The response to my last blog has been very gratifying. It supports the need to be happy for maximum results as you prepare, execute and compete your performance. The challenge has to do with maintaining happiness before, during and after the performance.
Before
To be happy as you prepare requires equal parts awareness, perception and patience to be present and enjoy the moment, right up to beginning the process.
Awareness: The self-knowledge of just how important this performance is to you and what are you eager to do to give your best effort.
Perception: The insight into how realistic your performance goals are for you to achieve. It may be that you will need to consider a wider view of the options or a stronger focus on a specific result you want to produce.
Patience: The ability to be calm and clear as you prepare to meet the expectations and deal with the expectations you may get from others.
Reflection: This level of self–control will allow you to perform within yourself and model acceptance and effective leadership.
During
To be happy as you execute your performance requires that you have the confidence and poise to control the way you think about that performance. You must accept and embrace the challenges you face and choose how to create meaning from the good and not so good (the positives and negatives ) in your performance.
You must also focus on the feelings associated with performing at your absolute best and getting the job done. At this level of achievement, the energy you expend should come back to you as the feelings related to being satisfied with the effort you expend.
Note: The goal should be to accept the work and build the endurance to stay present and fully engaged. To avoid the tendency to be distracted by the need to achieve a specific result or win. Distractions of this nature can destroy your focus in a heartbeat.
Reflection: The ”Happy” thoughts and feelings related to your performance can be a powerful reminder to trust the process.
After
To be happy with your performance or happy with the opportunity to debrief or reframe the experience to learn important lessons. In either case, the learning will help you get better at whatever aspects of the performance are most important to you. Note: For best results the debriefs (debriefing exercises) should be completed in a timely manner and kept in a notebook.
Reflection:As the saying goes, “Happy is as happy does!” If you are happy before, during and after your performance, your actions will express the truth of your happiness throughout the course of the performance.
Summary
The secret to your longevity is to keep your fire and passion alive and to be happy with your performance. To look forward to each session, to practice seeing and feeling yourself doing it successfully, to be deliberate with your practice time and to debrief it after and to highlight the pleasure.
Reflection: To win in the game of life is to adjust the levels of preparation, execution and completion so that you can continue to perform in a matter that makes you happy.
Harrison Deisroth
Harrison is an awesome Ocean Athlete. I was privileged to work with him as part of the leadership core group for the KA LAHUI KAI Junior World Champion Crew for the Molo Challenge. That's him in the photo at the top of this blog entry. Fully engaged!
Harrison has gone from the extreme training of paddling across the Molakai Channel to proving himself as a qualified AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadet at the University of Hawaii. His challenge now is to be one of the highest performing cadets in every aspect of his training and qualify for a slot in a coveted jet pilot training class.
Harrison recently used the so-called “Happy Process” to score a win during a verbal evaluation. In his words, “I was stoked to prepare for my verbal evaluation this morning. Knowing that proper preparation would give me a good score among my peers, I embraced it and looked forward to it. Feeling confident and prepared allowed me to enter the flow state while under pressure and I performed exceptionally well. I was happy based on my performance but also happy about the success I achieved using the “Happy Process.” It energized my passion to succeed in the program and I will push to feel that every day!”
That’s HiLevel!