Stay Focused
There has never been so much demand on our attention, but much of that is an unhelpful distraction.
“This goes to the discussion about being present in the moment, and being mindful, and finding your way to having the discipline that it takes so that you can center in on what’s right here, and right now,” says Carroll. “You can actually practice that, so whether its that next lift, that next rep, or the next person that you’re dealing with. We’ve got to get really good at not wasting our attention if we want to be really good at what we do.”
Invest in High-Quality Relationships
“Relationships are everywhere. There’s your relationship with yourself, your relationship with others, and then your relationship with the planet and being able to work with those so that you don’t find yourself being defensive, critical and judgmental of others. Create space to care and to listen with empathy, and put action in place. It’s an inner investigation,” says Dr. Gervais.
Be optimistic
The highest-performing athletes and executives, though, head into a competition, or a meeting, with the optimism that they can achieve their goals. Pessimism will constrict your motivation. If you don’t back yourself, who else will?
“Optimism does call for vulnerability to believe that things are going to work out,” Carroll says. “It’s much easier to say ‘ah, it’s not going to happen’ and then your expectations are lowered, but what is important is that we find ourselves willing to take the chance and to risk our expectations, and risk our hopes. We have to practice that and it takes courage.”
Let go of things that you can’t control
The only way that we can move productively forward is to identify what we can control and focus on that, rather than get hung up on those things that we can’t change.
Take time out
Reward yourself for working hard by taking time out.
“It’s about finding times to maximise those spaces. So, there are times when you’re on and times when you’re not. For me it’s about identifying those times when I’m in the clear for now. Then you can do whatever you want like take a walk or go fishing or it could be shooting hoops. If you stay clouded all the time it’s a mess. Again, it’s a discipline and it takes practice, but sometimes you have to say ‘Look, I don’t need to check my messages right now,’ or ‘I don’t need to call back right now.’ Then there are times when you work like crazy, so the smallest of moments can really be valuable,” says Pete.
Get good quality sleep
Longer working hours, Netflix, and never-ending emails are all conspiring to rob you of good-quality sleep, and while the human race has evolved on so many levels, sleep is not an area that many of us devote enough attention to. A good sleeping pattern is fundamental for brain function and efficient physical recovery, so without it you’re already one step behind your competition.
Have purpose
Many of us have an idea of where we want to be with our performance, career, sport, or physique but we don’t always ask ourselves what it takes to achieve that goal. We may take multiple trips to the gym every week, but if we don’t understand the purpose of what we’re doing, how can we train correctly? Many of the world’s most successful executives and athletes understand this and have a clear vision set out.
“I haven’t met a world leader, in any domain, that doesn’t recognize the value of the inner-life. We can train three things: our craft, our body, and our mind. The best-of-the-best are not leaving any of those things up to chance. What the best-of-the-best are doing is to remind others that purpose is really important. Purpose shapes the practices,” says Dr. Gervais.
Credit to Scott Felstead from muscleandfitness.com