A few years ago I had an experience that totally changed the course of my life. Looking back, this experience shaped my focus in my education, career, and life. In the moment though, it just seemed like an average day, but in the long run, it was a anything but average.

I was sitting on a curb in a precarious neighborhood in south D.C. It was almost 100 degrees outside and I had been knocking doors trying to sell alarms (emphasis on “trying”) for a few hours. I was tired, defeated, and questioning a lot of things. The biggest question that came to mind was, “Why am I not able to sell this stuff?” I thought about all the other people in my office and some were having a lot of success, they were making a lot of money and having a good time. I was experiencing neither of those things. In that moment of sitting on the curb I thought about quitting, about just finding my car and getting out of this place, about going home and just feel sorry for myself. To this day, I am so glad I did none of those things. I kept knocking instead. I did not close any sales that day, actually, when I think about it, I did close one sale, myself. I sold myself on the idea that I was better than feeling sorry for myself. I sold myself on the fact that I am not a quitter and I do not go home feeling sorry for myself! I closed one deal that day and it turned out to be the most important sale of my life!

I went home after a few hours of fruitless knocking in the absurdly hot D.C. summer. I began to think about things I never thought about before. I began writing down goals and all sorts of ideas. After awhile I wrote a question on a piece of paper that forever changed my life. The question was, “What do I need to do to be my best?”

Once the summer ended I still had this question on my mind, “What do I need to do to be my best?” I started a sales job at a call center and quickly found my groove and became one of the top 3 sales reps on my floor within 2 months. I was promoted to being the sales trainer on my floor within 5 months and spent a few years training all the new sales reps that came to our floor on how to be their best. It was the best job I had to that point in my life. I had figured out some things on how I perform at my best and I doubled down on those things. I realized I needed to know my stuff, so if I was teaching anything I would become a mini-expert on it before I would teach it. I realized that the more energy I had while teaching the content the better my reps retained it. I realized that peak performance is different for everyone, and my job was to help each person reach their peak, not the peak that I wanted for them but the peak that they wanted for themselves. I realized that if I wanted to increase their performance, I had to help them realize how to increase their desire for a higher peak.

After a few years I had figured out a lot of methods and ways to achieve great sales performance. I thought about the question I had on the curb in D.C. a lot during those times, “What do I need to do to be at my best?” I had figured out a lot of it, but there was still something missing. So I decided to switch careers in search of the bigger answer to my question. I got my Master’s degree in the field sport and performance psychology and specifically focused on athletes. To me the best athletes in the world had the answer to my question. Once I completed my degree, I continued to research and study about what makes people be at their best. I started my own performance consulting company and began working with business owners, professional and amateur athletes, and performers of all kind. I would ask them the same question I asked myself and I would help them figure out their answers. I still wanted my answer though. So, a few weeks ago I was meditating on the question, the question that had been at the forefront of my mind for almost 5 years now. Suddenly and simply, the answer came to me as effortlessly as the question did all that time ago on the curb in D.C. I had figured out my answer! I spent a few weeks dissecting and researching my answer further and realized that this was heavily geared toward athletes and business people. I also realized that my whole life and business were heavily geared toward athletes and business people as well.

I want to share with you my answer. This answer helped me figure out how I can be at my best and how you too can be at your best. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

1) The 4 Pillars of Peak Performance – these are the 4 variables that you need to develop in order to perform at your best. There are obviously many examples of each of these but I have listed a few that are particularly important for me and my clients.

PHYSICAL - speed, power, endurance, pliability, strength, flexibility, conditioning

MENTAL - focus, motivation, confidence, self-talk, resilience, emotional control

TECHNICAL - positional knowledge, biomechanics, form, perception, efficient technique

TACTICAL - scheme, coaching, rules, decision making, communication, leadership

Each of these pillars are vital to peak performance. You need to use all of them in order to achieve peak performance. It is not enough to be the biggest and fastest, you need to be the most resilient and perceptive as well as be able to make the right decision quickly and effortlessly. To be at your best you must develop each of these. If your an athlete and you want to develop your physical skill, you would go to a strength coach or a physical therapist. If you want to increase your technical and tactical skill you could go to a coach or sport specific mentor. But where do you go to build the mental skills? You go to someone like me. Similarly to the other coaches, I would help you develop mental skills through various exercises and experiences. In order to achieve your peak performance you need to have a coach in each of these pillars. If you want to be your best, you need to have the best to help you get there. The best ones never do it alone! Here are some questions and an exercise to help you begin to develop your peak performance.

2) 3 Questions to Assess and Increase Performance in each Pillar –

In each pillar, ask yourself these questions:

Q1 - What am I doing that is working?

Q2 - What do I need to STOP doing?

Q3 - What do I need to START doing?

3) Do this Daily Activity to refocus and improve your performance – Ask yourself, “What can I do RIGHT NOW to be 1% BETTER?” and then act immediately. Do this for each pillar.

If you have had the same question as I did years ago on the curb, I hope this can help answer it for you too! I believe that if you want to reach your peak performance, you must master these 4 pillars. After years of unique training and a passion for peak performance, we have specialized in the mental side of peak performance. Do you need someone to help develop your Mental pillar?

We can help you master the Mental pillar!

Contact us now