Many people can find activities in which they quickly reach 7/10. But then comes the hard part: the exponential climb to 10/10.
This is the equivalent of graduating from County Level to World Level. It is an enormous climb: much greater than from 0 to 7/10.
The aim is to fulfil your potential, however, rather than to compete against others. It is to become the best kind of person, writer, artist, engineer or whatever kind of professional you want to be.
How to make this happen? Here are three suggestions for making this exponential climb.
Clarify the specific activity in which
you can go from 7/10 to 10/10.
Choose the specific activity where you can capitalise on your talents. Choose one in which:
You are doing something your feel passionately about.
You can be professional and quickly get to 7/10.
You stand a chance of delivering peak performance and achieving 10/10.
Sometimes it takes years to settle on such an activity and it then calls for making a tough decision. You may need to say ‘Yes,’ to pursuing one aim and ‘No,” to pursuing several others. For example:
An all-round athlete may choose to aim for The Gold Medal in the Olympic Decathlon – rather than to, at best, get a Bronze in the 400 meters.
A visionary leader may choose to build and sell start-up companies – rather than aim to become the GM of an established company.
An environmental writer may choose to produce inspiring articles about people doing practical things to help the planet – rather to take the route of haranguing people with bad news.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe the specific activity in which you believe you can go from 7/10 to 10/10. Second, describe the reasons why you may have a chance of making this leap. For example, you may have a track record of performing well in this area.
How to choose such an activity? One approach is to start by asking the normal questions that highlight your strengths. (See below.) Look through these questions then describe the activity where you want to move from 7/10 to 10/10.
Make an action plan for
moving from 7/10 to 10/10.
Peak performers translate their philosophy into principles and then into daily practice. They dream, do and deliver.
The Olympic athlete, for example, makes a project plan for doing their best to win a Gold Medal. Starting from the date of the Final, they work backwards and create a road map towards achieving their goals. They put this in a place where they can see it – and work towards achieving the goal – each day.
You will have your own method for working towards a goal. Bearing this in mind, however, you may want to adapt parts of the approach described above.
First, describe the picture of success. Describe the specific things that will be happening that will show you have reached the goal.
Second, describe your action plan – the specific things you can do to do your best to achieve the goal.
Work to achieve and
maintain the 10/10.
Peak performers tend to follow a daily pattern. They establish a rhythm that carries them towards achieving their goals.
Every person will develop own daily disciplines. Sometimes, from the outside, this can look like an obsession. Certainly they may be obsessed. But hopefully they can control their obsession, rather than let it control them.
You will develop your own daily habits. So try tackling the exercise on this theme. Describe the specific things you want to do each day to work towards reaching your goal. Here, for example, is the list made by one person.
To start the day by focusing on my picture of success.
To focus on the benefits of achieving the picture of success.
To relax, look ahead and rehearse what I am going to do during the day.
To start the day with an early success – because this sets the tone for the day.
To eat good food and exercise properly during the day.
To spend time with the people – the colleagues and customers – who give me positive energy during the day.
To build in times for reflection during the day.
To keep reminding myself of my philosophy and where the task I am doing fits into the big picture.
To take time out to reflect on what I have accomplished so far during the day and what I want to achieve in the rest of the day.
To, most of all, set aside time to encourage people – particularly my loved ones – during the day.
To rest, relax and recover at the end of the day.
To repeat the cycle the next day by focusing on the picture of success.
You will obviously have your own routine. So try completing the following exercise. Plus describe the benefits of doing these things.
There are many models for achieving peak performance. One approach is to focus on the specific activity in which you can make the exponential climb from 7/10 to 10/10.
This is the equivalent of moving through County, National, Continental and World Levels. You can only do your best and control the controllables, however, on the way to doing fine work.
You may, of course, choose to ‘invent your own game’. This may mean becoming the best kind of person, artist, writer, engineer or whatever you want to be. You will then set your own standards and keep working hard to achieve your picture of success.
Posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 at 3:03 pm in Companion, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
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