

Even for them, shaving off even 0.1% of their personal best is an immense success in their field-of-play.

Will they ever feel ‘meh’ after not reaching their full potential on any given day?

No doubt in my mind they do.?

Maybe more as they go through the routines day in, day out. Even though they know what lies in front of them. Drawn out in details beyond the imaginable for our ordinary folk. The sense of taking a step back and losing the opportunity to reflect on what wins and gains has been made.

The feeling of plateau-ing. Or even that sense of taking a step back.

The finer balance between wellness and fitness is one I am currently very much interested in. I too want to perform to the best of my abilities. Tried and tested, these last few months have put me into a new state of performance, disrupted by the unwanted but has kept me moving forward with passion and persistence. A sense of fitness after some time of less-than-wellness. I was captured by the feeling of "meh".

Coming back to the massive interest in the balance between wellness and fitness stems from the notion that wellness is our current baseline in today’s society. On the other extreme, it is sickness. A period where you are brought down to your baseline. Whatever may occur from inside of you or caused by external factors. Not the stage you will be able to perform. Or even can perform.?

It is even less than the feeling of “meh”. And for too many, a stage we want to show to the world we cannot perform.?

And when you look at the stage humanity is moving towards, it is all about wellness. Less about fitness. We’re feeling okay, all health results from the hospital come back as ‘you’re fine’.?

In today’s society, this looks and feels like it is the new normal.

Move along.

And yet, true performance does not reside in the realm of wellness. From sickness to wellness is the step forward to fitness. It is a concept designed from the CrossFit industry, and it makes so much sense. It is in the fitness stage of our lives where performance resides and blossoms. The "meh" factor is part of the equation but not the predetermined factor of success.?

To truly perform, one must recognise that wellness is only the basis for getting that bit better. And wellness does not come in the form of a spa, a weekend break, or digging into the sofa with a book.

As much as professional athletes take their nutrition and exercise to the next level, it is that combination of all aspects in life to achieve better performance. Mindset, sleep, recovery, social interaction, stress, and acknowledging that the feeling of “meh’ is something we all have in us.

That moment we want to shine and is suddenly interrupted.?

It is why coaches can turn around the feeling of “meh” and use this state of mind and body as an anchor to stay on track. It can indeed be taken to the extreme, but it does not have to be on a level of reaching the Olympic Games. Ambitions differ. Finish lines are highly individual. But staying in that feeling of “meh” has not yet brought someone to the next level without planning and a clear goal.

And it will affect your performance.

It all starts where you are now, what you can and want to change, acknowledging your blind spots, set and regularly review your goals, and do the best you can. You will start feeling less “meh” and are on the trajectory of performing better.

Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince. | Anon