The High-Performance Business Player
If you are what I call a High-Performance Business Player (HPBP), there are important health factors to consider that impact your performance.
Based on my experience and work with clients, ignoring these factors will catch up with you eventually... and not in a positive way.
Just like a professional athlete that has experienced exceptional performance, just playing harder is not the complete solution.
Aside from their focus to improve athletic skills, successful athletes also focus on proactive care of their body, physically and mentally, to maintain their competitive edge.
When it comes to a HPBP, it can be more challenging or subtle to assess personal business performance capabilities.
So let me share common signs or symptoms that may indicate that you are not able to perform at your best:
You do not have to experience multiple symptoms to indicate your performance could be compromised, certainly we all have “bad” days. That said... if you identify with even one of these issues chronically, your performance could indeed be compromised and it’s time to act.
What can you do to improve your physical and mental performance?
First, let’s summarize some negative lifestyle factors that impact all HPBPs:
• Poor sleep (duration and quality)
• Poor eating habits (processed food and excess carbohydrates)
• Sedentary lifestyle (insufficient movement and strength)
• Chronic stress (unrestrained and constant)
• Alcohol consumption (disrupting sleep quality)
• Unbalanced lifestyle (between business and personal)
There are sub-elements to these factors that we could address in greater detail, but we’ll expand on them further as we focus on proactive support.
The bottom line is, it’s not about surviving; it’s about thriving as a HPBP.
The first reaction that the typical HPBP has to the negative factors noted above is “that’s just the way it is”, “I can’t control it”, “I don’t have enough time”. And having been there... I get that... that’s what got me in trouble.
But even if you are in the throes of a super high-tech start-up, there are positive steps that you can take that can have a significant positive impact on your performance and keep you in the game.
And it’s not about more time commitment, it’s about shifting your emphasis and adjusting habits to accommodate a more performance enhancing routine and schedule. Performance is not about the time spent on a business task... it’s about being more effective.
Being more effective allows you to get more done in less time.
Because you are a busy HPBP, let’s dive right in and highlight key daily lifestyle adjustments that will enhance your performance:
1) Eat real food - focus on protein and healthy fat that support your stress hormones, minimize carbohydrate intake and processed foods.
2) Take a 30-minute brisk walk - getting outdoors will support you mentally and encourage proper metabolic function.
3) Resistance train – healthy muscles stimulate proper metabolic function and vitality, and you don’t have to spend hours in the gym.
4) Don’t eat before bed – avoid eating at least 2 hours before bed, spikes glucose elevating stress hormones that disrupt sleep quality.
5) Caffeine consumption – avoid caffeine consumption after 12:00pm as it can disrupt sleep, exogenous ketones can be a good substitute for that mid-day caffeine urge.
6) Alcohol consumption – disrupts deep REM sleep, and REM sleep is when you generate performance enhancing hormones, even a couple glasses of wine with dinner has been shown to disrupt REM sleep.
7) 2 hours before sleep – turn off your work focus to shut down the stress hormones that impact sleep, this is not the time to check emails.
8) Blue light exposure – stimulates stress hormone cortisol that impacts REM sleep, avoid screen viewing or wear blue light minimizing glasses.
Be aware that increased stress and elevated stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) drives your body’s metabolic desire to ingest glucose (sweets and carbohydrates) to feed the quick energy needed to support your innate “flight or fight” metabolic stress response. This is where a protein and healthy fat emphasized diet can really be supportive, especially healthy fat which supports sustained metabolic energy production.
These adjustments may strike you as a significant change... but they aren’t.
It’s about adjusting your routines and formulating new habits that will support you as a High-Performance Business Player and keep you in the game. It’s a competitive business world out there.
Need support...
Feel free to reach out to Dana if you are struggling and/or desire to enhance your performance and health. His program Optimized PRO may be a great fit... Learn more at www.2x.training.
Dana Hemmingsen FDN . Certified Trainer & Health Coach
