Poise and Your “Peak” Performance

Down by 2 with mere seconds left on the clock, Josiah throws me a hot bounce pass in the post.  As I see all the Wildcats descend on me like a hungry cheetah on a unknowingly, tasty gazelle.  The crowd is going completely nuts and admist the pandemonium I hear a faint voice in the corner, JJJJJJJAAAAYYYYY!!!  It’s Dino wide open and ready to win the game from beyond the three-point arc.  I kick the ball out and all I remember is the sight of the ball perfectly falling through the net and Dino up in the grandstands being mobbed by one hundred crazy fans, how did he get up there so fast?

In stark contrast, for every time we ended a game like this one, there was at least one other game where the meltdown that ensued was on a Chernobyl magnitude.  Call it a lack of poise or composure, either way it was downright frustrating and disappointing to go so far, fight that hard and come up short in the end.

When the pressure is on and the chips are down, how do you handle it.  Level headed and confident or frantic and jumpy?

Taking notes from the Olympics, I just got done watching Lindsay Vonn and Shaun White win a couple of golds for the USA.  On the biggest stage of their careers and both performed at unprecedented levels.  Were they nervous?  She was shaking more than a dog shittin’ razor blades. I was more uncomfortable watching Vonn in the starting gate than I was when she raced down the slopes.  Despite that she rose to the occasion and dominated the race.

Poise like that only comes from experience, gaining such a strong belief in yourself and abilities that even with doubts and nervousness you can still perform at your personal best, exactly when you need to.  Did you catch that?  Exactly when you need to.  These athletes (especially the Olympic athletes) train themselves to “peak” at the right time, this stuff doesn’t happen on accident.  So combine the experience and the preparation and you have one mentally tough athlete, ready to fulfill their dreams.

These principals can be translated to business or family.  Take a look over your calendar for the next few weeks or months.  You should be able to see a few major events that are critical to your success.  A meeting, presentation, lunch, job review, seminar, a proposal to your significant other, etc.  These are all known things, stuff that you can plan and prepare for.  Situations where nothing short of excellence is required to take your life to the next level.

Lets face it, it is HARD to be great for everything you do, all the time.  Vonn and White have off days, and it’s ok when we do too.

So poise/composure is not something that happens on accident.  Lots of focused work and preparation (visualization is a BIG part of prep) are going to help give you the confidence to deliver when it matters most.

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