What's at the root of your peak performance?

You know that feeling you get when you are trying hard but your day and your week are, at best, stagnant and, at worst, spiralling downward?

The one that feels like you are driving with your foot on the accelerator and brake at the same time? It just feels like you are spinning your wheels, right?

And the worst part is that it starts in the work-place but then you bring it home. Day after day.

Peak Performance - in your grasp

Imagine if things could be different…imagine if peak personal performance was, largely, in your grasp every day. Not to say it’s easy - but surely the rewards are worthy of a sustained effort?

Think of improved professional performance without any more effort; think about being in a better mood when you get home and enjoying improved time and relations with your family and friends. Even your hobbies will benefit and move from being stress relievers and a place to take out your frustrations to time you can enjoy in its own right.

The point here is not to simplify daily personal performance. There are many factors and aspects to how we perform daily but there is one anchor point and principle that’s vital for you to grasp.?

Performability

Performability; your ability to perform well.

Performability is essentially your innate ability to access your capability.?

It’s a learnable quality yet one that is often outweighed by a focus on your capability.?

Capability is your potential as a result of natural talent & experience allied with your professional training and the role-coaching you receive.

However, as in the world of sports performance with athletes and sports-players, performance is governed by their ability to access their capability.

I express it like this

Performance = Capability x Ability

Perform-ability is a force multiplier for your capability. So now matter how good your capability, having a poorly developed ability to express will mean your overall performance is restricted and compromised. We are governed by our ability to perform well and this is what leads to us spinning our wheels.

The vital thing to understand is that this ability is rarely standing still; as your week wears on it’s on a downward trajectory. And so, try as you might, your performance, and results, are in decline too.

Always-On

Our always-on culture means that we are always trying hard and get quite frustrated when we know that we’ve got the tools and smarts to achieve to a high level and yet inertia seems to be the order of the day. It feels like you are stalling. And in this case many reach for additional capability - they invest time and money enhancing their skills, processes and knowledge but not balancing the books with a close look at their ability to perform..

Put simply if I ask you how you feel today what would you say? Give me a score out of 10.?

If you give a score, as 80%+ of my clients do, of somewhere in the 5-to-6 range then that is the ceiling on your performance that day. That feeling can loosely be described as an expression of your perform-ability and as we seen from our PQ equation [performance quotient] it will act as a key determinant on how your day and week will pan out.

We see the net results quite clearly in the businesses we work with - a decline in productivity, a fall in effectiveness and a talent exodus are among the prevalent outcomes.?

All stemming from people who are de-energised, deflated and demotivated as a result of ongoing perform-ability issues. And often it’s an issue they don’t quite realise is present.?

We keep reaching for the pill to cure the ailment….but does treating the symptom treat the cause?

So how can you address this?

Warren Buffett touched on an answer with a key statement - and I paraphrase - avoid investing time getting good at the difficult things. Get great at avoiding issues and problems before they appear.

So you need to understand what fuels your perform-ability and what drags it down.?

Try a focus on your ‘how’ as opposed to over investing in your ‘what’.?

Switch focus from capability to perform-ability by understanding, as athletes does, that being ready-to-perform is a vital component in ‘bringing it’ every day once the clock on your day starts.

Performability has its root in your lifestyle habits.?

How good are you across the 5S?

The 5S Principles

Stress, Sleep, Staying Active, Sustenance and pSychology.

Our choices in these bedrock habits will define how we feel and then how we function every day and every week.

It always amazes me when I commence taking an individual or group through our ‘9-To-Thrive’ solution just how often people neglect the foundational, and proven, habits of personal peak performance. Get these right and it’s 90% of the battle.

You’d be disappointed if your favourite sports team or athlete went into action feeling tired, listless, depleted and not capable of good performance, right??

And yet there’s a good probability that you are doing just that. It’s hurting your professional performance not to mention how this spills over to personal life.?

Your peak performance is built on its supporting habits; knowing what to do and what not to do across the 5S principles offers you a sustainable advantage.?

It helps you to stop spinning your wheels.?

You’ll be better able to negotiate the hazy labyrinth of your week.

You'll avoid reaching a dead-end by Thursday afternoons.

Your performance-supporting habits determine whether you burn bright or burn out.

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Paul operates at the intersection of human performance and professional/business success. Coaching leaders, executives, entrepreneurs and their teams he shines a light on the proven and trusted habits that will illuminate your path toward peak personal performance.

Step up, Stand out, Stay ahead and make high-performance your better normal. Visit www.connectperformance.ie