Reflection Time: Imperative for Sustained High Performance
High-performers are conscious of all areas in their life from their professional performance to their health and fitness. By evaluating all areas, rather than solely concentrating on the daily grind, life is simply more satisfying and performance is higher over the long run. I encourage you to evaluate yourself on a weekly basis in the following categories on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest level of satisfaction):
- Personal productivity and performance
- Leadership impact
- Overall work satisfaction
- Physical health and fitness
- Relationships, and
- Peace of mind and emotional stability
This exercise takes less than five minutes, identifies your gaps whereby you could improve, and enables you to think about what changes you could make to raise the bar. The consistent, weekly check-in keeps you on track to attain your overriding personal and professional goals.
Your personal rankings will provide you with a baseline and help you define an area of concentration that you would like to improve for the upcoming week. This is not a one-off exercise, it is something that you need to schedule as a quick overview on a weekly basis and take action to optimize categories before they deteriorate. This will help you maintain focus and a high-performance mindset.
If you are not feeling that your personal productivity and performance is where it should be, then it is time to review your habits and schedule. Review your annual plan, quarterly goals, weekly tasks list and evaluate what needs to shift, be updated or simply deleted as it is not working. Be flexible and kind to yourself. Look at the facts around your performance and productivity deficits and implement realistic changes that can help you move to a higher level. High-performance maintenance and longevity requires thought, planning and flexibility in that you have to be prepared to change practices if they are not working. And last, but most importantly, it requires commitment to your goals and to yourself, because you are worth it.
During certain periods in our professional lives, it may feel that work requires near 100% of our attention and we tend to forget or diminish the importance of other areas. Fitness and health are areas that, personally, I must admit I did not prioritize for years until I received a huge wake-up call — a near heart-attack, at work, in front of my staff.
I thought there was plenty of time in the future to concentrate on my health and fitness, my focus was solely on my career and raising my two children. This wake-up call forced me to realize the importance of health — without it, I have no professional career and am unable to care for my children. Suddenly this goal ascended the list to a top priority. Fitness is essential to high-performance, by improving your energy levels, improving your lifestyle and health, ensuring simple measures like increased fluid (water — not coffee or wine!) intake, daily exercise and sleep, you will have significantly more energy every day. Even if you are the CEO of the company, you can find 30 minutes in your day to dedicate to your own fitness and health. Again, you are worth it!
How many individuals do you know who have been through a divorce? Suffered a health scare? Have rocky relationships with their children or family members? Are seen as combative at work or not easy to get along with? And how many have lost passion for innovation and creativity?
Every area in your life can be improved with prioritization, attention and action; all can be turned around with focus and motivation to do so. The consistency of attention in each of the categories of personal productivity and performance, leadership impact, overall work satisfaction, physical health and fitness, relationships, and peace of mind and emotional stability is essential to maintaining your high-performance.
To schedule a free 30-minute coaching consultation to discuss your baselines with Jenny, or learn more about 90-day High-Performance Coaching packages available, please click on the button below.
