A Research Paper By Hélène Dumais, Human Performance Coach, CANADA
Unlocking the Key to Peak Performance
Peak performance is not confined to a restricted VIP area, accessible only by elites born with talent. Though you do need an entry code to gain access to the very specific information for you to perform. What is this data holding the key to your performance? Where is it and how do you turn it on?
Throughout my life, I have achieved a few remarkable performances. At 17, I was the lead female singer in the musical The Phantom of the Opera. At 21, as a sommelier, I placed third in a wine-tasting competition. After turning my attention to health and fitness, I became a competitive ultra trail runner and, during my thirties, I accumulated 50 podiums and was the first and only female finisher of an 888 km race. I never saw these accomplishments as peak performances or never even considered myself an athlete. Instead, they were merely the manifestation of traits and attributes of the big dreamer I have always been: a positive outlook on life, inexhaustible creativity, and optimism; what felt for me like a fearless drive and determination to achieve goals, no matter how big or small they were. Early on, I realized that not everyone around me was like that.
I now have been coaching trail runners for over a decade, and I seem to have attracted those with similar potential, atypical athletes who have uncommon projects that are often perceived as unconventional by the public. I made it my mission to welcome and support them in making their seemingly impossible ventures a reality.
I have often wondered what it is that makes us think this way. It takes something special for an ordinary person to believe in the extraordinary. What ignites this inner fire? What is the secret ingredient to expressing this potential and performing? In this article, I will attempt to shed some light on this, exploring the source of this mindset and uncovering the mysterious component that motivates us to think outside the box. First, let’s define what performance is.
Peak Performance: What Is Performance?
Performance is the simple act of doing something with an expected result. Performance is a key factor in achieving success and reaching goals. The authors of Peak Performance define performance as “the ability to consistently achieve desired results.” It is not only an individual’s ability to hit their desired goal but also the process they use to get there. Performance is the result of hard work, dedication, and the capacity to learn, adapt and grow.
To better position yourself in relation to performance, I offer you three different comprehensions: I will always first advocate for OPTIMAL performance – as in the expression of one’s full potential in all aspects of life, whether in sports, relationships, or work. In a competitive context (such as sport or business), some may strive for PEAK performance – as in an extraordinary performance expressed at a given moment, which is not sustainable and has associated costs. Lastly, in order to succeed, it is important to remember that performance is RELATIVE to oneself. Your best performance might be getting up every morning and managing your morning routine with three children while fulfilling the demands of your job.
Whichever type of performance you are seeking to embody, the same question remains: what does it take to create it and where does it come from? Here next is a common belief for what the answer is.
Bread: An Analogy for Performance
Let’s use baking bread as an analogy. There are only three ingredients needed to make bread: flour, salt, and water. However, for the bread to rise, a starter, such as sourdough (naturally fermented flour and water mixture) must be incorporated.
A vast and magnificent body of work has already been done on all the actionable for training for peak performance; our flour, salt, and water. Having an understanding of the task, skills, techniques, and resources needed to reach a desired result is essential for successful performance. Having a clear understanding of these factors gives you the tools you need to achieve your goals. Having a plan is also an important ingredient for peak performance. This plan should outline how to achieve the desired result, from setting goals to creating an action strategy, and regularly reviewing progress. If these elements of fitness are the flour, salt, and water for making our bread, what is our sourdough starter?
If there is no rising agent to make it all come together and rise, it can easily become overwhelming working both on the mastery of the craft itself whether in sport, business, arts, or academia and on the physical abilities and mental skills requirements. Consider, for instance, someone who wants to compete in an equestrian competition where their world is predominantly about horses and hurdles. Learning the 22 triggers for accessing the flow state – a state of intense focus and concentration on a task, resulting in increased productivity and performance – might be discouraging considering all the sport-specific training this individual already has to do. But as we have discussed earlier, producing peak performance necessitates all those ingredients.
Assuming peak performance and wanting the impossible do not exist because of talent, skills, or an action plan, nor is it innate, then from where does it originate? The performance begins with the individual and their attitude, outlook, and determination way before taking into account their craft. The key origin of peak performance is the individual’s mindset. Peak performance is not an end goal; it is primarily a mindset. Let’s set aside our bread, leaving the misleading kitchen as our source lab, and follow the crumbs to where the flour comes from; where the grains grow: in the garden.
Awaken Your Inner Gardener
A metaphor to understand the starter required to achieve peak performance is that of a gardener. It is the gardener who sows a small seed, nurturing it to grow into a strong and robust tree – a peak performance. Soil, seed, water, and sunlight alone are nothing. But with the gardener’s attention, meticulous work, and patience, the elements interconnect and provide us with all the performances we can dream of. Peak performance is a mindset, and being a gardener gives us access to it. Being a gardener is understanding what it means to be human; examining and comprehending its complexity and its capacity. How do you awaken your inner gardener? There are numerous factors that can play a role including our environment, experiences, social circles, traumas, and timing, but everyone can access it. Much like the character Neo did in The Matrix movie, where it all boils down to making a choice: the choice to awaken your inner gardener.
What does a gardener do with the entry code to unlock our full performance potential? The answer is in the question and the real question is not what he is doing, but who he is being.
Soil: Train to Be Curious
The soil indispensable for peak performance is a combination of self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which are inextricably linked. Self-awareness is a vital component of emotional intelligence, as it involves being conscious of one’s thoughts, emotions, and actions. Such awareness allows one to comprehend their own and others’ emotions and to manage and regulate them in a beneficial and productive manner. Cultivating curiosity taps into that rich soil of self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Curiosity reveals the path toward peak performance.
It is essential to also understand that humans are meaning-making machines. The more one is able to recognize and articulate feelings and perspectives, the more they are able to recognize the story they are living in, separate themselves from it, and create a new narrative for themselves. From a neuroscience perspective, storytelling is a powerful tool for creating new neural pathways, allowing us to reframe our experiences and create new meaning and purpose. By understanding the stories we tell ourselves, we can become aware of the power of our thoughts and emotions, thereby creating fertile soil for peak performance.
By developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence, one can gain insight into their motivations, behaviors, and beliefs – which are all results of our storytelling function – and learn to recognize and adaptively manage their emotions to serve their own best interests.
Seed: Train to Choose
Peak performance is accessible to anyone who is willing to take the necessary steps to achieve it. Therefore, performance is a choice. With the foundation of self-awareness, one is able to recognize and identify which mindset they tend to operate from by default, and then choose to replace it with one that is not limiting, but rather serving them exponentially. Choosing peak performance as a mindset first is how it begins. It is about planting the seed – the choice of believing in oneself and their goal, and then deliberately committing to it.
Additionally, cultivating a growth mindset is key to maintaining a positive attitude and outlook, and the belief that one can reach their goals. Ultimately, by recognizing that peak performance is a choice, and by operating from the capacity that all the pieces of the puzzle and the tools to put them together are there and accessible, anyone can reach their highest potential. It is simply a matter of choice.
Water: Train to Desire
The desire to achieve a goal or fulfill a need often stems from a positive experience we seek out. This could be anything from eating to receiving notifications on our phones or playing sports with friends. This desire is driven by the dopamine reward system in our brain, incentivizing us to take action in order to reach our goal. So, how can we tap into this system in a healthy way to achieve peak performance? The answer lies in having an intrinsic motivation and a purpose. These are like the regular water given to the seed in the soil for it to grow. Let’s explore this further.
Motivation is a complex process that is regulated by the reward system of the brain, which is composed of various neurotransmitters, including dopamine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters interact with the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions to regulate motivation and emotional responses to different experiences. This suggests that motivation is a highly personalized process and that individual experiences, values, vision, and purpose can all play a role in driving motivation. Here is how both intrinsic motivation and purpose act as our watering practice:
Picture a gardener growing a tree: operating from extrinsic motivation, seeking others’ appreciation, he may struggle in the long term and lack attention to the tree. But with intrinsic motivation and in an autotelic way (engaging in the task for its own sake), seeking mastery and autonomy, he will succeed, nourishing his mind and body for optimal health, just like the tree. Having a purpose – expressing our core values, fueled by our “why” and pulled towards our vision – and striving to fulfill something greater than ourselves can powerfully hack the central governor in our brain. This regulatory feedback loop maintains homeostasis, preventing us from over-exerting and injuring ourselves. Envisioning a larger purpose for our goals to be more meaningful allows us to stay motivated, push beyond normal limits and unlock our true potential. A true gardener does not grow a tree to ultimately sit under, but for future generations to enjoy its shade and fruits; likewise, we can strive for a greater purpose.
If you want unlimited motivation – a sustainable watering system – start with identifying your core values, creating your vision, and defining your purpose in life, nothing less. Once this is completed, if you recall that we are masters at storytelling, then it’s time to unleash the big dreamer you can be.
Sunlight: Train to Dream Big
Sunlight is a source of energy that allows a plant to grow and reach its maximum potential. In the same way, cultivating the capacity of dreaming big is providing the necessary radiating energy to accomplish great things and reach one’s highest potential.
Our brain is hardwired to like stories and to respond to them. Creating stories for ourselves using pattern recognition (all the while releasing dopamine, the “I want more of that” hormone) helps us to focus, understand, remember, connect with each other, and innovate, to name just a few. The combination of our storytelling faculty, a strong attitude of belief, and divergent thinking allow us to access lots of possibilities: To dream big. Not to imagine what is realistically possible but to write our own limitless hero’s journey.
As discussed by Alex Hutchison in his book Endure, the attitude of belief is powerful and the science behind it is rooted in the concept of neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to reorganize and restructure itself in response to new experiences. This means that the power of belief can have a profound effect on how we view the world, how we approach life’s challenges, and how we perceive our abilities. Studies have shown that our beliefs can have an impact on our physical and mental health, as well as our performance in various tasks. In addition, research has shown that the power of belief can be used to help us push past our physical and mental limits, allowing us to reach heights that would have otherwise been impossible.
Divergent thinking can refer to thinking outside the box. This type of thinking encourages creativity and exploration. In the brain, it is associated with the parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. Divergent thinking can be developed through activities such as brainstorming, questioning, and problem-solving. Brainstorming involves generating as many ideas as possible without judging them. Questioning involves asking why, what if, and how questions to explore ideas. Problem-solving involves breaking down a problem into smaller parts and finding creative solutions. Additionally, activities like creative writing, playing games, and taking classes can also help develop divergent thinking.
By cultivating the capacity of dreaming big, designing the story we want for ourselves and fully owning it, we can unlock our whole potential and achieve great things. Practice dreaming big. Then dream bigger!
Rise On to Peak Performance
If we establish the practice of being a gardener – taking care to have nutrient-rich soil, selecting healthy seeds, and providing adequate water and sunlight – we can create a powerful catalyst to unlock our optimal and, if desired, peak performance. In essence, awakening our inner gardener is a framework that provides clear actionable behaviors to turn on the access key to our full potential: Being stubbornly curious, choosing with confidence and ownership, desiring from within and with purpose, and dreaming big. To further this process and maximize our potential, it can be beneficial to hire a professional coach in human performance, just as fertilizer is to a garden.
Athletes, professionals, and politicians are all together in the same race for excellence. However, the ones who stand victorious at the finish line have no sneakers nor suit and tie; they have soil under their nails, seeds in their pockets, and wrinkled eyes toughened by the sun, as they are gardeners. It is the gardeners who tend to the process of unlocking the key to peak performance. No matter the race, or any hard journey, gardeners are the ones who succeed to go from ordinary to extraordinary.
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