The Neglected Pieces of the Performance Puzzle

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It’s not uncommon for the high-performers I work with to skip the fundamentals in search of a quick fix or easy solution to their problems.

When you’ve been good for a long time, excellence seems natural. You expect to be able to perform, even if you stop doing the basics (or ignore them altogether). They usually visit my office when they don’t know what else to do.

I’m always amazed when the first session reveals they’ve let go of the fundamentals.

In a recent session I had with an Olympian, they shared the pressure they were feeling as they prepped for the upcoming competition season. As we started to unpack their struggles, it became clear that their sleep schedule had become erratic, their nutrition was inconsistent, and their recovery routines had fallen by the wayside. Despite their elite status, they had forgotten the basic pillars that had gotten them there.

Pressure was only part of the equation.

We can’t expect them to get back to the pinnacle of their game by addressing the pressure alone. Our first objective was not to deal with the pressure but to re-institute the basic practices that they need to be able to perform at all. Of course, the experience of pressure itself will lessen once the foundation is sturdy again, too.

Here’s a look at what that foundation entails:

Self-Awareness

It’s the starting point for any personal development and it’s no different in the context of high performance.

To figure out what to do, you have to be aware of what you need. It seems simple, but the world’s best performers are remarkably self-aware in terms of their values, goals, and mindset.

You’ve got to know if you need more work or more rest. More time at the gym or more time away. More feedback from your coach or for your coach to get out of the way.

Imagine getting in your car and heading somewhere far away. Self-awareness is like registering your location initially on the GPS. For it to work right, you need to know where you’re starting from.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to build your self-awareness:

• Journal daily for a month and look for themes

• Ask people you trust for feedback about you

• Track your energy and note what makes it better or worse

These are just a few ideas, but enough to get you started. With some self-awareness in place, you can turn to the next step.

Foundation of Well-Being

You can’t perform if you’re not well.

To keep it simple, wellness is essentially built on 4 pillars:

• Sleep

• Exercise

• Nutrition

• Play

Each of these elements is a necessity if you want to perform well over the long haul. They’re akin to your gas tank, if we keep the car metaphor going. These keep you full.

Social Connection

If you want to do anything meaningful, linked to a high-hard goal, you need a team. The people around you give you strength, resilience, and a source of energy to pick you up when you’re flat. Without these pieces, you’ve got no chance of winning your championship, whatever that might be.

Relationships are also what lead to a fulfilling life. At the end, we’re most likely to remember the things we did with the people most important to us. Relationships are the bedrock of a life well-lived.

But too often we ignore relationships in pursuit of our own agenda. This happens even at the highest level. After a recent loss to the Sacramento Kings, Anthony Edwards blasted his team for their poor performance, citing individual goals as a primary cause of their losing.

There’s no hope for a championship (in any arena) when you operate like that.

Start here if you need to fix any of these

A few simple recommendations for each:

• Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep.

• Go to bed and wake up as close to the same time every day as you can. 

• Try to have fun once a day. Life is short. 

• Eat well.

• Move your body for 30 minutes a day.

• Spend more time with friends.

• Talk to people like you appreciate that words matter.

These are simple steps you can take to take care of yourself and set yourself on the path to peak performance.

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