The inner domain of performance
How do you perform throughout your day? Each and every day? Moment by moment? Consistently! Do you have an awareness that how you are, on the inside, is affecting all that you do, on the outside?
What I mean by this is, have you ever questioned the connection between your inner environment, i.e. how your inner state, your energy – emotional, physical, relational, mental and spiritual – impact on how you act, what you do and how you show up, moment by moment, in your life?
Your performance is within your own control!
A lot of my work is in the Sports Sector and one of the statements that is often shared around high performance is:
“You cannot control the pitch, you cannot control the weather, you cannot control the referee, but you can control your own performance.”
Controlling your performance has to do with choosing to manage and learning to master your internal state because the success of what you do – as a player, a manager, an athlete, a parent, a team member, an entrepreneur, a leader – depends on the inner place from which you operate. This is at odds with so many of the theories and behaviours we learn, which focus on the What and the How but not on the Who.
To explain that further, what I mean is, that our traditional cultural norms focus on the What you want to achieve and on How you are going to achieve it but a fundamental, integral step is missed. It is this step that actually has the power to augment the success and creativity of any task, action or project.
What is this Missing Step?
It is to focus on the Who, i.e. the You.
Only You can truly sustain your own performance and get the results You want and yet rarely, if ever, is You included in the equation of achieving what You want. You are your most important resource and mastering your own inner state is the key to leading your Self to achieve high performance and outstanding results.
So, how do you operate from this inner dimension, the source of self leadership and high performance? This is an area of passion for me. I would even go so far as to say that this is my life’s work and it underpins everything that I do with clients and also how I choose to show up in my life – moment by moment. By moment.
Making the intangible tangible
The most challenging thing about managing our selves to deliver high performance seems to me to be wrapped up in the seemingly intangible nature of it. We equate high performance with elite athletes and as such separate ourselves from it, as if it is something that we cannot achieve. I disagree. Completely. High performance is accessible for everyone. In fact I think if there was more tangibility about what leading your Self meant that it would see more and more people delivering high performance and ultimately being fulfilled in all aspects of their lives.
So, let me make self leadership and high performance tangible, so that you may choose how to deliver high performance in your own life.
I believe 100% that it is the inner place of performance, from which we can choose to operate and that we can master that is the key to achieving fulfilment and results. I believe that controlling your performance is synonymous with Being the Best You Can Be. In simple terms, to Be the Best You Can Be, you must consistently work into the following two internal disciplines:
1. Self Leadership: Choosing to manage and lead your inner state and
2. Self Mastery: Committing to mastering your inner performance (i.e. committing to Be the Best You Can Be)
And all done moment by moment. By moment. Continuous work in progress.
This is my call to action to You.
Will you choose to manage your inner state and commit to mastering your inner performance? Moment by moment. By moment?
Over the coming weeks I will break these inner domains of performance down in practical ways with insights and tips. So stay tuned and until then…
Be the Best You Can Be.
Nadine