What is One of the Largest Factors that Separates The Best from The Second Best, or Worst?
Usually, it is whoever can Get themselves in the Right Headspace Faster and Better.
When it comes to Peak Performance, how quickly our thoughts can get us on the right path will determine who Succeeds.
But why is this?
Well, it ties to Stressors.
There are specifically two things we must understand when it comes to Peak Performance and Stressors.
The First is that to attain Peak Performance, you must get to a Flow State.
Flow States are Psychophysiologically where we Perform at our Best in Every Facet of Life.
Physically, Mentally, Creatively, in Problem-Solving, Learning, and more.
If you are not getting to Flow States, you can only attain a Minuscule Fraction of your Performance Potential.
What is also important in the Flow State is that there is a Cycle you Must go through.
It goes from Struggle, to Release, to Flow, to Recovery.
If you do not go through this Cycle, you will Always be Limited in what you can Attain.
As you can see, "Struggle" is one of the Steps, so we "Do" need Stressors to get into Flow, but if we have too many Stressors we become Blocked.
At the Right Amount of Stressors, we can "Release" which is where we drop into Flow States.
Now, the Second Important Aspect of Stressors in Peak Performance is that All Stress Adds.
What this means is that every single type of Stress we experience, Adds Together into what we can handle in the Moment.
Now, what does this have to do with getting in the Right Headspace?
Well, the "Wrong" Headspace is itself a Stressor.
See, just as Physical Stressors, Work Stressors, Relational Stressors, Financial Stressors, and the like can All Add to your Total Stress, so do Mental Stressors.
Now, in the Moment, the Mental Stressor may not feel like much, but it is also a Stressor that tends to Grow the longer we have it.
So, if we are in the Wrong Headspace, it continuously pulls us away from the Potential of Peak Performance.
The Longer we stay in the Wrong Headspace, the further we go into Dis-Stress, which prevents us from Releasing into Flow.
The Further we go into Dis-Stress, the more Recovery we need before Flow becomes Possible.
As you can Imagine, if we hold onto the Wrong Headspace for longer and longer periods, it continues to Build "and" Add to All of our Other Stressors.
This then makes Peak Performance Impossible to Attain.
However, when you Understand this Correctly, you also Understand the Solution Inherently.
Get yourself into the Right Headspace.
The "Faster" you can get yourself into the Right Headspace, the Less it Builds as a Mental Stressor.
The Less of a Mental Stressor that you have, the Easier it is to Release into Flow States.
The Fewer overall Stressors you have, the Faster you can Recover to get into another Flow State.
When you look at it like this, having the Wrong Headspace ends up acting like Mold on Food in your Refrigerator.
If you have a Little Mold on your Food, it usually Is Not a Problem, as long as you Quickly throw out the Contaminated Food.
However, if you Allow the Mold to Stay in the Fridge, it will spread.
It can Grow on the Food it first Contaminated.
From there it can Spread to Nearby Foods.
If you leave it there long enough, it can end up getting to the inner, inaccessible compartments of the Fridge, to the point where the only way to solve the Mold Problem is to throw out the Fridge!
The only difference between your Fridge and your Brain is that you can't just throw out your Brain.
That is Why you Must learn how to get into the Right Headspace to Perform if you desire to reach your Peak Performance.
When it is time for you to Perform, you "Must" Perform.
If you discover that you "Can't" Perform when you need to, unless you fix the Headspace you will Never become the Best.
However, if You are paying Attention, you'll notice something beneath the Headspace that is Important to Examine.
Your Overall Stressors.
See, for most people, their Headspace is a Reflection of Total Stressors.
The Headspace in this relationship acts like an Amplifier in many ways.
When we have too many Overall Stressors, the Mental Headspace "Amplifies" them and makes them Significantly Worse.
That is why the Mental Headspace acts like Mold, especially when Maintained.
This is a Large Part of why Burnout has Impacted 80% of People.
Too Many Stressors with a Mental Headspace that is making it Worse, Faster.
It also means that Part of the Solution to getting "Into" the Right Headspace is to "Reduce" your Total Stressors.
If you have too many Stressors, there are too many things for your Mind to Grab Onto, making it difficult to get your Mind where you want it to be.
But if you Reduce the Stressors, your Mind has Fewer places to go, so you can Focus it where you Need it to be for Peak Performance.
This is why, as Leaders, we must be aware of not only the Stressors "We" have, but also the Stressors our Teams, Organizations, Customers, and even Suppliers have.
What we are seeing everywhere in Business is that Stressors in one Aspect of Business is Infecting other Aspects of Business.
Exactly like the Mold in the Refrigerator.
The only difference in how it applies here is that in Business, you Can "Throw Out" the Refrigerator.
Most people call it a Failed Business.
The Reality Check we need to Recognize is that if your Teams lack things like Innovation, Problem Solving, and Productivity, then your Real Problem is most like Burnout.
Innovation, Problem Solving, and Productivity are all Aspects of Flow States and Peak Performance.
If your Organization cannot get Peak Performance, then your Organization is filled with Stressors that are Rampant and Insidiously Destroying the Organization.
Much like a Mold Problem.
If you don't Solve the Burnout Problem, it Will Spread and only make things Worse than they already are.
In order to get your Own Headspace, and the Headspace of those you Lead, into the Right Place, you Must Solve Burnout and Reduce the Total Stressors being Experienced.
If you Fail to accomplish this, Expect the Mold to Grow.
This is why Leaders need to Design a Regenerative Legacy.
The Goal of a Regenerative Legacy is to Create a Business Ecosystem where Burnout Cannot Exist.
Where there is No Burnout, Flow becomes Possible.
Whichever Leaders and Organizations can Harness Flow States Consistently, Wins.