A Different Approach.
Mindfulness for high-performers is learning how to thrive in moments of discomfort.
Whether it be physical, mental, or emotional, high performance requires comfort with discomfort. Mindfulness trains high- performers to view discomfort with acceptance, and commit to action. When high-performers view discomfort with acceptance instead of resistance, it jump starts learning, growth, and performance potential. Mindfulness trains high-performers to leave their comfort zone behind and make the necessary choices to perform at their highest level. Let’s dive in.
“When the body is screaming out to stop because of the metabolic pain [...] an athlete has to reach into him or herself and decide virtually moment to moment whether to back off the pace or to find new resources for going beyond what a normal person would consider an absolute limit [...] it is invariably the mind that decides to quit first, not the body.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness Expert
The Philosophy.
Have you ever thought about how you choose to experience life? We grow up thinking that if you feel something, then you react to it. That makes sense, right? If we feel sad, we act sad, if we’re angry we act angry. We respond to life as we experience it. In essence, we are at the effect of our experiences.
When we perceive our response as inextricably linked with what we are experiencing, we tend to just follow the rhythm of our lives as they go up and down. Sometimes we are completely in control of how we experience the world, sometimes we are hijacked by automatic habits.
Sometimes we are hijacked by automatic habits
Imagine eating a meal. Typically, you just eat the entire meal without thinking. There is not too much thought that goes into this action. When minds go into “automatic pilot,” we check out and revert to a default way of functioning. If you are not aware that a lot of your life is controlled by habit and default, like habitual ways of reacting, thinking, behaving and believing, then you will continue to drift along, in happy ignorance.
Happy ignorance
does not facilitate
high performance.
Think about the last time you became angry or frustrated.
What was your immediate reaction? Thinking back, was that the most effective or appropriate reaction for the situation? In situations like this, as in many others, we may feel out of control. You don’t want to feel upset by your anger, you don’t want to act out of anger, yet your reaction takes over control.
In high-performance, this mindset can be very destructive to achievement. Imagine if every time you failed, you got so upset and down on yourself that you did not want to try again. This reaction would be one of your defaults, which is rooted in deeply held beliefs and expectations. So, I’ll ask again, have you ever thought about how you choose to experience life? Because it is a choice.
Three instincts are hardwired into humans for survival. Sometimes these instincts are adaptive; they protect us. But other times, like in high performance, they can be severely limiting.
Seek Comfort.
Avoid Discomfort. Create Habits.
These three instincts can be very positive and keep us out of trouble, like avoiding touching fire and staying away from bears. Our brains have evolved to survive, and that’s what these three instincts are based on. These three instincts are default programs.
But when we are trying to grow, learn and perform at high levels, habitual responses and ways of thinking can often keep us deep inside our comfort zone. The comfort zone is safe, certain and rarely facilitates excellence. I call this habitual way of functioning the "identifying mind,” which is where I start with every high-performer I work with.