Prime Performance
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Power of Prime What level of accomplishment do you aspire to? If you're like many high achievers, you have big goals and want to be successful, however you choose to define success. But success is the destination of a long and challenging journey and, to find success, you must understand what it takes to get there. You may believe that the way to become successful is to experience 'peak performance,' typically defined as performing at your highest level possible. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But let me explain to you why I don't believe that peak performance is a worthy goal and then offer you an objective that is truly worth achieving. Problems with Peak PerformanceWhen I was in graduate school, I was taught that peak performance was what people should strive to achieve; who wouldn't want to perform at a peak level. Peak performance has become an recognizable part of our success-oriented culture and integral part of our vocabulary of achievement, used by coaches and athletes, businesspeople, motivational speakers, and anyone who aspires to greatness. Yet, as I became more experienced as a psychologist and a writer, I came to appreciate the power of words and that it's important that the words we use are highly descriptive what we are trying to communicate. And I decided that peak performance was not descriptive of what I wanted people to achieve. There are several problems with peak performance. First, a peak is very small, so you can't stay there long. Would you be happy if you had one great performance followed by a series of poor or mediocre ones? Second, once the peak is reached, the only one way to go is down, and the drop is quite precipitous. Finally, if you arrive at a peak too early or too late (e.g., for a major sports competition or an important business meeting), you will miss an opportunity for success. A New Perspective on PerformanceSo I spent several years unsuccessfully looking for a concept that I thought was highly descriptive of what I wanted people to achieve. Until one day I had one of those rare meetings of timing and readiness. I was in the grocery store walking through the meat section when I looked down at a piece of beef and on it was a sticker that read, 'Prime Cut.' I had one of those 'ah-ha' experiences; I knew I was on to something! I went back to my office and looked up 'prime' in the dictionary; it was defined as, "of the highest quality or value." I finally had the concept—the Power of Prime—that was truly descriptive of what I wanted people to achieve and that would be the guiding principle in my life's work. I defined the Power of Prime or, more practically, prime performance as: Performing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions. There are two key words in this definition. First, 'consistently.' I'm not interested if you have one great performance and then a number of poor ones before you return to a high level. What makes the great ones great, in any area of achievement, is not one outstanding performance, but rather their ability to perform at an exceptional level day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, for years. Yet perhaps the biggest source of frustration for those striving for success is the significant ups and downs that they experience in their performances. Keep in mind that 'consistently' doesn't mean always being at the absolute top of your game; that's simply impossible. There will always be ups and downs in performance due to fatigue, illness, injury, stress, as well as the normal vicissitudes of life. Consistency means that your typical level of performance is high and that you have fewer and less severe swings in performance. The second essential word in this definition is 'challenging.' I'm not interested if you can perform well under ideal conditions when you are healthy, rested, relaxed, prepared, and at your best; anyone can do that. What makes the great ones great is their ability to perform their best under the worst possible conditions when faced with immense demands and pressure—too much work, deadlines, lack of sleep—in an incredibly important situation, and when they aren't at their best. Achieving Prime PerformanceExperiencing the Power of Prime—achieving prime performance—involves having every piece of the performance puzzle in place. You must have the necessary knowledge, skill sets, and resources to perform your best and accomplish your goals. If you are a physical performer, such as an athlete or dancer, you need to have the requisite fitness, technical skills, and virtuosity. These qualities are necessary for you to achieve some degree of success, but they alone are not sufficient to make you great. The final, and equally important, pieces of the puzzle that foster success—and those that are most often neglected—lie in your mind, in the psychological, emotional, leadership, and interpersonal contributors to success. Unfortunately, these less tangible areas are rarely addressed in the formal education and training of businesspeople, athletes, and certainly not parents. That is where I can help. I pioneered the concept of the Power of Prime, developed the insights, knowledge, and tools necessary to experience prime performance, and used them in my own athletic and professional success, as well as with the thousands of high achievers with whom I have worked. Through one-on-one or team consultation, or formal presentations, I can show you how you too can realize the Power of Prime. |
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