I'm able to motivate myself to do the tasks I want to do, but in the back om my mind I'm always wondering if I'm applying myself 100%. I wonder if I could be improving my performances.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to ease this mild troubling feeling without limiting my performance?

Hi Cornelius,

First of all, you don't have to wonder about whether or not you're applying yourself 100%. You are (not)b, and that's a (good)b thing. [img]icons/icon1.gif[/img]

You see, there are good reasons why you don't apply yourself 100%. Sometimes, in times of crisis, we can go into overdrive and do amazing things. For example, small ladies have picked up cars and ripped off car doors to save trapped children after car accidents. We all have (incredible)b potentials that we seldom tap because there's seldom the (real, pressing need)b for them.

Now, if that same lady was going to the gym nine months later and berating herself for being unable to deadlift a couple of metric tonnes (Hey, she did it before, right?), I'd have to say that she was probably fooling herself if she thought she was going to compete against the Russians in the super heavyweight class during the next world powerlifting competition. [img]icons/icon1.gif[/img]

In a similar vein, I notice there are some people who talk about peak performance and then tried to teach people how they can have peak performance all the time. Well, if you had a peak all the time, it wouldn't be a peek, now would it? It would be a plateau. Peaks are (pointy)i. Plateaus are (flat)i. And I don't think (anyone)i would want to attend the next (Plateau Performance!)b seminar... [img]icons/icon1.gif[/img]

In fact, the amount of effort that we put in to any endeavor optimally goes in cycles. Athletes know this. Even athletes who focus on short-term peak performance build up to that performance in stages and cycles.

For example, you won't see a short distance sprinter training or warming up and preparing by sprinting at top speed! They might start out at 40% 50% and then maybe even a quick run at 80% of their best normal speed. They leave the final burst of competitive drive in reserve for the moment when they will be on the line and all of their training and effort will culminate in an amazing exhibition of physical prowess and steely mental determination.

If that same runner tried running at 100% (every time he ran)i, when the right time came, he'd find that he wasn't nearly as fast as he would be if he used a more periodized, cyclical approach. They've actually tested this with top athletes in training and found it to be true.

In fact, weightlifters also know that periodization is absolutely essential to maximizing performance. In order to lift the heaviest weight you can possibly lift, your training regimen can't just be with the heaviest weight possible for you. You've got to go in a rhythmic cycle that waxes and wanes and creates a sweet spot of tremendous, full out capability.

So, if you're not always applying yourself 100%, be (glad)b because it means that you're (improving your performance!)b The trick is now to learn to apply yourself in a way that makes sense for you and matches the performance of the best people who do the things you want to do. And luckily, NLP is a wonderful tool set to help you do just that.

I hope that helps!

Be Well,

Michael Perez is

Michael Perez is... ?

Sorry typo, not hypnotic language... [img]icons/icon1.gif[/img]

Be Well,

Just Michael Perez

On the other hand , if you mean by applying yourself 100% to mean , you are doing your best , then yes you can motivate yourself to do your best all the time !

For example , the runners that Michael mentioned , might have 10 meets (race meetings ) per year.......so by training correctly , our well trained runner , will want to win all of those races.

There's a fallacy in Sport , that Sportsmen , peak at a certain time of the Season ie . Cup Final Day , for footballers......but if they don't play at their best , in the Knock Out Rounds. etc.....they might never even make the Cup Final !