I’ve had many conversations with leaders lately about “high performance”. It’s a concept that gets thrown around a lot in many different environments and contexts; most people have an idea of what high performance is based on what they’ve experienced at work or a sports team, an athlete, musician, or artist they follow or a friend they have who they believe is a high performer. Sometimes I feel people don’t connect so much with the term “high performance”, but when I change it to “What does being your personal best mean to you?” the penny drops, their facial expression changes, and they start to make a connection. They start to inquire internally.
Very few people have spent quality time thinking about what it feels like, looks, and sounds like to be their personal best, and then even fewer have started the journey to actually define it.
How would it show up for me at work? At home? When I’m with my friends and family? When I’m on my own? How would I sound? How would I behave? How would I make people feel? How would I respond if something doesn’t go my way?
I believe there are two key ingredients to starting the journey to becoming your personal best:
a) simply making the choice to start; and
b) having the energy to start.
If you choose to become your best, it’s important to commit to it. This not about “trying” to be your best this is about “choosing” to be your best.
Here are some questions I asked myself a few years ago when I started on the journey to be my best and check in on them often:
- Who do I want to become? What’s my personal philosophy about how I want to live my life?
- Does my mindset enable me to be my best? If not, what can I change?
- Do my daily habits and routines enable me to cultivate energy?
- Am I willing to step outside my comfort zone, be vulnerable and try something that may challenge me?
- Who do I admire? Why do I admire them? How do they make me feel?
There are some deep questions there, but starting small is the smartest way to begin any journey, and that’s especially true when it comes to this. What’s one thing you can start today that will set you on your path?
Is it to do with starting something up again that you used to do but don’t focus on anymore? For example:
- Daily exercise
- Eating well
- Practicing mindfulness
- Utilising the morning for some “you time.”
- Getting a bit more sleep
- Connecting with family and friends
Is it to do with removing something from your daily habits and routines that don’t serve you in a positive way?
- Working late into the evening
- Having a couple of glasses of wine every night of the week
- Eating highly processed foods
- Watching endless episodes of Netflix
- Scrolling social media before going to bed
Or is it something you have thought of trying but have never committed to or got around to?
- Creating a vision board
- Reading a book at night instead of watching television
- Listening to a podcast
- Cooking a meal
- Meeting up with friends and having some fun
- Going for a walk in nature
There is a lot to ponder here, but I want to get you thinking. Change can be challenging: it requires a mindset shift, and takes cognitive and physical energy. So, if you want to change how you’re living your life, if you are tired of the struggle and want to move towards a better you, start small, visualise yourself at your best and begin to walk that path.
Doing the work to understand what it means to you to become your personal best is deep work, but it’s so worth it! It does take time; it takes energy, it takes patience, but if you ride the bumps and continue the down the path things will change.
This work is a lifelong journey, the goal is not to get to the end and say “Yes, I’ve arrived” … the goal is to continue the exploration of the next level of possibility for you and your life.
Becoming your personal best doesn’t have to be a lonely journey; in fact no one does this deep work alone. Here at Next Evolution Performance, we’re all about you becoming your very best and supporting you on that journey. Connect with one of our team for a performance chat and start your journey today.
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