Corporate Athleticism

Image from Sports Illustrated

I’ve never gotten into the world of sports (aside from must-watch high profile games/competitions like the Olympics) but athletes have always been fascinating to me. The way they train every day with such discipline, the way they push themselves and then take care of themselves when they recover after a game. The way they arrive at the game dressed so well and then on the court or on the field in their headphones, getting into their mental space to perform. The way they have pre-game and post-game rituals.

The way they hire and rely on sports psychologists. They know the secrets to peak physical performance and peak rest. Makes one think — should we train like athletes for the daily things that we have to perform well, i.e. our corporate jobs?

Glad to have stumbled across these articles today: Headspace’s Mindfulness and the Corporate Athlete of Today and Harvard Business Review’s The Making of a Corporate Athlete.  Sharing some of my notes so that I also remember them as I work tomorrow. My main takeaway from both articles is essentially this phrase from pro golfer Jack Nicklaus, for happiness and longevity and sustained peak performance as a worker bee: “From peaks of concentration into valleys of relaxation and back again”.
  • Prepare, Perform, and Recover. We have to keep this process in mind daily to sustain performance in the long run. No preparation = a shaky start, which sets the tone for the rest of the day, and no recovery = we run ourselves ragged and this can end up in a vicious cycle leading to burnout. Set up the day right with meditation, cardio, a prayer, affirmations, and/or a visualization of your daily tasks going well. During the day, hit flow mode at work, with short mental breaks. End it by shaking off work and entering the decompression zone, doing relaxing and enjoyable things.
  • Alternate between stress and recovery. According to HBR, the problem is not stress but the absence of disciplined, intermittent recovery. We have to have rituals that promote rhythmic stress and recovery. Body and mind need recovery every 90 to 120 minutes. This means a fruit or water break, or an exercise break, or a change in scene, or a change in mental/emotional channels at these intervals. Recovery rituals include meditation, journal writing, walking outside, exercising, chatting to people. From a Headspace: we need several short breaks daily, at least a straight half day break weekly, and a monthly getaway (which could be just a simple drive to change the scene).
  • This Pyramid:  a reworked Maslow’s heirarchy of needs for workers. HBR says “the best long-term performers tap into positive energy at all levels of the performance pyramid”.

There. Things to chew on, all filed under be kind to your mind. Have a happy and healthy week ahead!

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