High Performance and Clarity— Peas and Carrots
These past few months have been tough. Perhaps the toughest in memory for you and so many others. Covid-19 has railroaded in a set of circumstances that people feel threatened by. The disruption caused to business life has been dramatic and sudden. It has been a whirlwind for leaders, livelihoods and mental states. Uncertainty rules the day and complexity the night.
Yet, there is a solution to this chaos.
I find it works incredibly well for the high performers I work with regardless of age, gender, professional level or nationality. This solution is not built around adding a plethora of techniques and tools to ‘fix’ you. Nor is it constructed on the basis of simply thinking positively. That old “..if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me” approach that works “…sometimes, kind of” — as Michael Neill says.
Before I share the solution that is helping the leaders I work with transform their personal effectiveness, increase their quality of life, and skyrocket their performance levels — I will share a short metaphor.
Imagine that you are a magic lake. You have extraordinary beauty and depth. Your water is crystal clear and adds so much value to all those who come in contact with it. Yet there is one problem. You are actually a frozen lake. Your water is not even visible, less so reachable. What do you do?
The common approach would be to drill, chip and pick away at the ice with instruments and tools until you reach the water below. Do this in enough places and water will be found. Keep doing it for long enough and a lot of clear water can be uncovered for periods.
What if there was a more efficient and meaningful way though? What if, you could just heat up the whole lake?
Well, I am here to tell you that you can heat up the lake.
Heating up the lake is what I help leaders do.
All humans have access to their own deep reservoir of immense clarity, inner peace and wisdom. When we access this space within us, it turns out that we function really well. Like, shockingly well.
So what is the solution to chaos? The antidote to our worries?
Entering this clear mental space within us. A space I now call the realm of high performance. In fact, this mental space and high performance go together like peas and carrots — hard to have one without the other!
In my experience, accessing this space does not happen by engaging a hamster wheel of personal development tools and techniques. That is simply picking at the ice. It comes from having an insight. From insightfully seeing what is authentically true for us. Insightful understandings often arrive unexpectedly — yet can continue informing us indefinitely. Insights have the power to make the changes that matter the most in our lives.
This week, I attended a seminar by The Neuroleadership Institute. It was fascinating to see how the latest neuroscience backs up the power of insight. Habit is still important of course, yet an insight is like discovering a new way to get to work in half the time every morning. They can inform us so strongly, behaviour can change immediately.
“We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.” — Galileo Galilei, Astronomer, Physicist and Mathematician
Facilitating insight is the basis of my High Performance Coaching sessions and in High Performance Strategy Europe’s High Performance Circles.
These days, I experience more clarity than I ever thought possible. When my clients’ enter the realm, it is a pleasure to witness. There is a huge shift too. A shift that I never get tired of observing. It can cause:
- Less stress and more inner peace, resulting in better health, energy and aliveness;
- Fears, anxieties and limitations often melt away with solutions to problems becoming obvious.
- Better working relationships are engaged, and a more harmonious personal life becomes a reality.
- Higher performance where it counts. Getting more done and having more free time with better business results.
Here’s a simple insight that I have come to see for myself. We experience life from the inside out — not from the outside in.
It’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our feelings are caused by our outer circumstances. For example:
- We observe a low bank balance = we feel stressed.
- We read a hurtful comment about us = we experience sadness.
Actually, this is closer to how it works:
- We observe a low bank balance — we experience stressful thinking = we feel stressed.
- We read a hurtful comment about us — we experience sad thoughts = we experience sadness.
What if the bit in the middle had no power? The thought had no power unless we energised it? How would that change our experience? Interesting isn’t it?!
If you would like to heat your lake, experience more insights and experience transformational benefits, it would be my pleasure to hear from you.
We are accepting applications for HPSE’s High Performance Circles starting from November 17th, 2020.
Email: info@hpse.eu for all details or just to say hello.
Stay assured of my appreciation.
Thomas Leamy
Founder | High Performance Strategy Europe (HPSE)
