How to get yourself ready for peak performance? Laying the groundwork, being consistent, and visualizing the perfect outcomes all help. However, what you do in the last day or two have the biggest impact. This is when you need to simulate your performance.
In triathlon racing, this means swimming in the lake, river or sea that the race will be held. Ideally at the time that your swim will start. When I took part in a race in West China in August, the air temperature was very comfortable - dry and sunny. So it was a shock to jump into the lake and experience 19C water. It was freezing due to the high altitude and the fact that the water ran straight down from mountain glaciers! It was essential that I prepare myself mentally and physically for this type of environment. The high altitude also contributed to less oxygen in the water which made it harder to breathe. This meant I had to adapt my breathing style while swimming. This experience helped prepare me for the actual race conditions that lay ahead.
How can you prepare for peak performance? If you are giving a business presentation, find the actual room and stand there and deliver some of your presentation. Get a feel for the layout, the acoustics and the way the audience will be seated.
If it’s not practical to arrive a day ahead, arrive early. When I am hosting formal dinners, I will arrive in the afternoon and watch the room being set up and meet all the hotel staff, sound and video teams and check the stage and microphones personally. This way there are no surprises and I have done everything I can to reduce the big-night nerves.
Whenever you can, put yourself in the real situation. When presidential candidates are prepareing for the debates, they practise in rooms that have been created to imitate the debate settings. Give youself the best chance to shine by working on your final day preparations.
Consistency is the single most important ingredient for success. It doesn’t matter how much you know, how good your strategy or tactics are or how big your resources are - if you cannot move forward consistently, you will always be playing catch up.
In triathlon training, “junk” miles refer to the training you put in on the bike and on the road in building up your base fitness. They don’t contribute directly to your success, but without them you are never going to reach the heights of your potential.
Any workout today will be better for you than doubling up on your workout tomorrow. Spending ten minutes reading your children a bedtime story every day will be more valuable to them than saving it up for one hour at the weekend. One sales call a day is better than cramming in twenty on the last week of the month.
A common mistake in planning is that we overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term, and underestimate what we can achieve in the long term. We cram too much into the first and second week of our plan (or change plan) and only have a very vague idea of what’s coming up in the third and fourth week. Set yourself up for success but time blocking your important goals into your calendar. When I was beginning my exercise program, just ten minutes walk a day was my target. I knew I could achieve this on a long term basis, and this helped me build up a core base of fitness.
When you are looking to make a life change, don’t start with a radical change. Pick activities that you can achieve in the long term. Don’t say you will go to the gym six times a week if you can’t block out the time on your calendar on a consistent basis. Start with a small, simple activity. I am trying to reduce my caffeine intake at the moment. But I love my coffee - especially home brewed. Just love the smell. So rather than cut it out or limit it to the weekend (which I did with chocolate!), I decided to have a coffee every other day. This has turned out to be fairly easy. So I have cut down on my caffeine and I enjoy my coffee every more now.
Pick an area you want to improve in and pick a super small, super easy activity that you could start today and continue over a long period of time. The main benefit of this is it reduces some people’s natural tendency to procrastinate. You can start immediately. How could I tell myself that I could not go for a ten minute walk every day? It’s impossible. And if you really can’t commit to such a small step, perhaps you have the wrong goal.
Start small and consistent. Then as you improve you will be able to decide on how to step up your activity to reach your targets.
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