When we think about our next level of performance or improvement, sometimes we focus too much on what we want to change on the outside, while forgetting to notice what inner states drive those outcomes. For example, how much does your inner sense of confidence affect your performance in a job interview? If you spend all your interview prep time thinking about questions and answers, but fail to pay attention to what you can do to build your confidence, how much potential have you wasted?
Here is an exercise that will help you identify the key factors you can develop internally to support your best performance in whatever you are working towards:
- Write three examples of times you were “at your best” and three examples of times you were “at your worst”.
- What did you feel like inside during the times you were “at your best”?
- What did you feel like inside during the times you were “at your worst”?
- Do you notice any patterns?
- Write three things you sometimes do that help you get into your “at your best” mental state of being.
Coaching Challenge for the Week: Do one of the things you listed in your response to item 5 more than you usually do. See if you notice how it impacts your performance.
It can be helpful to journal about your exercise results and/or save your observations in a self-development notebook. If you have any questions or would like to share your insights feel free to send me an e-mail at nahid@coachnahid.com– I’d love to hear from you!
In our next post in the Secrets of Mental Health series, we will be introducing the “stress-meter” which is a tool you can use to measure how effective or ineffective your inner state-of-being is over time.
