The Peak Performance Expert

I was watching a Celtics game recently where the referees seemed to be making a series of bad calls.  The TV commentators were complaining about it, too. I was curious about how the players would react to these calls and noticed that most quickly shrugged them off and got back on track.  This is definitely a sign of mental toughness, i.e., the ability to minimize the impact of distractions, get refocused and deal with the task at hand. 

This got me thinking about life in general.  In case you haven’t noticed, life is often unfair. Hard working people lose jobs and homes and sloths win the lottery.  So, what do you do?  The true test of a person’s character isn’t how he or she functions when things go well but rather, when things get rough. 

Have you ever noticed how 2 people might both encounter a series of hardships and yet each deals with it differently?  One might be a whiner and the other a winner; one sees impossible obstacles and gloom and doom and the other sees challenges and opportunities. Which type are you? 

Now I am not minimizing the very real pain that some of you might be experiencing due to layoffs, loss of investments (you should see my IRAs!), and so forth.  And it’s perfectly ok and understandable to acknowledge and feel that pain but then – what? 

It’s then time to take a step back, assess your situation in an objective fashion and create a plan of action.  What needs to change in order for you to move through this rough period?  Who can you call for advice or assistance?  What or who will give you emotional sustenance? 

A mentally tough individual views mistakes and set-backs as opportunities for learning and growing; do you?

Leave it to Charlie Brown to find the torrential downpour in every cloud.  He could benefit from some mental toughness training to help him learn how to reframe those negative thoughts.

Unlike Charlie, I enjoy this season and hope you do too.  I wish you every happiness this holiday season.

If you’re of a certain age or if you like old movies, you might remember the delightful film – White Christmas - with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney.  In the movie, Bing sings the Irving Berlin classic – Count Your Blessings – to Rosemary. 

“If you’re worried and you can’t sleep

Just count your blessings instead of sheep

And you’ll fall asleep

 counting your blessings.”

(Count Your Blessings by Irving Berlin, 1954) 

 It’s a sweet moment and to see it, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DARnIsN2bc

It seems Mr. Berlin was on the right track; researchers in psychology have confirmed that keeping track of your blessings, those people, things, and events in your life for which you are grateful, is good for you.  As a matter of fact, expressing gratitude can contribute mightily to human health, happiness, and social connection. And good restful sleep.  Really. 

Robert Emmons, psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, is author of the book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.  Emmons wrote, “Our groundbreaking research has shown that grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism, and that the practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness.”  

Now that’s quite a statement but the research (extensive and not only that of Emmons) is compelling.  Even middle school kids, when asked to keep a log of up to 5 things they were grateful for from the previous day, developed higher levels of optimism, life satisfaction and exhibited more gratitude toward people who had helped them. 

 So while you are stuffing your face tomorrow, consider taking a moment and reflect on the many things for which you can be grateful such as the meal you are consuming and the people with whom you are dining. 

As for me, I will certainly be thankful for food and the abundance of it along with the joy of friendships and family connections.  Good health is another biggie (which looms more important as I get older) along with possessing some skills and talents; having a home, having been raised by loving parents, having had a good education, having had the opportunity to ehlp people transform their lives, etc.  There is so much.  Hmmm…I think I’ll sleep well tonight! 

 Happy Thanksgiving to you!

In my last post I wrote about the importance of preparation to ensure feeling and being composed in high stakes situations.  I specifically wrote about how to mange your body’s response to a percived threat.  Today, I’ll touch on mental preparation.

Let’s say you have a big meeting or presentation coming up.  You have to either present your ideas at the meeting or give a talk to a group.  Of course you will jot down your ideas and create an outline or a script.  And, of course you will (or you should!) rehearse (out loud) what you’re going to say.  You will attempt to memorize your key points so you don’t have to refer to your notes (or you should!).

Here’s a technique that helps you learn and retain new material and that will train your mind and body to respond in the way you wish.  It’s helpful to use this for a variety of high pressure situations including preparing for a test, rehearsing a talk, or practicing an athletic move such as putting in golf.

  STUDY/REHEARSAL/PRACTICE ROUTINE 

1.       Begin with relaxation exercise (Can be simply exhaling slowly several times)

2.       Once relaxed, connect with Ideal State (This is how you want to feel, act, be in the actual performance situation)

3.       Say CUE word/phrase to yourself (Cue word is your trigger – a word that connects to Ideal Performance State)

4.       Once firmly in “positive space” begin to study/rehearse/practice

5.        As soon as you notice you are leaving positive space, STOP EVERYTHING, then re-connect with positive space.

6.        Once firmly in positive space again, repeat CUE word/phrase and resume your work.

7.        Study/rehearse/practice ONLY in positive space.

8.        Important to strengthen association between positive space and study/rehearsal/practice.

9.        At time of test/performance, exhale slowly three times and repeat CUE word/phrase to get back into positive space.

By using this technique, you are essentially training your mind and body to respond in the way you wish. You are only “performing” (i.e., practicing) when you are in your ideal state so when you are in the actual performance situation, that is the state you will be in.  If you find yourself diverting from your ideal state during performance, say your cue word to yourself to reconnect with your ideal performance state.

How do they do it?  This was the question a friend posed as we were watching the USA men’s gymnastics team the other night.  Indeed, their strength, their balance, their ability to fly through the air and swing themselves around with breakneck speed using one hand seems magical or super-human.  We watch, holding our breath, amazed that people can do that! “I could never do that,”  we say.

But then I thought about that statement and mused that it is just that kind of statement which immobilizes us.  It starts off as a statement and then becomes a belief that limits us.  Of course we could do that (whatever that is) if we had the desire, the motivation, the plan,  and the commitment to execute the plan – step by step.  It may sound stupidly simple to say that none of the Olympic athletes perfected their prowess overnight and yet we somehow don’t consider that when we too quickly compare ourselves to them.

What does it take to be a champion – in sports or in business?   Here’s my take on it – the 8 C’s of Mental Toughness:

1. Championship mindset – a willingness to seek out and an openness to receiving feedback about your performance.
2. Concentration – the ability to focus on what is relevant to the performance and not succumb to distractions.
3. Composure – the ability to stay calm and poised in high stakes situations.
4. Come back from mistakes – the ability to bounce back from set-backs and mistakes.
5. Clarity about Motivation – tKnowing what you want and why you want it.
6. Commitment – the desire and ability to stick to your performance plan.
7. Confidence – belief in your ability to perform well.
8. Courage -the quality of spirit that enables you to take on challenges.

I’ll be commenting on how I see these factors being played out as the Games continue.