What business can learn about performance from elite athletes?

“To be at the top you need a sharp focus and clear mind. Complexity will not help any top athlete perform at their best. 

“At any time, you need to have a maximum of two things to work on. Those two things, one primary and the other secondary, have to be your focus, and command 100% of your attention when you’re at work”. 

Primary Goal

If you're in a management position or business owner, your primary goal needs at least 80% of your time and focus and possibly a second related goal 20%, to achieve success and move forward. 

Likewise, I would say the same for any career. In other words both goals require 100% focus but the time that they take up is approximately 80/20.

Secondary Goal

Say you have a secondary goal, which could be to write a book (like I’m doing at present), it will have to get some attention to make progress, but it will never be put in front of my primary goal. Please differentiate between focus on work and focus on other things such as family and social life. When you are at work it needs 100% of your focus. When you’re with family or friends they need that focus. Work life balance for me is the organisation of your time as to when you will give your full focus to work. 

Balanced Athletes

100% focus does not mean excluding everything else in your life. Balanced athletes are very good at compartmentalising their workday and their life. They understand when it is appropriate to let their hair down and the periods where this would seriously affect their performance and, in these periods, stay away from distractions.

Any less focus, and your business and the important goal driving you forward, will suffer. 

Can your relationships suffer?

Absolutely if you fail to give it serious thought and communicate effectively. There is no silver bullet to work-life balance but there are workable solutions. 

If you want to be in the top percentages of achievers, you have to be ruthless. But if you are happy with less pressure then perhaps not so much. You can focus solely on your primary goal Monday to Friday, then at the weekend, choose that time to focus a fixed period on your secondary goal. Whatever that may be, ensure you give 100% attention to it, no distractions. Again, have periods of rest and certainly do not work all weekend. 

There are periods when it is pretty full on to make a deadline or to push through a project, when you have to do the extra hours but as much as humanly possible prepare those around you in advance and essentially create a reward when it’s over where you plan a weekend break or some time exclusively for family and friends. Giving light at the end of the tunnel that they have trust that you will stick to is crucial. Even during full on times, make sure you take breaks for your mind to rest and actually sort through the problems in the background whilst you do some exercise, play with your kids or watch a movie. Have dinner as an hour of no phones or work - time to relax and talk.

To help limit the negative impact on other areas of your life (family and friends) good, honest communication is key. You need to manage the expectations of those around you, who of course can either help or hinder your progress to the top. 

The Counterbalance

I work away a lot of the year, coaching athletes on tour, but when I’m with my wife Joy, I’m with Joy. However, I have to be careful and the mobile phone has created a greater challenge for both of us because when I’m away we both spend more time on them and it’s easy to slip into bad habits of too much time on phones when together. To counterbalance this we have no phones at dinner and periods when we put them aside. This challenge is ongoing.  

When I’m working my focus is predominantly on work, but on holiday and days off that flips, and work becomes very much secondary. On holiday, I will set aside an hour a day or two every other day to keep in touch with things and athletes and check messages twice a day. Again Joy is very good at reminding me if I begin to slip. I certainly never wish to be known as a workaholic which I believe is damaging to the soul and a path to personal disaster, even if career success is huge. Destroying relationships for career success is a price I prefer never to pay. 

Work-life balance is not about being balanced each and every day. It’s about being balanced overall. At a Grand Slam, I can’t spend much time, if any, with my loved ones. Equally, when I am not at a Grand Slam or in the middle of a tournament, that's when I have better balance.

In trying to achieve a 50/50 balance you risk p*ssing everybody off, and you invariably don't achieve anything. Career goals require a lot of dedication and time so 50/50 is not possible. Gut instinct as to when a relationship needs additional attention must not be underestimated. 

Be aware as to when a partner, child, friend or work colleague is in need of your attention and time and book in time with them, or if they interrupt and it feels important take a time out and listen. Responsible people will not disturb you or throw out a comment about something that needs your attention unless they genuinely need you. Work can wait! The right moment for a conversation can’t. Miss too many of the cues and the relationship sours.

50% of something is arguably 100% of nothing! 

Check out www.mindsetcollege.co.uk the online programme called Mindset College, that teaches you how to set goals, how to focus and how to improve your performance

Mental Baggage

Beware of  the risk of creating mental ‘baggage’ - if you don’t complete your important tasks, there is a risk of not moving forward quickly and efficiently, and there is a bigger risk you lose sight of your vision and mission. We all know the feeling of being busy on crap and knowing we have achieved little towards the important stuff. Busy is not the definition of productive. We create stress and mental baggage when we consistently fail to do any work towards the vision and primary goal.

Athletes who do all the periphery stuff really well yet fail to be brave and use it when it counts are actually hiding away from the mental hard yards. They gain sympathy because they “work so hard” but in reality it is like a manager never taking the tough decisions that will actually make a difference. Outcome towards a goal is the definition of good work and sometimes that is a decision or less not more work.

To be at the top in your field it takes hard work, dedication, and focus. Being part of success is as much about consistently managing your focus on what is truly important as anything else. 

Focus on your goals

You have to have periods where your focus is on one, or maybe maximum, two work goals. 

When you are on a mission you will have periods when you are flat out, (still having healthy reflective and relaxing breaks), but you know and those around you have to accept that at times it is the essential if you are to reach your goal. If you aren’t able or willing to be that dedicated, you will likely have to accept either a lesser result professionally, or that it will take significantly longer, or both, to achieve your ambitions. 

However, no person can or will be mentally healthy if they do not take breaks each day and fail to schedule days off and holidays. Work is not intended to be a chore – to be successful, it should be mostly a joy to do.  

Sure, the grind has to be taken care of, but overall it can and should be fun. In sport the focus in practice, training and matches is 100%, but between the hard yards there is banter, an ability to relax. The best in anything tend to be the bravest and most relaxed. 

Find what works for you

Each person is different, and it is important to find what works for you. If you feel you have to be on it all day – mistake. Take a breather, a short walk, a lunch without your phone, a 20-minute chat with a colleague or loved one. Schedule a long weekend away, a dinner without being contactable – bottom line, focus on work and play 100%. Never treat yourself like a machine! 

I know successful people who have achieved so much in their lives, that have focused on a particular work goal 24/7 and are miserable with broken lives outside of work. If you go down this road it is as addictive as alcohol, gambling or drugs. Not all of these people set out to block out everything, it just happens because there is always more to do and the fear of failure drives them to a terror of switching off. Sadly, they often excuse themselves by saying that one day when they have made it they will change, failing to realise that there is always a next step and that they have created an almost unbreakable habit of work first. Ingrained addictive habits are incredibly tough to break, and so they never feel ready to ease up, and often the reasons for easing up are no longer in their lives.

Work-life Balance

The idea of 'work-life’ balance’ is an interesting one. In the context of success everyone will be different. I think work-life balance is an awareness of people and time and an ever changing evaluation. You have to set your rules for life because no outsider knows your life better than you.   

We should all aim for our own meaning of success. We can only do that by starting with our own individual goals - our end in mind - and work back. There is no right or wrong answer. Some people will only be happy with 100% dedication on building a business for example, and reaching the top of their field. As long as they are aware and accept the consequences of their decisions this is cool. Equally create reflective time to evaluate your life because if you do this often then making adjustments is the habit you form and it prevents sleep walking into years of one way only.

The cost of failure

Failure to reflect and evaluate how you live can be at the cost of friends, family, and health. Unless you are well organised with your communication and discipline to be present with people when off and reading signals of danger then relationships will suffer and break. 

Remember - Spending time with someone who is always preoccupied is shit!

Mindset

Happiness and fulfilment are mindsets. We have the power to think into existence our state of happiness, and we are completely in charge of our attitude towards work. 

I am a lot clearer on what it takes to get to the top. Desire, focus and communication.

• Communication is huge on several levels because it builds trust if you stick to your word.
• Goals need to be clearly stated and  any help you need asked for with clarity.
• Discussions with those close to you in setting realistic expectations of your commitments to the work you will put in and when they can expect your time. 

David is also available for private consultations.

Contact him on [email protected]