Motivation is one of the most talked about phenomena and possibly the least understood. Deepening one’s understanding of motivation can enhance peak performance. Kotler in “The Art of the Impossible” believes that motivation is a “catch-all for three subsets of skills: drive, grit and goals.” Drive leads with curiosity, passion, and purpose which can automate the desired new behaviors. Pink in his book “Drive” connects autonomy, mastery, and purpose to the key motivators of new behaviors. Both authors are consistent with their thinking in that it is purpose that creates momentum for motivation. Purpose becomes the forward pointing arrow that sparks us when we feel like giving up. Loehr and Schwartz in “The Power of Full Engagement” share that purpose is “the most powerful source of our motivation, perseverance and direction” which serves to maximize our energy when aligned with what matters most to us.

How we fuel our bodies has a direct impact on peak performance. Most of us think about what we eat when we hear the concept “fueling” our bodies. In fact, there are over 242,000,000 results for the topic of nutrition when researched on the internet. Although fueling your body is about what is eaten, it is much more than that. Individuals fuel their bodies from four perspectives: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Borrowing from Loehr and Schwartz in “The Power of Full Engagement”, fueling our bodies involves a state that is acquired which requires practice and is the “ability to invest your full and best energy right here-right now” in what matters most. Loehr shares that we fuel our bodies physically by investing in good nutrition, exercise and recovery, and quality sleep. Investment in the emotional dimension suggests we choose opportunity over fear emotional states. We invest mentally when our stories align with what matters most taking us into the best versions of ourselves. Finally, spiritual investment occurs when we identify our purpose and passions and remain focused on what matters most.

Peak performers recognize that in order to reach a high level of performance, something has to change which typically means letting go of something. William Bridges in “Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes” suggests that change has three components: letting go of old patterns, the “neutral zone” where exploration of future direction occurs, and new beginnings. Many individuals who are moving towards peak performance struggle with maintaining optimal performance due to ignoring the first two components. Unless we are able to let go of behaviors, environments, and people who keep us locked in our past, it is difficult to move into our futures. But first we must identify how these three areas are positioned in our life. Once that happens we can begin to change our self-image of who we were so that we can become the person we seek to become.

One of the biggest learnings from neuroscience for peak performers is to be able to transform negative thinking. Negative thinking might show up in small doses that manifests as an indistinct gray shadow giving the day a bit of a washed-out appearance. At other times, it might come as a more tidal wave that is difficult to ignore, kidnapping thought processes, and requiring repeated centering before pushing the ‘you are now connected with video’ button on Zoom. The shapes, shades and the duration of these sensations vary greatly but on bad days, it can lead to a trip down the negativity spiral and back.  Managing this spiral is key for peak performance. Rick Hanson in “Hardwiring Happiness” suggests that our brains are wired for negativity and threat. Hanson shares that we once existed in an “eat or be eaten” environment that remains present today. The challenge becomes that this evaluation of friend or foe or eat or be eaten happens mostly unconsciously. Peak performers are able to make this unconscious process conscious by identifying self-talk patterns and building turnaround strategies when the negative gremlins hit.

The final topic to be discussed in this blog is habits. Our habits define us. For most individuals habits are unconscious. In fact, the research suggests that between 60% and 90% of our behaviors are unconscious. Peak performers know that first identifying habits and then selecting the ones that take the person into the best version of themself is key to sustaining peak performance. Gretchen Rubin in “Better Than Before” shares that there are four key pillars of habit development: monitoring, foundation, scheduling and accountability. When we monitor, we track both our process and outcomes. Foundationally, we build habits that align with our goals. We schedule the new behaviors on our calendars until they become embedded and unconscious. Finally, many people choose accountability partners to build and sustain momentum with new habits. It is through building and strengthening strong habits that peak performers accelerate success with goals.

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