The non-negotiable of Peak Performance
Let’s talk about high performance:
In general, when we talk about high performance, the first thing that may come to mind is an athlete training to participate in the Olympics, a soccer player during the preseason, or a basketball player preparing to start the regular season.
The reality is that, while that is a common image of high performance, it is also true that it is outdated.
Today, high performance is not only limited to Olympic athletes or traditional sports. Currently, high performance can be observed in many new industries: poker players, entrepreneurs, stockbrokers, e-sports athletes, and many more people who are not traditional or Olympic athletes need and use high performance not only to improve their performance but also to have a balance in their life.
That is, high performance is not simply demanding the body until it can’t give anymore. Still, we can now understand that high performance involves balancing professional and personal life.
Of course, elite athletes must make sacrifices, such as missing birthdays, weddings, parties, and moments with their family and friends. But that does not mean that they do not find a moment to share with their loved ones.
Today, high performance is not synonymous with demand, but it encompasses self-knowledge, and acceptance of the necessary sacrifices to achieve the goals one set for oneself, but without sacrificing health. Today, high performance understands much more than before the non-negotiable aspects and that it is not necessary to be a traditional athlete to be a peak performer.
Let’s develop a little more on the “non-negotiables”. But first, I would like to detail what, in my work methodology, are the pillars for the development of high performance.
High performance has 5 pillars:
Sleep and recovery
Physical activity
Diet
Affective relationships
Mental health and skills
Although I won’t go into detail about each one in this article, we can say that:
Sleep and recovery are fundamental for performance. We need to keep in mind that if we want to perform, we need to sleep and recover. Although sleep is a form of recovery, we also need to take active breaks and days off. Sleep and recovery are non-negotiable.
Physical activity has many well-known benefits. It’s important to mention that although more physical activity is better, nowadays it’s not necessary to train at a very high level if the discipline we work in doesn’t require it. However, it’s important to engage in a minimum of weekly physical activity, not only for the physical benefits but also for the mental benefits it offers. Physical activity is non-negotiable.
Diet is our fuel and much more. Currently, much progress has been made in understanding how the health of our microbiota can affect our mood and cognition. Eating healthily is non-negotiable.
Affective relationships are important because we are social beings. We are born and die in society. When we can relate to our loved ones in a healthy way, we develop a much healthier quality of life compared to if we have toxic relationships. Affective relationships are non-negotiable.
Mental health and skills to work on it are important. With the development of modern psychology, mental health has taken on importance in people’s daily lives. Unfortunately, it was the pandemic and the consequent quarantine that caused mental health to start to be on par with physical health. In reality, both are related. Our mental health is non-negotiable.
Fortunately, high performance, in its complexity, now understands much better what people need. High performance now extends to many more industries.
Finally, let’s remember that performance is not a miracle or a coincidence; it’s something we build through our routines and goals.
Let’s build performance.