Mental Health and the Highest Level of Performance
What does it take to be the best version of you? Is it a growth mindset? Is it alignment with your values and beliefs? Is it finding the right balance between home and work or maybe happiness in your relationships? Maybe it involves improving your physical or mental health?
Your answer is unique to you. As we all have varying perspectives and needs, each of us also has differences in personality, background and beliefs.
When I’m leading training on emotional intelligence, I often hear people seek out tools to help them nurture new emotional skills. There are so many opinions floating around about parenting, politics and lifestyle. Dissension about who has the right perspective can be an energy drainer. Our opinions matter less than what we do to skillfully navigate our lives. We lack understanding because our views lie in our limited experiences.
Finding regulation tools to manage your personal and professional performance is a useful focus as you build your goals for this year.
One of the tools I often share is the 3 P’s to being your most productive self. They are:
Letting go of the PAST
Keeping intention with your PRESENT
Reaching your POTENTIAL
If you worked carefully at these three areas, understanding what drives and drains you, you would have more energy to grow your mental health, reaching your maximum potential. Your growth spills to others around you, just as negativity drains in the same way. Communicating who you are based on your past, present and goals for the future defines a path for collaboration.
Let’s unpack how to apply these principles.
Past
What hurts, resentments or frustrations are you holding onto that interrupt your focus and speed of execution at home and at work? Give each of these items a 10 scale score, letting go of the items that are below 5. For the items above a score of 4, identify what is in your control that is useful, creating a solution for needed resolve. Set a plan promptly for each of these areas so that they no longer take up air time in your mind.
Present
Set a goal to work on being emotionally present in your interactions and with any tasks you complete. Habits are created through mastery. When you become skilled at anything, you can do it without thinking. Being present means to take on the full experience. Ignite your senses. Look people in the eye and be in the moment with them. Create presence in your mind through active dialogue. Fight the urge to be distracted or disinterested, which is an unhealthy emotional habit. When you look back on your life, you will be grateful for presence with those around you rather than checking boxes and getting things done at the expense of those people. Slow down. Put your phone aside. Sit down when you are reflecting and talking, which helps you focus. When you lose presence, you struggle with memory difficulties, forgetting information and being scattered in the process of how you accomplish your goals.
Potential
Reaching your potential is an infinite goal. Stay away from perfection. Focus on small forward progress. Your reach in any goal or relationship must be intentional. If you have a good relationship, strive to make it great. If you like your job, work at loving it. If you are comfortable with your workout, push yourself just a little bit farther to create more endurance. The habit of reaching brings joyful energy that you lack from living in the blahs of complacency. Reflect on what drives and drains your energy tank. Be intentional about incorporating that which adds to your emotional tank. When you reach your goal, extend it a little further.
As a coach, I have never heard anyone say that he or she was disappointed about developing a new skill, developing a virtue or accomplishing a hard goal. Growth creates energy!
What do you need to do this year to be your absolute best, most productive self? Start with these three areas.
Let go. Be present. Reach further.
Your potential is endless. Just go for it!