I have the best job in the world. I help teams and individuals achieve their fullest potential.
The approach I take with clients is to build the mindset they need for the levels of high performance they want. After all, be it in work or in life, everything starts with the right mindset.
Of course, high performance is a nuanced yet potent blend of more than mindset alone.
In this article I’m going to suggest four components of high performance and how they interrelate; Body, Mindset, Soul, and Environment.
I have two aims. The first is to clarify your views on high performance for yourself and your team. The second is to show that high performance is simple, (not easy), and achievable for those who want it.
Consider the Sailing Boat
To do this, I’m going to use the analogy of the humble sailing boat.
A sailing boat has a hull, a sail, and a mast to which the sail is tethered.
The hull represents the Body — our health, wellness and physical fitness. Like the hull of a boat, our bodies are durable and (save for any severe damage) can keep going unchecked for a good while. But like the hull of a boat, they are also subject to damage and corrosion over time if not cared for. In a business context, this is the premises and the equipment.
The body is a vessel that carries us through our days. How well it serves us is up to us — we can look after it or not, but sooner or later neglect and abuse will affect our performance. To be at our best we need to be mindful of our nutrition, hydration and sleep levels. I also consider financial wellbeing to be part of this, since financial skill and stability provides the means to take care of oneself.
The sail is our Mindset — our approach, attitude and set of beliefs as they relate to the tasks and challenges we face. The Mindset is robust (more so than think), but fickle, jumpy, and highly sensitive to change — just like a sail. With the slightest shift in the wind, a sail will be taken with it.
The mast is our Soul — the deepest parts of us; our identity, our values, our character. Unlike the sail, the mast stays as it is, intact and unchanged, in the worst of conditions and whatever way the wind blows. It is durable, unwavering and fundamental — just like our soul.
The wind and the waves are the Environment in which we operate. We cannot control them, but they exert their pressure upon us. They influence our performance to a massive degree. All we can do is navigate them, in our little boats.
The Sum is Greater Than its Parts
Each of these pieces — the hull, the sail and the mast — will not get very far alone.
Without a mast and a sail to provide it with direction and energy, the hull is stationary, or it drifts with the breeze and the water’s current.
Without a sail or a hull to anchor it in place, the mast is inanimate, useless and heavy.
Without a hull or a mast to tether it, the sail is but a piece of cloth — dragged and tossed about by the changing winds.
Together and working in harmony these three elements can overcome the worst of conditions.
The power of Mindset
Whilst all are fundamental and influence each other, I believe that the most powerful of these components is Mindset.
Here’s why.
Imagine two sprinters. Both are evenly matched in speed and stamina. They are the same age, from the same climate, and have been performing to a professional level for the same amount of time. They are injury free, and both want to win.
Thirty seconds before the starting pistol goes, imagine one gets devastating news. Which one of them wins the race? My money would be on the one not wrestling with this horrible new reality.
Let’s go further. These two sprinters both get devastating news. Which one wins now? It will be the one who has the greatest mastery over his mental self.
I could give you the most motivational speech of your career. You could be feeling at the top of your game. Then you get a rude email from a difficult client and you’re in a mindset of anger, despondency or fear.
The Mindset, like the sail, is acutely sensitive to change in the conditions around us, but conditions will always change. Nothing is static, everything is constantly evolving. The only thing we can do is to master ourselves, which means mastering our Mindsets.
Mindsets can be built. We help our clients by removing the barriers to high performance. This involves sitting down with our clients and getting clear on how exactly they ‘get in their own way’. Examples are time and energy mismanagement, over-committing, or impostor syndrome.
Mindset barriers are individual and personal, but the first step is calling them out — being aware of how we work and why this is the case. The second step is building “Self-Understanding”. Awareness is not enough. We need to understand ourselves. We need to know what throws us off and why, how we work, and how to deploy our mental skills in the most productive ways, if we are to achieve our fullest potential.
The importance of Soul
The highest of performers know who they are, and what they are here to do. They are Authentic. I think about this as Soul (or for those who find that word too wishy-washy “Character” or “Identity”). We know people who have Soul when we meet them. There is a buzz, a clarity, a connection.
How do intangible, abstract concepts like this help high performance? They are fundamental.
In our analogy, the Soul is the mast of the sailing boat. A mast is strong and unbreakable. You can throw nearly anything at the mast of a boat and it will endure it.
The Soul is the robust, steadfast anchor to which the jumpy and responsive Mindset is tethered. Without the Soul, the Mindset is carried wherever the conditions take it.
Soul is one’s purpose, knowing what one stands for (values or principles), and a deep understanding of oneself.
Sooner or later in Next Level’s work with clients, we touch on these topics. We have to. You cannot dedicate yourself to a fulfilling and worthwhile goal if you don’t know what it is. You cannot feel truly satisfied with your efforts if you have no intrinsic measure of doing so. (For more on internal measures of success, click here).
I believe that a person’s purpose, deeply held values and identity is there, ready made. Often though, it goes ignored and buried. The work is in uncovering and articulating these things, so that we have them at hand.
(By the way, a business can have Soul too. These businesses tend to have a very clear Purpose, Culture and set of Values that worked on and upheld on a continual basis. These are the ones with whom we can connect, that we think of as an identity rather than just a faceless company.)
The right balance will take you anywhere you want to go
So how does all this help high performance? Knowing one’s true, compelling purpose means you’ll work harder (and even enjoy that hard work more) to achieve it. Clearly defined values will sustain you along the way because you know you’re doing things the ‘right’ way. Knowing oneself means the ability to make better choices, and thereby lead a more fulfilling life.
In a business context, a clear purpose or ‘mission’ is something that both your staff and your customers can rally around. That makes both sales and marketing more targeted and more effective. It can also help prioritise the massive workload of building and running a business. Clear values help you hire the right people. They will uphold your culture and do things the way you want them done.
Clarity of Soul, combined with a finely tuned Mindset, can take you anywhere you want to go.