THE CORPORATE ATHLETE
How to achieve sustained high performance in your work and overall life? There is a lot that can be learned by applying the habits and rituals from a group of all-time high performers professional athletes. READ MORE
TIPS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY
Does it feel familiar that your to-do list is never-ending and you’re spending most nights still behind your laptop? READ MORE
FOCUS WITH CARL
From the sidelines, sport is often thought of as very physical – faster, stronger, higher! Even in a gym class, your instructor will be at the front of the room shouting "give me all you've got". But how do you get to that point of giving it all? And why do some people seem to be able to do it, while others just don't? It seems that the ability to focus your efforts beyond the level of comfort is a defining factor for achieving peak performance, not only in the gym but in every sphere of life.
Carl talks to CrossFit Games athlete - Alexis Rufus, about her decision-making process of qualifying for the CrossFit Games, what mindset changes she had to embrace and how we can all develop the focus for peak performance.
THE CORPORATE ATHLETE
How to achieve sustained high performance in your work and overall life? There is a lot that can be learned by applying the habits and rituals from a group of all-time high performers professional athletes. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwarts from the Harvard Business Review researched the habits of athletes and coached executives with these same learning via their Performance Pyramid model. The Performance Pyramid is an integrated theory that addresses the body, emotions, mind and spirit. Each of them influences the other and failure in any of them will decrease your overall performance.
This makes sense for athletes but you could argue that executives can still perform successfully even if they smoke, drink, are overweight or lack emotional skills. But according to their findings they won’t perform to their full potential. Before diving into their 4 building blocks there is one another thing they found out. The real enemy of high performance is surprisingly not stress, that’s actually the stimulus for growth. The real problem is the absence of disciplined, intermittent recovery. Chronic stress without recovery leads to a decrease in performance and after a longer period of time even to burnouts. Creating the right habits and rituals that combine stress and recovery will actually help you thrive in high performance.
1st LAYER IN THE PYRAMID: PHYSICAL CAPACITY
EXERCISE: A no-brainer for our regular PPG crowd! Our body is our fundamental source of energy and we can use that in our advantage by working out regularly! A trap for many corporate athletes is that they push themselves too hard mentally and emotionally and too little physically. The fitter you are, the more energy you have, the better your performance will be. So, the first priority is to get your physical health into shape. Check out our PPGYT playlist for daily workouts and inspiration!
RECOVERY: After putting regular stress on your body you will need to add regular and consistent recovery, to heal your muscles and get stronger. You can read more about this in our MOVE pillar this month.
NUTRITION: the right nutrition combined with the right timing will fuel your body with energy, making it possible for you to perform better during your workout (which in return will give you even more energy), will keep you focused while working and give your body the ability to recover when you need it. Find all the tips you need in our NOURISH pillar this month.
2nd LAYER IN THE PYRAMID: EMOTIONAL CAPACITY
By emotional capacity the researchers mean the internal climate that supports peak performance like the emotional experience while being in your ‘Ideal Performance State’. Positive emotions ignite energy that in return drives high performance, while negative emotions drain energy. Negative emotions actually create toxins by elevating your heart rate and blood pressure, increasing muscle tension, constricting vision, and ultimately crippling performance. As you can imagine there is a lot to gain by mastering your negative emotions and transforming inner experiences of stress into positive challenges. One of the most effective ways to do this is to create rituals to get rid of tension and contain negative emotions whenever they threaten to come up. Our favorite rituals:
WORKING OUT: A consistent workout routine to shake off the bad vibes and challenge your energy.
BREATH WORK: Whenever you feel tension or stress taking over, try to become aware of the sensations in your body. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and consciously try to relax the muscles in your face and body, one by one.
MUSIC: Music has a powerful emotional effect and it can create a shift in your mental activity from the rational left side of the brain to the intuitive right side of the brain. It stops you from obsessive thinking and worrying and can regulate your energy when you need to perform and when to rest.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: Spending quality time with close relationships is one of the most effective ways to prompt positive emotions, only for many this is difficult since time is limited. By creating rituals like family breakfast or dinner and setting clear boundaries between work and home you will create positive emotions that will help your body get rid of stress.
3rd LAYER IN THE PYRAMID: MENTAL CAPACITY
This level is all about the cognitive part of peak performance. How to train your focus muscle for better time management and positive & critical thinking. There are a few different ways to increase your focus. Our favorites go-to’s:
MEDITATION: A practical exercise that trains your attention and promotes recovery. It helps quieten your mind, let your emotions sink in and helps your body to find rest. It’s even being said that experienced meditators need considerably fewer hours of sleep than non meditators since they find recovery during the day. Tune in to our PPGYT MINDSET playlist or download the Headspace app and activate your complimentary PVH account.
VISUALIZATION: Another tool that can increase your focus and create positive emotions around stressful events. Creating your own visualization ritual before the start of your workday or important meeting will prepare you better and keep you focused. By visualizing the outcome you want to achieve you’re building your mental muscles and increasing your strength, endurance and flexibility. This will decrease the chance of being affected by negative thoughts and emotions under pressure.
4th LAYER IN THE PYRAMID: SPIRITUAL CAPACITY
Spirituality might not be something you would immediately think of when considering how to increase your performance. But the core of spiritual capacity is connecting with your own values and your sense of purpose, which in return is a source of motivation, focus, determination and resilience. Creating habits of spirituality will give you an opportunity to pause and look inside. How to kick start your spiritual journey:
ME TIME: Start spending uninterrupted time with yourself doing something you enjoy, with no phones or other devices allowed. It could be cooking, gardening, reading, singing, walking or another personal hobby. These activities can provide deeper experiences that help you connect with your values and purpose.
BE IN NATURE: Spending time in nature often has the effect of helping you feel connected to the larger world around us and helps to put experiences and emotions in perspective.
AFFIRMATIONS: Whether written down or said aloud, are a daily reminder to yourself that you’re moving in the direction you want to move in or that you’re becoming the person you want to be, that connect to you values and purpose.
To conclude, high performance at work and in general life can only be reached and sustained when these 4 layers are balanced. When people feel strong and resilient – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually –they perform better, with more passion, for longer periods of time. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR EFFICIENCY RIGHT NOW
Does it feel familiar that your to-do list is never-ending and you’re spending most nights still behind your laptop? This could create an unsustainable way of working and in the end lead to a decrease in long-term performance. We share with you our tips & tricks to improve your efficiency starting today:
REFLECT: Start by reflecting your work processes by asking yourself these questions; when are you most productive? What are your most urgent responsibilities? What is keeping you from performing better? Once you figured this out you can hold yourself responsible for making a change.
PLAN YOUR WEEK: At the beginning of the week, spend an hour making a detailed list of what you need to accomplish – this way you can prioritize the most important jobs to complete first so you’re not wasting time.
FOCUS ON ONE TASK: Multi-tasking sounds productive but actually is counterproductive. Channel your energy into one task at a time. When you complete a task, a rush of endorphins is released, making you feel happy and more relaxed. Give yourself a new lease of energy and finish what you started before moving on to the next to-do on your list.
LIMIT DISTRACTIONS: A real challenge, especially while working from home is planning the week ahead with limited distraction. Whether it’s timing your time with your kid’s schedule, putting your phone away, tidying up your workspace and buying noise-canceling headphones. Figure out what distracts you and how to limit it.
TAKE BREAKS: Every 90-minute take a ‘productive break’. Go for a short walk, stretch, call a friend, do a 5-minute meditation or make yourself a healthy snack. Limited extra screen time or mindless scrolling.
