I'm a big fan of sporting pursuits... Pretty much any sport really. I can appreciate the effort and persistence it takes for anyone to perform at an elite level. The years of sacrifice and dedication that it takes to get there. The artistry of watching the best perform at their best is, to me, like watching a magician perform for children. Wide-eyed amazement at how anyone could do what is unfolding before their very eyes!
What I find most intriguing though is how these champions instinctively know when to "step it up" and how they know what triggers them in to action. It's as if they have their very own magic button that they hit... and away they go to play on a higher level than everybody else. Roger Federer has it. Rafael Nadal has it. Michael Jordan had it. And in the business realm it is Sir Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Bill Gates and of course the sadly-missed Steve Jobs. For this group their ability to turn it on resulted in wealth and influence on a world-wide scale... but I am certain that was not the motivator (well maybe it was for Mr Trump??).
What about you?
What's your trigger?
What's the magic button for you?
When do you know it's time to take it up a notch? What happens that tells you you've got to step it up? Is it something positive like getting close to achieving a sales target, sealing a new business deal, hiring new staff or winning a "must win" game? Is it something negative, such as receiving your last warning at work, becoming newly unemployed, getting yelled at by a disgruntled customer or looking at going through a winless season?
What triggers you to raise the level of your game?
For some it can be a physical trigger. Think Lleyton Hewitt's famous "vicht" sign or the wild fist-pumping that accompanies almost any top athlete's celebration of something BIG! It may be as simplistic as the handshake you receive when you walk into a meeting with your team. For me it's the butterflies I still get in my stomach just before I'm about to talk with a new group of professionals or athletes... that's my trigger for knowing it's my time to "turn it on"!
For others it can be an emotional trigger. Not wanting to let their team-mates down. Not wanting to be disappointed. Doing anything possible to avoid the numbing pain of failure or the feeling that our hard effort will be wasted. It can also be the elation we crave for our outstanding effort that triggers our own performance level to go "above and beyond". That compliment we get from a colleague or client who told us we did something special for them. That feeling can sustain us in so many ways... particularly if we get addicted to positive interactions with people!
My challenge for you is to become aware of what triggers you have? Truly understand what it is that elevates your performance to another level... and how you can make those on the "negative" side start to work for you on a positive scale.
I write this blog. I have the physical trigger of forming the sentences and linking the ideas together into something that may inspire you to perform at your best. And in doing that I get a sense of contribution and satisfaction that I may in some small way assist you in that journey. That's the emotional trigger for me. Of course there are other triggers I have in other areas of life that lift my game.
In fact email me to let me know what your specific triggers are... and how they benefit you.
Maybe the distinction that needs to be made here is this... In order to truly live a fulfilling life that sees you perform to your potential, you need to have a wide range of triggers that work FOR YOU. If you only have a couple and you can't feed them consistently, then what next?
Know your triggers... then pull the trigger when it's time to take it up a notch!
Here's to higher success...
Dean
Dean Evans is a Leadership Performance Strategist based in Adelaide, Australia. With more than 10 years of leadership roles in the field of Allied Health he has a wealth of experience in understanding what it takes to operate at peak levels in pressure environments and how to develop individuals to reach their potential. As the Director of Altitude Performance Solutions his passion is equipping new leaders with the people skills necessary to drive the performance and productivity of their teams in today's business world. Whether speaking to groups of people or conducting team trainings Dean will bring great insights and useful tools to help you harness the power of your people. He is also a qualified Performance Coach and an Accredited Consultant in Extended DISC Performance Profiling.
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