COACH YOU BLOG

All Work and No Play
31/5/2016

Peak performance is all about goals, planning, focus, fitness …  Self-help books abound to support your thinking and coaching can be highly beneficial in personalising the techniques to make them work for you.

We begin the process bullish, all conquering: racking up the hours and starting to see the benefits. Then it starts to tail off and the self-recriminations begin “who was I kidding …”, “I can’t stick at anything” and again coaching support can get you over the hump.

 

Let me give you a hot tip to keep you on the path to glory … FUN!

 

Fun, that’s right:  Fun and Feel Good Stuff!  Write yourself a list of all the fun things you like to do, like going for a drink with friends, going to the cinema, 30 minutes of video gaming, watching your favourite show on the telly, dancing naked in the rain … whatever floats your boat!  Make sure there’s a good mix of timings though – it could be a 4 minutes head-bang to AC/DC or 30 minutes listening to old Goons tapes.

 

Next write a list of all the Feel Good things you could do, you know, those things you don’t always feel like doing but give you a great sense of satisfaction after you’ve done them. For example, working out at the gym, getting your hair cut, clearing out your wardrobe or ironing (yeah, not one of mine …)  Again, mix up the timings.

 

Once you have those two lists and they’re not finite, you can keep adding to them, time manage them into your day.  Every day, put in two things (one of each list or two of one list, whatever you want) to break up the focused work. I seriously recommend making them different each time and limit the amount of telly you watch.  Karl Marx might have thought “Religion is the opiate of the Masses” but in the 21^st Century I believe it’s TV. With something wacky, fun or entertaining to look forward to, you will not only punctuate your day with pleasure but rest your logical brain allowing you to be more creative and focused, once you return to the task.

 

The mature approach towards delayed gratification is all very well but life is for living NOW, for enjoying NOW and the little things matter in the present moment … make it happen.