Take care of yourself to take care of your performance

As well as working with corporate performers on the mental side of their performance, on their tactics, on how to exploit their technical knowledge, on building their support team and on understanding their environment; we also talk regularly about the physical aspects of performing.

Whether you’re working 35 hours, 5 days a week or twice that (10 days a week is quite an achievement and we’re not that good that we can create time) looking after and taking time to take care of yourself in the office that you walk round in, that we call our body, is pretty vital.

Yet it’s amazing how many people neglect this in their approach to performance. If ever there was a case of not doing what you know to be good for you this is it. Sometimes people overcomplicate nutrition and sometimes they see exercise as a black and white, do it or do nothing, but usually there is enough common sense knowledge around in people’s heads that if they simply did what they know, they could perform a lot better.

Write down your own ideal, but feasible, 24 hours on a work day as far as nutrition, activity and sleep is concerned and ask yourself how close you’ve got to doing that day in the last 6 months.

And how consistently?

What are the small changes you can start to make to take of yourself to take care of your performance, that make a difference for you?