How do you measure your own effort? How do you know when you have given something your all? How do you assess your performance (ahem, not for that kind of activity…although everything is measurable!)? Inspired by a success measure of GB Olympic Silver Medallist in Badminton Mixed Doubles, Gail Emms MBE (and no doubt Olympians per se), I’ve been pondering these questions since meeting her.
Unless you are measuring physical effort that can be easily assessed (E.g. heart rate) the answer is that you feel it. You have an inner knowing about whether you gave something your all, or whether that there was more left in the tank and actually you could have pushed yourself harder and squeezed extra performance out.
With GB Olympic Silver Medallist Gail Emms MBE
When we have a sense that we could have tried harder, as Gail honestly recounted reflecting on her own performance which led to disappointing non-qualification for Olympics 2000 in Sydney, this leads to frustration and anger. This actually may not necessarily be a bad thing. Anger is extremely motivating (for good or bad pursuits!) and can be used to our advantage. Many an athlete, inventor, entrepreneur and creative artist have used their angry feelings at themselves to turn things around and leverage it as the fuel for eventual massive achievement and success.
The key here is anger + action + change. Anger without action or a change in habits or behaviour will simply lead to frustration, inertia and feeling bad. The anger is turned inward and the strong emotion erodes performance. Tennis racket-throwing at Wimbledon is a good example of this. Not to mention items being hurled across boardrooms…
However, of course all this can be avoided if it was possible to give 100% all of the time. For the perfectionists out there, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but perfect effort and performance every time is impossible. Even for Olympians. However, it is essential that below par effort doesn’t become the norm which is what a coach helps to ensure. Having impartial and objective support to help you reflect on your effort and action and encourage you to surpass your self-imposed limits is where the magic happens, attaining even greater levels of success. Then all of a sudden, there is a new feeling of what giving 100% feels like. Helping my lovely clients to do this is what motivates me every day!
So take inspiration from an Olympian and on your next task see how you can stretch yourself to, for example:
Perform for 10 minutes at 100% on an activity that you have been putting off.
Allow 10 minutes more time being 100% focused on helping a member of your team solve a challenge.
Give 10 minutes more and be 100% attentive to your child or other family member without any distraction.
Be 100% in the moment being intimate with your partner.
Go for 10 minutes all out at 100% on your choice of exercise.
Intuit where else you could up level to give 100% in your life and take action on this.
Enjoy expanding your horizon and achieving new results! Please let me know where you find you can go beyond your current limits of performance at info@rachelbamber.com. Remember, if you are cross about results in your life, this is a sign that you have way more to give!