TIGNUM BLOG

Sitting at the starting line

Here we sit at the beginning of 2010 and everyone is both reflecting on 2009 and projecting for 2010. All over Facebook people are posting the common statements like "I hope 2010 is your best year", "Best wishes for a great new year", "May your new year be full of health, wealth and happiness", etc. etc. etc. I have nothing against hope, wishing, and wanting - but I have to say I prefer actions.

In this morning's newspaper there was a great story about the Phoenix Suns MVP point guard Steve Nash. At 36 he is having one of his best years. This after two years of struggling with fatigue, back pain, and criticism that he was over the hill. What happened? How did he turn all of this around? The article points out that he changed his habits. He cut sugar out of his diet, he made his recovery and sleep a priority, he changed his mindset to focus more on his positive performances, and he consciously plans for fun everyday. The result - he has no back pain, he is having an all star season, and most important he has infected the Phoenix Suns with energy, passion, optimism, and a winning mindset. This week they beat the two top teams (the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics) in the NBA, and no one is talking about Steve Nash needing to retire. Did Nash turn himself around by hoping and wishing? No he did it by changing his Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits.

As I reflected this morning it hit me that yesterday I played 5 games of one on one basketball with my 15 year old son. Then I went for a 1.5 hour hike with my daughter who is visiting from college. Then I took my wife out for our anniversary dinner and a great new years eve party. How did this great day of family interaction happen? By hopes and wishes? No, it was the result of my Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits.

My point is, we are sitting at the starting line of a new year and all of the hopes and wishes in the world won't give you the energy, passion, resilience, and brain agility you will need to win. These things will be the result of your sustainable high performance habits. So from all of our team at Tignum we say - Have a high performing happy new year.

by Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Perfomance

Holidays are a Great Time to Move

 Every year the US Media reports that the average adult gains 7 to 10lbs (3.2-4.5kg). I did some research and found out that's pretty exaggerated but even if you only gained 1lb (.45kg) every holiday it wouldn't take long before you gained a significant amount of weight. The fact is that so many of our clients share with us that over the holidays they often stop their regular movement, forget about their usual portion sizes, and drink way too much alcohol. While I'm completely supportive of friends, family and libations the problem is that it doesn't have to be this way.

At Tignum we are all about just moving. It doesn't even have to be intense or at a gym. Think about your holidays and how many opportunities there actually are to go for family walks, go for a hike, take a bike ride, kick a ball around, or even just do some family daily prep :). How good do you feel after you move? Chances are that you naturally eat less. Even more important you have more energy and more passion for enjoying your holidays.

I recently read a great blog from Virgil Aponte about the amazing fitness lessons people in NYC learned from the 2005 Transit Strike (read blog here). They started walking to work, roller blading, cycling and basically just moving more every day. The fitness and health benefits were remarkable but I bet so were the Mindset and productivity benefits. At first people probably complained but then they did what we as humans are built to do - they moved.

This holiday, don't wait for a transportation strike, just build movement into every day and then you will truly enjoy your holidays.

Happy Holidays
Scott Peltin

Founder/Director of Performance

Final Push of 2009

It's that time again. The end of the year, the end of the quarter, and the time to finish as strong as you can. In our experience with working with lots executives over the years this is crunch time. It's also a time when many people forget about their own need for recovery. They do this because they think they can get more done and they can always rest over the holiday.

Let me let you in on a little secret. When you ignore your daily oscillation (strategic recovery breaks) you're quality of work goes down. Similarly, your productivity goes down. This means you do stay longer, work harder, spend more energy, and ultimately get less done. Even worse, you end up spending half of your upcoming holiday feeling sick or at best exhausted.

This year why don't you do it differently. First, begin by thinking different. See your recovery as a priority and a "must do" for high performance. Second, plan at least three recovery breaks into your day (one in the morning, one at lunch, and one in the afternoon). Third, make those recovery breaks as efficient and effective as possible. We recommend you remember the acronym PMS (easy to remember :)). This stands for Pee, Move, Snack. If you get up every 90 to 120 minutes and pee (easy to do if you are hydrating properly), then get some movement in (stretch, walk, climb some stairs, do your meeting prep movements, etc.), and then eat a strategic snack (great brain foods include nuts, fruits, hummus, water, etc.) you will feel better, think better, have more energy, and perform better.

These breaks regenerate your body and your brain. Even more important, they give you a chance to adjust your mindset and focus on what's next. This isn't complicated (a reason too many people ignore it) but it is powerful. Now is the time to work smart so do your PMS and let us know how it works.

by Scott Pelitn // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

100

I want to talk about the number 100. It’s hard to believe but this is our 100^th blog. When we work with our clients we coach them for 180 days. This means at day 100 we are just over 50% towards helping them accomplish their personal innovation goals. This is a great time in our program because this is the time that their new habits are paying off and they can see, feel and hear from others the benefits of the changes they’ve made. 

I also like the number 100 because statistically this is the number we are constantly trying to achieve. We pride ourselves on impact and we won’t rest until we feel we have impacted the lives and the performance of 100% of our clients.

Luckily, when you look at our results so far we are close.

93% of our clients that we were able to re-measure had improvement on all of our measured risk factors

92% of the team leaders said we improved their team engagement

86% of our clients said they still use Tignum strategies a year after going through our program

83% of our clients report that they have more energy 6 months after attending our program (this means that 98% of our clients that use our strategies have long term improvements in their energy – only 2% more to go)

This past week I had a conversation with a huge potential client who wants to integrate us into all of their talent development and leadership programs. She loved the ROI (return on investment and on involvement) that our clients have experienced but she wanted to know what our secret was to delivering such a great impact.

The secret is simple. The only way to achieve 100% is through the total integration of Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery. Anything less will only give you a fraction of the return on your efforts (ROE). So as we pass this milestone of 100 blogs, we are looking forward to blog 101. This will be the beginning of achieving our goal of impacting 100% of our clients and helping them achieve 100% of their personal innovation goals. 

by Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Do it Now – Benefit Now

There is a real trend right now in Europe and the US towards Corporate Wellness Programs. Of course we’ve seen this trend before (for the past 30 years on fact). But now on the heels of healthcare reform it is returning with a feverish pitch as companies try to reduce their healthcare costs and possibly qualify for federal tax incentives. The problem is that the ROI that companies will anticipate won’t be so evident.

There are several reasons for this. One, these programs have been around for ever and to the employees they look like same old same old. Nutrition logs, increase physical activity, smoking cessation, blah blah blah. Not that these topics aren’t important but they aren’t new and they fit the “Do something now and benefit later” model. Second, many employees have tried these approaches before and been at best semi-successful at changing their behavior. Third, the office environment has changed drastically. More and more people are traveling, working at home, flexing their hours, etc. so the old measurements of absenteeism just don’t hold true.

This past week I spent several days with one of the real innovators in corporate wellness, Dr. Joyce Young of IBM. Together we are working to develop a new approach to corporate wellness. One that uses an integrated Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery approach. One that is new, fresh, innovative, and most important takes a new approach – “Do it now, benefit now.” As Dr. Young said, “the thing I love about the Tignum stuff is that it pays you back immediately for the efforts you make.” You feel better, you have more energy, and you perform better (at work and away from work).

As our partner, Mark Verstegen often says, its not about Return on Investment, its really about Return on Involvement. The great thing is that this new approach resonates at all levels of the company – from CEO to receptionist. This is the real way to change the world, impact the top, the middle, the bottom and the bottom line all at the same time.

By Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Office

TIGNUM  // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

2 Minutes to Win or Lose

Its football season right now the United States and for us this is an exciting time with lots of last minute drama. My favorite games to watch are the ones that are tied in the final quarter. There’s a special phenomenon during the last two minutes called the two minute drill. During these two minutes teams will either win or lose the game. They will operate without a huddle between plays, they will take big chances on both offense and defense, and they will try to out perform the other team with hustle, energy, emotion, and execution.

This is an amazing thing to watch because it’s high pressure and whether a team wins or loses depends on the team’s (made up of many individuals) composure, concentration, preparation, and ability to deal with setbacks (penalties, missed plays, etc.). These things are the product of the habits and practice these players and teams have performed in the past 6 months.

At Tignum we see this same thing everyday with the clients we work with in business. Unfortunately though, they haven’t prepared themselves for this critical two minutes. They don’t have the mindset, the energy, or the resilience to win the game because they left their two minute drill to chance. 

We just finished a great open enrollment Tignum Premier program in Amsterdam and as I reflect on the group and their discussions I am once again deeply inspired that this group will be ready for their two minute drill. They are armed with a personal innovation map to create their best self over the next 6 months. Most important, they understand that what they do today to improve their performance, will determine how they perform in the crunch time when it matters the most 6 months from now. What did you do today to improve your performance?

by Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Bye-Bye Talent

I just read an interesting study about employee engagement and the impact on key talent. Once again this supports our conclusion that we are heading towards a crisis at the end of the tunnel.

The 2009-2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork found that employee engagement levels for all workers at the surveyed companies have dropped 9% since last year – but the number was nearly 25% for top performers. This means that the high performers were disproportionately affected by the organizations’ responses to the recession. The impact of this was that the number of people who said they would recommend that others accept jobs at their companies declined by nearly 20%. This is catastrophic for not only attracting new talent, but for getting the most out of the talent you have.

Why does this happen? There are several reasons. First, talent is always asked to take on the lion’s share of the work when resources are reduced. Second, during tough times, companies stop investing in the development and sustainability of their talent. Third, companies under estimate the impact that investing in a key person’s own personal development has on their overall job satisfaction, company loyalty, and quality of life.

As one of our clients from IBM once said: “Sustainable high performance programs and leadership development programs should be the second to last thing that should be cut in tough times. The last thing to be cut is the toilet paper.” 

What is your company’s approach? Do they see your sustainability and energy as a nice to have or a strategic must? Let us know your thoughts.

by Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Fantastic Tools

Today we thought to write a little different blog and share some of the tools we at Tignum use to handle the energy draining information overload on the web. When we researched for the ideal tools we had a couple of criteria, which needed to be ticked off. They have to make our life easier (fast, simple, slick) // they have to help us to constantly increase our knowledge // they have to have a good look and feel // they have to help us to organize and structure great information. So let me share my five tools which I use and like a lot:

.01  Instapaper  (www.instapaper.com): A fast, easy, free tool to save web pages for reading later. It also comes with an iphone app.

.02  Alltop  (http://my.alltop.com):  MyAlltop enables you to create a “personal, online magazine rack” of your favorite websites and blogs. You can create a personal collection from over 32,000 information sources.

.03  Evernote  (www.evernote.com): Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device (also with a great blackberry and iphone app) you use. 

.04  Readability  (http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability): This is a tool that makes reading on the web more enjoyable by removing the clutter around what your're reading.

.05  Quietube  (www.quietube.com):  This tool let's you watch videos without ads, comments and other clutter.

The fun thing is - all tools are free:-)) Let me know what tools you are using to become more efficient.

By Jogi Rippel // Founder & CEO

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

          

Now Is The Time To Act

Yesterday I was at Thunderbird School of Global Management waiting to speak to a room full of corporate recruiters and I was holding our book: Sink, Float, or Swim. I was flipping through the pages to see where it would land. It always amazes me how well this works in a book, almost always landing you on a page that seems like it was written for this moment - try it sometime. It stopped on page 296 and there were 7 key questions we asked in our final chapter, "Now Is The Time To Act".

1. Did you implement the habits to create and maximize your energy?
2. Did you focus on the things you could control today?
3. Did you do something for yourself today in order to expand your capacity, move towards your potential, and increase your impact?
4. Did you do everything that you know how to do to prepare yourself to successfully compete in your must-win events today?
5. Did you do something to positively impact your team or your organization?
6. Did you bring energy to those you influence?
7. Why is your organization better today because you came to work?

Swimmers are able to answer yes. Floaters are able to guess maybe. Sinkers don't make it past the second question. Every recruiter I met was there in search of a swimmer. How are you doing?

by Scott Peltin // Founder and Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Putting Fun Into Movement

At Tignum we encourage our clients to move more. Not just for the obvious benefits like: improved cardiovascular health, weight loss, decreased risk for diabetes or cancer, or enhanced immune function. We try to emphasize some of the less known but very important benefits such as: increased self-esteem, decreased anxiety, improved ability to handle stress, improved creativity, and an increase in mood.

We use the word movement rather than exercise because to many busy executives they see exercise as something that is painful, takes too much time, requires special equipment, and is no fun. I don’t usually agree with them but I do know that their perception is definitely their reality.

This is why we look for simple ways to just move more. Get off the train two stops early so you can walk. Have walking meetings instead of sitting meetings. Walk to lunch rather than drive. And one of my all time favorites is to take the stairs rather than the elevator or the escalator. In our book: Sink, Float, or Swim we estimated that this alone could save a person from gaining up to 4 pounds a year (this is significant over a professional lifetime).

Unfortunately, the stairwell in most companies is a drab, stale, uncomfortable place to be. It’s only a life saver in the event of a building fire. Therefore it’s not easy to convince them to want to go there to move more. When we partner with our clients to help them change their culture we look at these types of things because these are the little things that really help people change their habits.
This video clip was shared by one of our clients and it’s a great example of adding the element of fun and the impact it can make on changing movement habits.

By Scott Peltin // Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

New Jobs

It seems companies are always cutting jobs in order to cut spending. At the same time, inadvertently they end up cutting jobs and programs that help those remaining perform their best. We were just brainstorming some new jobs that companies should create to really increase the energy and resiliency of their workforce and to attract and retain the best talent.

Here is our list:
 

.01  Chief Sustainable Performance Officer - a person to oversee the entire organization from the perspective of creating, rewarding, and maintaining high performance at all levels.

.02  Head of Recovery - a person to make sure that key individuals and teams get the recovery they need to be their best when it matters most. This person could also help teams rotate members to keep top performers fresh (similar to the Tour de France teams pulling for their lead rider).

.03  Human Innovation Director - a person who doesn't focus on R&D outside the company but instead constantly looks for innovation within the company. This includes constantly challenging and capturing the ideas of everyone within the company.

.04  High Performance Meeting Enabler - a person to help meeting leaders make their meetings high performance. This could include everything from honing agendas to making sure the length and environment of the meeting supports high performance. It would also include being sure the snacks and drinks are high performance oriented and the breaks are designed to improve brain performance and energy.

.05  Peak Season Manager - a person who helps the entire organization for the upcoming peak seasons. This includes energizing, focusing, and preparing everyone to maximize their impact during the times when high performance matters most (i.e. retail/holiday season, accounting/tax season, etc.). This also includes helping everyone recharge after the peak season and capturing the best practices so they are ready for the next big push.

.06  Director of High Energy - a person to focus on the plethora of energy drains that exist within organizations and then to take the steps to eliminate them. This person would also maximize efforts within the organization to create more energy and to focus that energy.

.07  Chief Nutritionist - a person to educate the leaders and the workforce on the benefits of high performance nutrition. This person could select the foods for the canteen, the vending machines, meetings, celebrations, and for conferences and key events. This doesn't mean take away the pleasure foods it just means put them in the proper context.

.08  Director of High Performance Travel - a person to organize business travel to reduce the negative impact that travel can have a person's attitude, energy, resilience, and brain performance. This includes flight selection, airline selection, hotel selection, travel support, travel tools, etc.

.09  Chief Laughter Officer - a person who looks for and creates opportunities to make work fun and create laughter. Research is showing the huge value of laughing on creativity, resilience, and job satisfaction.

We filled in the first nine so tell us what position you may want to see as number 10. Imagine you had a couple of these jobs in your organization. Do you think it would make a difference? As always, we'd love to hear what you think.

Jogi Rippel & Scott Peltin
Chief Sustainable Performance Officers

October 2nd - your day to make your choice whether you want to Sink, Float, or Swim

Today is October 2nd which to many may seem like just another fall day to go to work. But on October 2, 1996, at age 25, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs, abdomen, and brain. This was the day that changed Lance's life. It was the day that he dedicated his life to Livestrong. This was a choice - a mindset choice - and look now at all of the people, with and without cancer, that his movement has touched.

This past year has been a really tough year for many of you (and me). This recession has been like a cancer in many ways as it has spread from one sector to another, and from one day of bad news to the next. The question is, what will be your Livestrong moment? What will be the day you made a choice to change your Mindset and to focus forward rather than backward? Have you already made it? Do you remember when it was? How will you celebrate it in the future?

These watershed moments that lead to real lasting change must be recognized, celebrated, and appreciated because they have the potential to not only change your life but also impact many other lives. The great thing about a Mindset is that it is a product of your choices. Do you choose to focus on the past? Do you choose to focus on your weaknesses or the things you can't do? Do you embrace drama as a way to deflect real engagement? If these are your choices then high performance will never happen. But if at your toughest moment you decide to become a Swimmer, to make a difference, and to never give up on yourself, your family and your team, who knows where you can be in a year, 5 years, or 10 years.

What Lance did was, and is, amazing. But today, October 2nd, is your day to make your choice whether you want to Sink, Float, or Swim. If you decide to focus on the future, to focus on your strengths and the things you CAN do, and to refuse to accept drama for the sake of avoiding the truth, then who knows what legacy you may leave.

Let me know what you think.

by Scott Peltin Founder  & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM  Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Revisiting What Being a High Performer Means

Recently I have had several great discussions about the definition of what a high performer is. One comment that I’ve heard several times is some version of, “I’m not sure I want to be high performer all the time. Sometimes I just want to chill out, relax, and take my foot off the gas pedal.”  When they make this comment they cringe because they assume that I will attack this logic and call them a “floater”. But I don’t do this. Instead, I smile and cheer because consciously and strategically taking time to chill out, relax and take your foot off of the gas pedal is a vital part of being a “swimmer”.

When my clients have been traveling all week, attending all day meetings, preparing critical briefs, and burning the candle on both ends, I recommend that they schedule time to put the candle out. This may mean sleeping in a little longer, taking a 90 minute nap, going to a movie, taking a short get away in the mountains, doing some light movement, or just planning some quiet time with someone who is important to them. This is high performance in its highest form. The alternative is burning the candle out and this, unfortunately, is all too common.

This is called working smart rather than working hard and this is, by our definition, sustainable high performance. Let me know what you think and what you do to regenerate.

by Scott Peltin, Founder & Chief Performance Officer
TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Every Day is Really Two Days

Do you ever experience a mental dip in the middle of your afternoon? You start your day strong, you accomplish a lot in the morning, but then your afternoon just seems to stall. As it turns out, you’re not alone. Our recent research shows that 73% of executives experience an afternoon dip 3 or more days/week. What is the impact of this on productivity? What falls through the cracks while you’re suffering from brain fog? What detail did you miss that will come back to haunt you?

The good news is that there is a cure to this problem. A great technique that can be very effective is to look at your day as two half days. You wake up in the morning and hydrate yourself, you get some movement in, you eat a high performance breakfast, you mentally prepare for the big events you have coming in the morning and the result is high performance. So why don’t you do the same for the second half of your day?

What would happen if you approached your lunch like it was the performance meal for your next 5 hours? This means you would limit your portion size, eat a balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates; and eat lot’s of nutrient dense vegetables. It also means you would hydrate yourself with water and avoid high sugar drinks. Then you could take a 10 minute power nap to accommodate the normal circadian dip that makes you feel tired. Research has shown that power naps can improve productivity by up to 35% (sounds like money in the bank). Finally, you could go for a 5 to 10 minute power walk and at the same time mentally prepare yourself for your afternoon’s critical meetings. You would come back focused, energized, and creative – what a great way to start the second half of your day.

I know what you’re saying, “I don’t have time to do these things.” Funny, you sure have time to be unproductive. If this high performance ritual takes you 20 minutes that means it costs you 6% of the time you have in the afternoon. On the flip side, if you improve your performance and productivity by 20 to 35% for the afternoon, you have made a significant gain. Even better, you’d be healthier, happier, and show up at home after work with more energy and self-esteem (from everything you’ve accomplished).

If you’re tired of working full time for half time results, try splitting your day into two halves and think different about your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery. It won’t happen by chance. Try this approach and let me know your results.

by Scott Peltin, Founder & Chief Performance Officer
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Pilots’ Eating Habits may affect their flight performance

(Study by US Army)

Recently I came across a study by Dr. Glenda Lindseth that looked at how diet may affect a pilot’s job performance. Her review of different diet compositions and the effect on decision-making abilities is compelling and worthy of discussion. In her background, she states that aircrew human factors account for approximately 80% of the accidents in the aviation industry. She acknowledges that while the positive effects of a balanced diet and healthy foods have been shown to make significant contributions to improve safety, the effects of diet on cognitive performance are often overlooked. The objective of this study was to test the effects of dietary intake on cognition and flight performance while controlling for all other related factors.

Dr. Lindseth and colleagues enrolled 45 pilots in this study and evaluated their decision making abilities and number of errors following different diets depending on their balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats.  At the end of a session with each diet, the pilots underwent cognitive testing with the standard tests for memory and mental alertness.  The pilots performed significantly better on the short-term memory test and had fewer errors after eating the diets high in fats and complex carbohydrates vs. just high protein. Lindseth suspects the performance edge with the complex carbohydrate and high-fat diets was related to availability and metabolism of B complex vitamins that occurs with carbohydrate intake.

She speculated that the fats supported brain cell communication and  allowed B vitamins to be available for better cognition.  Deficiency of B vitamins has been shown to lead to irritability and poor cognition. In conclusion, Dr. Lindseth indicated that this had a direct impact for the military, especially the pilots who are flying, but also for anybody who needs to be alert and have high cognitive performance. She will be conducting a three-year study to further study the short term and long term effects.

So the question you might ask? How much do you believe your diet affects your job performance? It would be interesting to see how strategic business decisions and negotiations fare with these different diets. I suspect we would see similar results.

by Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

"Managing the long term while “eating” short term"

I read an article about a well known CEO who increased the market value of his company by $400 billion in just two decades. For him it was clear that reinventing a company required many actions that often appear to go in contradictory directions. In the first five years as CEO,  he cut costs ruthlessly and even fired one in four people.  Ironically, at the same time he was spending millions of dollars on what he called “non-productive” things. He upgraded the companies learning center, built a high performance conference center, and installed a big fitness center. As with any change,  many didn’t see the logic of his actions but the results spoke for themselves. The key metrics of productivity were increased significantly.

To manage contradictory tugs within an organization requires lots of energy and leadership edge. It requires clear but innovative thinking, and it demands a vigilant resilience to bounce back after every set back. Unfortunately, our research clearly shows that the majority of leaders are running low on gas and therefore too often prefer ticking boxes instead of facing the paradox and leading.

In the current turbulent times many companies are going through an organizational transformation. Leaders are changing positions. Teams are changing.  And definitely uncertainty is high. What a great opportunity to create a glue that holds your organization and your team together through all the change initiatives.  This glue is the high energy, vitality  and resilience of your people. This glue is what enables them to achieve their potential and perform there best. This is serious - it's not just a nice to have. Clearly, it is a strategic must. What would everyone in your organization say about you if you applied some of this glue?  You would face the paradox and you would for sure positively impact performance. What will they say when the organization's productivity doesn't just return but exceeds the pre-recession levels?

Do you have the glue? Are you focusing beyond the quarterly results, business plan milestones or the company vision statement? Let us know. Are you building your model for future prosperity and success?

By the way, the CEO I was talking about is Jack Welch.

by Jogi Rippel, Founder & CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Solving the Crisis at the End of the Tunnel

This weekend we were reflecting on this past week, some of the meetings we attended, the presentations we made, and some of the things we read. There were two clear threads.

1.     People are clearly unconscious to the need to consistently invest in the Sustainable High Performance of themselves and their team.

2.     Organizations continue to stretch themselves on their earnings, reorganization and growth goals with absolutely no thought about how the current leaders and teams will physiologically be able to make it happen.

At a meeting with one of the world's largest professional services firms, one of the board members made the comment that too often the hindering factor in the success of a company's reorganization is the energy level of the leaders. Can you imagine the cost of this failure, or even just falling short? Can you measure the cost of the lack of trust that the entire organization has the next time you want to make a major change? All of this because of a complete lack of understanding that it's people that will make a change successful and people don't function well on bread and water (the equivalent of the lack of investment companies are making in supporting these leaders).

In another discussion, we were told of a new CEO of one of the largest global consumer products companies that set the goal of doubling their revenues in the next ten  years. Is this just a lofty goal to motivate the troops or is it actually possible? Only time will tell but one thing is glaringly clear to us. If he doesn't strategically change the company culture, energize the leadership, and make Sustainable High Performance habits the norm rather than the exception, there is no way. Not without burning out the majority of talent, destroying the motivation of the workforce, and making his organization unsustainable.

On reflection, it is clearer and clearer that leaders must shift their perception of Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery strategies from a nice to have to a strategic must. If they don't there is very little chance of a light at the end of this tunnel.

by Scott Peltin, Founder and Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

NEW: We offer the Tignum Premier Program also as an open enrollment version - click here for more details.

Great High Performance Drink

Recently some interesting research came out in the July 2009 Journal of Applied Physiology on the benefits of Beetroot juice in improving exercise performance. This juice, which is high in nitrates, minerals, and Vitamin C, may boost stamina and allow people to exercise up to 16% longer.
 
Professor Andy Jones, from University of Exeter, reported that Beetroot juice may help the body utilize less oxygen while performing more work, thus increasing stamina. He states that the exact mechanism behind these benefits is unclear but still the results are very significant. The researchers commented that the findings could be relevant in those that have compromised cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic conditions. Given the fact that 40-55% of the western population are susceptible to these conditions, drinking beetroot juice could be a functional food with great therapeutic benefits.
 
So when you’re preparing for your next must-win meeting you may want to include Beetroot juice on the table. Although you may not be exercising in your meeting, the benefits of this juice’s nutrient density may be just what you need to keep your brain sharp and full of energy.
 
Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Sustainable High Performance as a Core Value

Today was the kick off at Thunderbird School of Global Management (the #1 ranked school of global business worldwide) of a new fully integrated Sustainable High Performance program. This means infusion into the work culture, MBA and master’s programs and executive development. The goal of our collaboration? It's simple, to provide some of the best educated but also energized, focused, resilient, passionate and sustainable graduates and executives in the world. The mission of both Tignum and Thunderbird is to positively impact the world and today added yet another way we can do that. Thanks to the commitment of Jaro Horvath, and the great leadership at Thunderbird, they are making a bold evolution into the future of leadership training. We at Tignum commend your vision. In a world of so many floaters it is a so great to be collaborating with an organization that clearly wants to swim. I can't wait until the headhunters and global organizations experience the power of hiring Thunderbird graduates and developing their existing teams through Thunderbird Corporate Learning......the ripple of impact has begun.

 By Scott Peltin, Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

What is Sustainable High Performance?

Lately we've talked a lot about the Crisis at the End of the Tunnel. This crisis is the Recession of Human Potential that will exist even after the financial recession recovers. It is the lack of Sustainable High Performance in the business world today to take advantage of the opportunities and respond to the challenges that lay ahead. Many people have asked us what our definition of Sustainable High Performance is. Here it is but what we'd really like to know is what would you add, or change?

Sustainable High Performance is a condition where you are highly motivated, your self-esteem is strong, your excitement to handle challenges is evident and your physical energy is abundant. People perceive you as present, grounded, responsive and focused. You implement sound judgment and innovative solutions, maximizing your impact on your team, company, brand and the world. Sustainable high performance is showing up consistently with your best game on.

by Scott Peltin, Founder & Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

 

The Crisis at the End of the Tunnel (2)

Recently there was a special issue of the Harvard Business review called “Leadership in the New World”. I love the name of this issue because it explicitly implies that what we new in the “Old” world won’t work in the future. This is a mantra we have been yelling to anyone who will listen. The habits that you’ve used to be successful in the past won’t be enough to insure you success in the future.

In Scott’s last blog he talked about the Crisis at the End of the Tunnel and there was an article in this issue of HBR that underlined this crisis. Clearly no one is writing that things will return to normal after the economy recovers (if there is such a thing). There will be tighter controls of expenditures, tighter budgets, more tight deadlines, and of course tough competition and the uncertainty it brings will be the norm. What’s scary is that the normal rhetoric that is usually spewed during these market dips is silent. People aren’t saying the usual, “I’ve seen this all before and it always bounces back and it’s always business as usual before you know it.” Why the silence?

The reason is because this isn’t the usual dip it’s a serious recession like no other. But one thing hasn’t changed. Many leaders are still acting like it’s just another little market set back. They are burning the candle at both ends and they are using the same self-defeating habits that they learned when they were young, infallible, and resilient. The problem is, they need to learn new high performance habits if they are ever going to succeed in the “New World”.

The New World will require energized, responsive, agile, creative, and attentive leaders. It will require that they can energize and inspire others so they can meet their customer’s desires and stay 2 steps ahead of the growing and gaining competition. This will require new personal habits to increase their energy, resilience, brain performance, and capacity. This will be the foundation of them becoming Sustainable High Performers.

The problem is that everyone has a lucky day once in a while. A day where they are really on their game and they perform well. The question is: Can you bring your best to everyday and to everything you do? This requires designing your habits so that nothing is left to chance. This requires a choice to be a Sustainable High Performer and the actions to make it happen.

Unfortunately, from our view there aren’t many leaders who are ready for this New World. This could be the New Crisis. Are you ready?

Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO

TIGNUM – Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Crisis at the End of the Tunnel

Lately the news is running stories that the recession may be weakening. The chatter is that many of the key indicators (other than unemployment) are starting to indicate that we may just be a quarter or two from the “light” at the end of the tunnel.

We aren’t so sure. From the leaders we know, our colleagues in the leadership blog world, and the groups we present to, we see a different outcome at the end of the tunnel. Sure many of the cost reductions have had a positive impact on margins and liquidity, but will this be sustainable? Many executives have shared their doubts that the changes and strategies they put in place during this recession will be able to make their organization more capable of reaching their future targets.  Even worse, they question their own energy and capacity to continue to try to keep up, let alone get ahead.

Up until now, many executives could blame the economy for their poor results but how long will this be possible? As companies have stripped their workforce, the patience for low performing leadership seems very thin. We are constantly told that the pressures placed on executives from all the stakeholders increase daily.

At the same time, the recession has taken a toll on many leaders, their teams and their entire organization. This wouldn’t be so bad if there was a break to regain your composure, reenergize your passion, refocus your mindset, and get the troops rallied to move forward. But in business you have to fix the plane while you fly it. If you weren’t exactly full of energy, resilience, and capacity before this most recent crisis, you surely are worse for the wear now.

This is the crisis at the end of the tunnel. There will be many opportunities that emerge from the post recession economy. Unfortunately, too many leaders and organizations will still be in survival mode. They are numb, tired, foggy, and lack the passion to really capitalize. As Seth Godin commented in his blog, they are preparing to place or show but definitely not win.

The last year has been a time of less. Less people, less investment in the people remaining, less optimism, less outward focus (on the customers and the opportunities), and less training. Unfortunately, it has also led to less swimmers. In order to see the light at the end of the tunnel you need to change the paradigm to one of MORE. More energy, more passion, more productivity, more preparation, more focus, and more design.

These things don’t happen by chance they happen by choice. They are the result of your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery habits. How are yours?

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

This week we wanted to share a short presentation we gave at a client event in London. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.


By Jogi Rippel, CEO, Founder
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Even though I know better, every once in a while the universe gives me a reminder of how important it is to properly prepare for my key meetings. You know the meetings I'm talking about, the strategy meeting with the CEO, the business plan meeting with the investors, the team meeting to get everyone on the same page. In this case, I was meeting with a well known CEO. The briefing from his assistant was that we would meet in his office at 12:30 and then walk over for lunch at his favorite restaurant.

Usually, even with a nice early lunch meeting I would pack some high performance snacks. But this morning I was running a little late so I decided to roll the dice. As I walked into his office I was greeted by his assistant,  "Hello Mr. Rippel, I apologize but he's running a little late. He should be off the phone with his conference call in a few minutes." Sixty minutes later, with no offer of water or anything, the door opens and I am rushed into the CEO's office. He just finished polishing off a sandwich and here I am hungry, thirsty and on the spot to deliver my message concisely and powerfully.

Two hours later I withered out. There was nothing to drink or snack on in the meeting. Definitely not the way to conduct a high performance meeting. But I'm not writing this blog to slam this CEO or his staff. I'm sharing with you an embarrassing but revealing example of my own low performance preparation for a meeting. It just goes to show that the one time that you don't properly prepare yourself you leave yourself vulnerable for low performance. Sustainable high performance is always a work in progress and proper preparation based on good habits is the first step.

Has this ever happened to you? I'd love to hear your experiences.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

This past week we volunteered to help raise money for a great charity 
– Youth at Risk. The power of this charity is that it teams up an 
adult mentor with a teenager who is struggling to stay on track. At 
the fundraiser, a woman stood up and shared her story about how 19 
years ago she was a struggling young teenager. She was into drugs, 
hanging with the wrong crowd, failing out of school and she saw no 
hope for her own future.

Luckily someone knew of Youth at Risk and they convinced her to get 
into the program. There she met a mentor that helped change her life. 
Her mentor shared her own experiences, gave her the support and
love that was so badly needed, and showed her that there was hope
and there was a way to achieve her goals.

Today, 19 years later she is still in touch with her mentor and she is 
still touched by the experience. She is a successful woman.

This whole experience made me think. Why don’t we all reach out to 
someone at work, in our neighborhood, in our family, or anywhere and 
provide some mentoring? In a changing world, where we are often 
working alone and just trying to survive, it’s too easy to forget to 
reach out and help someone else.

In my many years in the fire service if there’s one thing I learned 
its that helping others is a great way to re-energize ourselves.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

This month in Time magazine there was a great piece on the workplace 
of the future. No briefcases, no bosses, no office (except maybe at 
your house or your local Starbucks), and no career ladder. Wow, this 
sounds great – where do I sign up? On the flipside there will be no 
benefits, no job security, no company retirement, and no place to 
hide. I knew it sounded too good to be true.

Will these trends be bad or good? Will they create constant change 
pressures or endless opportunities? Will they provide you with more 
freedom or will you be a prisoner to your own workaholic ways?

The answers to these questions depend on whether you’re currently 
sinking, floating or swimming. Do you have the habits and strategies 
to be energized? Is your gas tank full, ½ full, or empty? Have you 
trained your resilience and expanded your capacity? Is your brain 
functioning at full potential? If you have the right Sustainable High 
Performance habits the world will be your new workplace and you will 
enjoy as much success as you want. If you don’t – you better get 
started.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

One of the reasons I'm so passionate about Tignum is that I live in the business world and I am constantly reminded of the need for our sustainable high performance strategies.

Two weeks ago we got a new family member. That's right, a 10 week old Labrador puppy named Alana. After two weeks of getting up every three hours to watch her empty her  bladder and to play "bite the toes,"  I decided to conduct my own research study on the effects of sleep deprivation. Below are my preliminary findings:
1. After 3 nights I began to crave sugar and wanted chocolate throughout the day.
2. After 5 nights I lost my motivation to do my morning movement (replaced of course with the broken promise that I would do something after work).
3. After 6 nights I found it difficult to focus and concentrate during meetings or while reading. I also found myself easily irritated (especially by puppies who were born with too small of a bladder to hold it all night).
4. After 1 week I had brain fog. If I were traveling I would swear I had jet lag.
5. Now after just 10 days of reducing my sleep by 20% I am over-eating, craving carbohydrates, performing at a fraction of my potential and feeling apathetic.

This week I entered phase two of my study. I started implementing the strategies that we teach. I've prioritized my to do list and I'm putting my attention, focus and energy into the things that are most important. I'm taking a 20 minute power nap every day after lunch. I'm avoiding sugar and caffeine and instead drinking lots of water and infusing more protein into all of my meals and snacks. I have shifted my movement goals from trying to beat Scott in tennis to just trying to maintain my current level. This means 15 minutes of daily prep in the morning and a nice walk after dinner (with Alana of course).

What are my findings? This stuff works. I am still suffering from not getting enough sleep at night but I am not only functioning, I'm performing at a high level again. I have regained control over the things that I can control and I'm doing what I can to maximize my energy. Better yet, I am now thoroughly enjoying the experience of having a new puppy (like having my shoelaces chewed out, having my neighbors complain about her barking, and getting licked to death every time I sit on the floor).

Last night I ended the study and my wife agreed to get up with Alana. I was so excited to begin studying her reaction to sleep deprivation. Of course, Alana slept all night last night and my wife woke up fully refreshed. Now I'm studying my self talk around how jealous I am of my wife. I'll share that study with you in a future blog.

The key here for all you business men and women is that even if you can't control your sleep (due to kids, deadlines, long hours, travel or even puppies) at least you can implement some high performance strategies to reduce the detrimental impact. If you guys have any other strategies that you have found in your research please share them with us.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

For those of you who know me, you know that I couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about this year’s French Open and the achievements of Roger Federer.  What I love about Roger’s journey to becoming the best player ever to play men’s tennis, is that it’s full of lessons that you and I and everyone in business can learn from.
1.    Just because some things come easy, it doesn’t mean that you can take them for granted. Roger is a gifted player but he works very hard on his mindset, his game, his strategy, his image, and his self-development.
2.    Just because you suffer some losses doesn’t mean that you give up on what got you there. It doesn’t mean you have to panic or that you need to quit. Roger has had a few dips along the way to capturing the French Open. The biggest one was the emphatic loss last year to Rafael Nadal. But Roger never quit, he never panicked, he never lost his commitment to good habits, and on Sunday this paid off.
3.    Sometimes the greatest competition you face is between your ears. Being able to focus on what you can control, to commit to your “to be” goals, and to trust in your preparation and hard work is the key to overcoming your fears and in achieving your potential.
When Roger Federer was unbeatable he was fascinating to watch. But when he started losing, the press started pressuring him, and fans began questioning him – he became the greatest ever.
What if this current economy, the restructuring of your organization, or the growing pressures from the competition is just what you need to become the greatest ever? Do you have the habits, the hard work, the focus and the trusting mindset to make it happen?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently Tom Peters wrote a blog titled, “Dealing with Recessionary Times”. In it he gave some great advice on what it takes during these tough times to succeed. He stated that he is inundated with questions on insights or advice he has for leaders during the current recession. Tom started with work harder and work longer. Then he went on to list 34 items that all emphasized the need for more passion, more attention to detail, more action, and more optimism.
As always, Tom Peters was very inspiring and insightful, but in this case there definitely was something missing. For those of you who know me, and know the passion we have Tignum for high performance, you can understand why I had to speak up. I commented that in my opinion he had given the perfect recipe for burnout. This type of work harder not smarter thinking is exactly what we are addressing in our book Sink, Float or Swim.
I went on to respectively add several Tignum mantra’s like, take better care of yourself than ever. Work smart rather than just work hard. Take time for a breathing break. Go for a walk. Eat for high performance. Aggressively challenge your thoughts, self talk and stories to make sure they are high performance and you’re not just being a victim.
The sad thing is that too many leaders also miss the very important habits necessary for sustainable high performance. Without these habits there will be no energy, resilience, brain performance, or capacity to achieve Tom’s 34 recommendations. These habits aren’t just nice to do, they are a strategic must.
Although, it is very common to forget about sustainability during tough times, it’s short sighted and self-defeating. Tom agreed with me and commented back that he couldn’t believe he made the oversight. As he said, it should have been at the top of his list. The question is: Where is sustainable high performance on your list?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently I was asked to present to a group of college students the topic of sustainable living from a Tignum perspective. I knew that they were very familiar with the idea of sustainability from an environmental perspective so I wanted to stimulate them to think about sustainability from a human perspective. I apologize for this being so long but I thought it may provide some great nuggets for you too. Below is my rant:

In today's media the rave is definitely sustainability. Since Al Gore produced the inconvenient truth businesses, and individuals have been challenged on how they can reduce their energy consumption, reduce their carbon emissions, recycle more, consume less, and become more environmentally sustainable. Almost every company has a strategic plan on how to make their brand more "green". This is great for the reduction of global warming and the aversion of an environmental crisis but it doesn't necessarily address the inconvenient truth about humans.

Most human beings have extremely poor habits when it comes to their own sustainability. They count on medical discoveries to keep themselves alive longer but they do nothing to improve the quality of the years they have. Even worse, the demands of the business world are growing and this is exponentially increasing the stress that most people are under. When you combine the fact that we are eating more processed foods, moving less, getting more unhealthy, and under more stress you have the perfect recipe for a disaster (maybe even worse than global warming).

Interestingly enough, some of the solutions for global warming are equally beneficial for our own sustainability. If we consumed less food (especially processed and artificial foods) and eat more locally grown organic foods we would reduce the fuel used for transporting foods, we would reduce the need for packaging, we would reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides, we would produce less pollution, and we would produce more local jobs. But we would also improve our energy levels, enhance our resilience, improve our brain performance, expand our capacity to perform at a high level both at work and away from work. Similarly, if we moved our bodies more by walking, riding our bikes, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, etc. we would use less energy, create less energy, burn more calories, improve our health and become more productive.

We live in a time where expectations for performance are low. We have grown to accept mediocrity from the average person because they don't have the energy, focus, passion or capacity to consistently perform at a high level. This is a crisis. But it's also a huge opportunity.

For those that make their own sustainable high performance a priority they will be rewarded with  a plethora of options. Companies will be competing to get these people because they will be more creative, innovative, productive, and passionate. This is what companies will need to win.

So how can students begin now to invest in their own Sustainable High Performance habits? First, develop a high performance Mindset. That means become solution oriented rather than problem oriented. Quit buying into the drama of rumors and worst case scenarios and start challenging everything to find the truth. Stop settling for imitations and start creating innovations. Be new, be fresh, be passionate and be willing to take a risk. Second, begin eating in a high performance way. Your brain needs the right nutrients to perform its best. You need to keep your blood sugar steady and you need to be sure you are well hydrated. Stop using caffeine as the drug of choice to stay awake and instead use natural organic nutrient dense food to become alive. Stop skipping meals, especially breakfast, and start thinking about what your eating and the way it makes you feel. Eat better, eat more often,  but eat less at each meal. Get rid of sugar whenever possible and eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet now - its killing you. Third, move more and sit less. Swear off elevators, escalators, and people movers. You were born with a people mover - your legs. Your body was built to move. When you don't move regularly you are dying - period. Movement creates energy so skip the latte and try the stairs. Exercise is great but you can do less than you think if you just do it every day. Pick something you love like yoga, walking, riding your bike, or a recreational sport. Start looking at your body as something you are going to need for a long time (because you will). Treat it like you own it rather than like you’re just renting it. Finally, be sure to strategically plan for your own rest and recovery. Sleep isn't a luxury its a necessity. During sleep your hormones get balance, your brain gets renewed, your cells regenerate and your immune system gets strong. Learn to breath because breath connects your mind and your body and is the difference between being alive and being dead (if you don't believe me stop breathing and see what happens). Take some time to do nothing. Take powernaps every day (no more than 20 minutes). Plan breaks. Laugh often. All of these things help you recover.

If you do these things savagely well you will have more energy, a better resilience, a high performing brain, and an enhanced capacity. You will feel better, perform better, love better and live better. More importantly, you will be the cream of the crop, the golden nugget, and the most sought after commodity in the future. If you don't believe me, look around. That is what you're competing with and they don't look sustainable to me.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently I have been reading a lot of blogs about helping people get out of their "rut" (example blog here) . I couldn't help but comment on this trend because they always miss what I feel is the most important advice.
1. Make a conscious decision that you are tired of just floating (being comfortably numb), with no passion to achieve your potential.
2. Create a clear vision of your best self. What would you look like if you were swimming (full of passion, energy, resilience and vitality) once again?
3. Spend at least 5 minutes every morning and 5 minutes every night (before bed preferably) intently visiting your best self vision.
4. Consciously change at least one of your low performance Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits.  You can read through our previous blogs for some fantastic examples. Even better, come to one of our high performance programs to learn them all.

The bottom line is that your energy, resilience, brain performance, and capacity are the foundation of YOU building a high performance YOU. You can try to do all the things that all the gurus are recommending but without this foundation you won't succeed. Start with you. Sustainable High Performance doesn't happen by chance, it happens by choice.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

There is no doubt that times are tough. Clients are losing their jobs, getting reassigned to other positions (not by choice) and many are taking pay cuts. During these times there are so many reasons to lose confidence, get angry, or even worse give up hope. I have been scanning the blog world for great reframes and today I found a really good one. It had to do with a buy out where the blogger, Polly Pearson, was giving her perspective about the worst job she ever had. As she reflected she realized that each "worst job" actually turned out to be full of great lessons. I can bet that we have all had this same or similar experience.

The kicker was when a fellow blogger commented on this blog, saying how unhappy s/he was with Polly's company, EMC,  for purchasing them. Due to the acquisition there were pay cuts and subsequently some bad feelings. But Polly's response was an amazing reframe. First, she clearly set her intentions of sharing some empathy and offering some great thoughts as a friend and not as an official of EMC.

Next she calmly and kindly shared some powerful advice that started with "Do something good for yourself or your family". At Tignum we think this is always a great place to start. Then she shared several of the positive aspects of the acquisition which included saving 2,000 employees from losing their jobs. If you get a chance I recommend you read the entire blog (here) , comments and reply because it shows a great example of a High Performance Mindset in action.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Yesterday I had a sales presentation with a senior vice president of a huge software company. I introduced him to our approach on Sustainable High Performance and shared some of our tools and strategies with him. He was extremely excited about our work and totally understood how the performance of his team and his own could be significantly improved. After discussing some more details he came up with one big BUT. He said, "I am certain that if I invest in my team to improve their sustainable performance, I might get fired."  He was very serious about it and told me about the perception in times of cost cutting and how the corporate culture doesn't support it. Only investments that are at the core of the business can be made. That statement cracked me up because what is more at the core of business than high performing people? As you can imagine, I went home without a new exciting deal - but instead, with a new perspective on how poisoned many corporate cultures are, how trapped many senior leaders are and how little knowledge there is about what it takes to deliver high performance. I guess the great news is that there is plenty of room for improvement and tons of work to do  :-)

By Jogi Rippel, CEO and Founder
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Today Rafael Nadal won his 5th straight Monte Carlo Masters on Clay. It was an incredible match where once again he was too tough, too focused, too smart and too prepared. In order to pull this super human feat off though he had to win 4 matches in 3 days against 2 other top 4 players.
Rafa’s play reminded me of what today’s business leaders must do. They have to play their best against the best competition even when they're tired. They have to bring their A game to work everyday and they have quickly adapt to the many challenges they see daily and weekly. So as I watched this match (and the post match ceremony) I wondered if there were any Rafa lesson’s that you apply to your performance (at work and away from it).
1.    Before every point Rafa makes sure that his mind is focused and that he has a plan. He never steps up to serve without laser like focus. You can do the same. Before every meeting, every presentation, every must-win event (and most events today are must-win) you can set your intentions and set your energy level and your focus where it needs to be (see previous blog What you focus on grows.)
2.    Rafa comes to every tournament exceptionally well prepared. He is meticulous in the way he manages his Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery. He understands that in tough competition in tough times you can’t leave anything to chance. You can do the same. Pay attention to the details. Do simple things savagely well. Take care of your most important asset – YOU.
3.    Rafa does a fantastic job of compartmentalizing. That is, he never lets a previous point or shot influence his current point or shot. He doesn’t let an outside element that he can’t control leak into his mindset to poison his game. He takes each thing and puts it into its box and deals with it appropriately (actually he deals with it exceptionally). You can do this too. You finish one meeting, its done. Go back to your office, review what went well, fix what didn’t go well and move on. You have an argument with one customer, one co-worker, or your spouse – compartmentalize it and don’t let it leak into your next conversation. You received some bad news from the market or an internal report, put it into perspective, identify what you need to do (solutions), and move on.
I love watching Rafael Nadal because for a young guy he is a master in his Mindset. I learn so much watching him and you can too. Let me know what you think. Who do you love to watch (doesn’t need to be an athlete) and what do you learn?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Peformance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently I came across a great blog (read full blog here) that got me thinking.  More and more in business we are seeing downsizing. This is interesting because it seems everyone is always trying to make themselves look bigger and yet they are actively getting smaller. In the world of consulting, freelancing or even entrepreneuring the key is to always build your brand and to look bigger. No matter what your role is in your company you always want to be significant, to be big. So is it size that matters or is it impact? I say its impact and your impact is a direct result of your punching power, your energy, your brain performance and your capacity. So the question is, What did you do today to increase your impact?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

For a keynote we researched and analyzed some performance data from former recessions, like the one in the 80s. We came across data showing how mental and physical fatigue increased and how the number of people resorting to drug and alcohol abuse also escalated significantly. Even now, talking to HR professionals we hear more and more stories on increasing burnout statistics, sick days and people who are fed up with all the changes, unrealistic targets, reduced resources etc.
What resonated the most with us was the fact, that one of the key reasons some companies outperform their competitors, even in down cycles is that they continually innovate. The interesting thing is that innovation must come from somewhere, or more accurately, from somebody. So what does your company do for "somebody" to make sure they can perform at their best in a sustainable way while also being able to innovate? What do you do to continually perform at your best?  What do you do to remind yourself  that high performance does happen by design? What about your team? It all comes back to having a clear understanding of what  YOU at your "best" would actually look and feel like. It's the constant reflection of high performance habits in the areas of performance mindset, performance nutrition, performance movement and performance recovery.
And especially in tough times where these things might drop on the priority list, they need to be on top. It's your core asset - your brain, your body - that navigates you through the daily challenges.  As Tom Peters mentioned in an article a couple of weeks ago: "Take care of yourself more than ever."

By Jogi Rippel, CEO and Founder

At Tignum we are all about high performance. Seems like every time we work with a client the topic of meetings and what a waste of time they are comes up. We have brain stormed this topic many times and Seth’s list is a great one (see his full article here) .  A great question that once came up was, Why are meetings scheduled for 1 hour? The answer, we decided, was because that’s how the calendars are broken up in our outlook. The suggestion was to make all meetings 45 minutes. This would create a sense of urgency and more important leave 15 minutes to debrief from one meeting and prepare for the next. This brings up a short list of things that we at Tignum would definitely add to Seth’s great list to make meetings more productive.
1.    Show up ready – this means not only preparing your content but preparing yourself.
This means doing some mental rehearsal, setting some intentions for outcomes, getting yourself into the right state, dialing in your focus, and mentally preparing for all the what ifs. It means doing some movement to energize yourself and to turn on your right brain so you can be innovative and not just another in the box participant. It also means feeding your brain with a high performance snack filled with protein, B vitamins, complex carbohydrates and omega-3 essential fats. This will prevent brain fog, improve your concentration, keep your blood glucose steady, avoid mood swings and make your brain fire on all cylinders (a minimal requirement for any high output meeting).
2.    Be a high performer in the meeting.
This means starting by sitting with good posture at all times. If you don’t think this matters just sit for 60 seconds slouched over like you usually do and see how you feel, how you think and how you concentrate. It means staying hydrated by drinking water instead of sugary drinks or coffee. The brain is made up of 80% water and if you want it to function properly you have to keep it hydrated. It also means keeping the right Mindset by reframing negative non-productive statements, challenging bullshit stories that are full of drama and feed hysteria, and creating solutions rather than excuses.
3.    Set up a meeting culture of high performance by managing the team mindset, providing high performance snacks, and energizing the group with movement.
This means planning and setting expectations, which Seth definitely touched on. But to expand it a little, fill the room with water for everyone, provide high performance snacks not sugar filled partially hydrogenated sleeping pills (doughnuts and cookies). Get the group up moving every chance you can – do walking meetings, take frequent breaks (water helps with this), or just have everyone stretch and do a posture check. This also means challenging the team mindset by keeping each other accountable to stay focused, creative, optimistic and solution oriented.
We could go on forever on this but then it would be just like your last meeting.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

When I was a firefighter we used to notice how difficult it was for the police officers to accept the fact that in general, most people were good people. One day when I asked a veteran officer why that was, his answer was really enlightening. When 95% of your day is dealing with the worst 5% of the population you quickly begin to believe that 95% of the population are criminals. What do you focus on 95% of the time?
I remember an interview with Andre Agassi on a terribly windy day and they asked him if the wind bothered him. He smiled and replied, "wind – I didn’t even notice the wind. I grew up in Las Vegas where it’s always windy. I love the wind."  Funny, because Agassi's opponent blamed his own loss on the terrible weather conditions. What’s your wind that’s drawing your focus and ruining your day?
After working with thousands of top executives I’m convinced that too many people don’t take responsibility for their own focus. Either that, or they’re not even aware of where their focus is. If you really want to quickly improve your performance, take control of your focus and only place it on what you want to grow.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The better question is actually, how many times per day do you check  your email and how often do you get interrupted by phone calls, text  messages, IMs and colleagues just coming by your office? Researchers at the University of California in Irvine found that the average  amount of time an employee can devote to a  project before being  interrupted is 11 minutes. You might be indifferent to this because you think you have mastered multi-tasking.  In actuality, researchers have found neurological evidence that the brain 
cannot do two things at the same time. Your brain basically switches  between tasks (the exception are automatic processes in your body like  breathing).
Dave Crenshaw talks in his book, The Myth of Multitasking about how switching impacts your performance and reduces your effectiveness. After a switch, you have to go back to your old task to review where you are - and the more complicated the task the greater the cost of this switch. Basex Research estimates an average of 2.1 hours of lost productivity per person per day due to interruptions. So here is my question to you again: How many times per day do you check your email?  Please share with us your email strategies and the email etiquette of your company.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I just got off the phone with one of our clients. She was very frustrated because no matter what she does she can’t close a deal. Being a highly successful sales VP for a very big software company, this type of resistance is something she has never experienced. We talked about her Mindset and the challenges she is facing with trying to reframe her frustrations and rejections to make her thoughts and self talk more high performance and more positive.
As we talked I recognized that one thing that has shifted in these tough times is the definition of success. If you are married to your quarterly projections, your gross income, or your net profits you are clearly set up for failure. The key, not just during this crisis but all the time, is to become more process oriented in your goals. That is, focus on the processes that you know lead to success. Recently, Geoff Colvin, in his enlightening book, Why Talent is Overrated, presented some great research on goal setting and success. The poorest performers don’t set any goals at all. Mediocre performers set goals that are general and often focused simply on achieving a good outcome. But the best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.
So the big question is, what are these processes? The most important processes are the ones that increase your energy level, your resilience, your capacity, and your brain performance. If you let these processes go you don’t have a chance of being a high performer or of surviving these tough times. Once you commit to your Performance Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits you will quickly enjoy the benefits of being more passionate, more confident, more focused, and more creative. With these key qualities you’re ready to get back to your fundamentals and plant all the seeds that will lead to future success.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently, I gave a lecture at the IMD business school in Lausanne, discussing Tignum and our work on sustainable high performance. At the end of the lecture, one student raised his hand and asked the question, “I really like what you do and totally believe in it, but how come YOU look so tired?”
I smiled because I was actually grateful that this question was asked. I answered, “The problem with sustainable high performance is that most people think it is a result, when in all actuality, sustainable high performance is a process.” 
It’s always work in progress – even for us at Tignum. There are high performance days and also days where we slip back. Luckily those days are 
extremely rare. The key is to have the awareness for it and to continuously work at it.  My mistake was with travel preparation.  I arrived late to the hotel, was in a smoking room and was next to a noisey street. The quality of my sleep along with the recovery from my long trip was almost zero. I know now to be more precise with my travel plans and it was a clear demonstration to my lecture attendees that sustainable high performance really is a work in progress – But the great thing about that is, we are always just one step away from making a better choice! 

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

During the introduction of our Tignum High Performance programs we talk about the changing business world, the increase in speed, the rise in pressure, faster product launches, email overload, etc.  Change is constant.  It’s often viewed as intangible, but it’s a given.  At Tignum, we prepare our clients to remain sustainable high performers, to be resilient, to have energy and to cope with uncertainty. 

Recently, one of our clients sent us a video (see below), which collected some interesting numbers and facts about the shift in the world.  We wanted to share it with you and ask; How do you prepare yourself?  How do you prepare your core asset to handle change?  Do you take the time to reflect on your current habits and constantly re-innovate yourself so that you are prepared for whatever shift happens?             



By, Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I just checked my blood pressure and it's 124/80.  It's been 6 months since I last checked it, but it's okay.  How is yours?  I ask this because in tough business times, most executives are so focused on solving the business issues that they put their core asset (themselves) second, third or even worse.  Pressure, stress, travel and other extreme demands impact your cardiovascular system and one sign of this is your blood pressure.  The consequences of high blood pressure can be pretty bad. 

I just returned from a stroke clinic at Lake Constance, where I visited a friend who had a brain stroke.  He had high blood pressure but didn't pay attention.  An artery in his brain ruptured.  It's a very sad story.  He just turned 40, has 3 little kids and now has to learn how to swallow, speak, read and walk again.  The problem with blood pressure is that you don't feel it when it's high, and often times don't realize it's high until it's too late.  So let me ask you again; What's your blood pressure? 

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

In life there are many set backs, surprises and upsets. In fact, we will all experience at least one, if not more, crisis. It may be a loss of a job, it may be a significant accident or injury, or it may be something that happens to a close relative. In these situations there are few things that can destroy your mindset and drain your energy more than unnecessary drama. It’s not to say that these situations don’t deserve an emotional response, but the key is to give just the right emotion. Too often people over react, then create drama. Why do they do this? There are many reasons but most of the time they do it to get more attention, to create significance. The problem is that drama is not real, it’s not authentic, and it’s not solution oriented. Yes it creates attention, but it rarely creates solid high performance solutions. If there’s one thing I learned in the fire service it’s that drama rarely is productive. When a crisis really occurs it’s best to respond with exactly the right amount of emotion. Not any more or any less. During these crucial times it’s best to focus on the solution rather than the story. Leave the story making for the media, leave the drama for the theater, and spend your mindset energy on the truth and how to solve the problem.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

Nowadays drugs seem to be everywhere in sports. There are steroids to help players get stronger quicker, There is EPO to enhance endurance. There are stimulants to help players get up for their games and then of course there are barbiturates to help players come down. We have seen gold medal sprinters lose their gold medals, Tour de France teams lose their sponsorships and even a race winner lose his first place finish. This year we saw Olympians and professional cyclists fail drug tests because they weren’t aware that the inventor of CERA, the next generation EPO, also supplied the World Anti-Doping Agency with a test to catch dopers.

With so many examples of athletes getting caught, with such strong repercussions being doled out for getting caught, and with possible life threatening risks of using these drugs – why do so many athletes still do it? The answer is simple – they feel they need to do anything possible to try to win. Even though there are great examples of drug free, highly ethical, scientifically and statistically proven methods of training (such as those used by our partner Athlete’s Performance), athletes continue to be taunted by the quick fix to improve their performance. The crazy thing is that the same thing occurs in the business world. With the crazy demands and growing need to perform, many business executives turn to short cuts to improve their performance and help them make it through the day. Although many of these drugs aren’t illegal (Fortune reports that executive drug addiction is increasing rapidly), they are still unhealthy and unsustainable short cuts with often dangerous side effects. Whether it’s caffeine every time you need to be alert, alcohol every time you need to relax, sleeping pills every time you need to sleep, anti-depressants to fight mood swings, or pain pills every time you have aches and pain – the truth is that there is a better way.

The Tignum strategies are designed to create habits that help you develop yourself into a Sustainable High Performer – drug free. Daily Prep movements and proper hydration help energize you, mobilize you and eliminate musculoskeletal pain. Our Movement, Nutrition, and Recovery strategies are designed to help you get quality sleep, get rid of depression and maximize your creativity and focus whenever you need it. Our Mindset strategies are designed to develop your confidence, clarity and sustainable high performance. The best part is, the Tignum Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies have no negative side-effects. But I will warn you, they can be addictive.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

When clients go through the Tignum program there are always a few people who comment “this time they don’t want to fail like they have in previous attempts in other programs.” I love this comment because it shows their commitment, but it also shows their fear of falling into the same traps they have experienced before. At Tignum we realize that changing habits is never easy. We also realize that every change has mini-setbacks called Dips (see Dip blog).

For some clients their previous failures have been so prevalent or emotional that they truly can’t see themselves being successful. Instead, the only image they have is of them being initially excited and motivated and then looking at themselves in the mirror one day and asking what happened. This is totally normal because that’s the way the brain works…but it doesn’t have to be that way.

In fact, research has shown that one of the best indicators of future success in developing new habits may just be how many times you’ve previously failed. This is because each time you try to change yourself, you learn something new about yourself, you become more motivated, and you get closure to success. Therefore, a quick reframe of previous failures is to see them as practice sessions for making the real change.

If you combine this reframe with the mental imagery of seeing yourself successful, you just may break the trend and you may just fulfill Scott’s Law of Success – You’re only one day away from being right on track and becoming a Sustainable High Performer!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

In my many years in the fire service I definitely recognized that leadership is critical during a crisis. In fact, it was something that I studied, emulated, and tried to deeply understand. Recently, I read a great book called Extremis Leadership: Leading as if Your Life Depends On It by Tom Kolditz. Since we are in a major market crisis right now, I felt the Extremis part of this book would be more than appropriate.
As I read this book, I quickly realized that Extremis Leadership is exactly what Tignum prepares our clients to do. There is a time to energize your team but there is also a time to calm and focus your team. Interesting enough, only your preparation, intentions, and Mindset will determine your ability to do this.
When it comes to a crisis, competence becomes the primary basis for trust. As we always say – first a leader must lead themselves and then they can lead others. Your habits, your concentration, and your ability to learn from every situation will be critical. This means, how did you review your previous performances, how much did you work on your Mindset, how much did you show up for work everyday prepared to be your best?
In leadership there is a time for introspection but in a crisis, Kolditz points out, a leader’s focus must be outward. It must be on the environment and on the problem at hand. Such control of focus must be practiced and it depends on you being fully recovered, fully hydrated, well nourished, fully present, and completely engaged. This is the Tignum Performance Highrise during an earthquake and once again it depends on a strong foundation and on strong support from your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery pillars (habits).
Sustainable High Performance is an interesting term because it suggests that it’s about tomorrow. Don’t fool yourself, if you’re in a crisis – tomorrow depends on your ability to perform today. Build those Tignum habits now!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Today I am heading home after 4 weeks on the road. Like most of my clients, when it comes to traveling, it’s almost always about finding a second best solution. Today, though, I may have hit pay dirt.

It’s been awhile since I’ve connected through Houston, but I must say this could rank at the top of my high performance training airports. I have a 2-hour layover, so I really have a chance to see this airport from all four TIGNUM Pillars (Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery). From a Nutrition point of view this place is full of choices, and some of them are actually healthy. I’ve found raw nuts, fresh fruit, great salad places, and some great frozen yogurt (20%). From a Movement standpoint, this airport is huge. I’ve walked for an hour and I just returned to my starting point. I did 6 flights of stairs, and what seemed like 3km of fast walking. Besides breaking a small sweat, I am totally energized. From a Recovery standpoint, there are a lot of quiet places to sit, breathe and listen to some TIGNUM soundfiles. There are also a lot of bookstores, which give my mind a chance to expand and explore and forget about the stresses of travel.

So what about Mindset? Well, like I said, it is a big airport – and that means long cues on the runway waiting to take off. What a great opportunity to catch up on my reading. Talk about great reframe practice.  Perfect airport for a Sustainable High Performer!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I recently read that New Years celebrations are thought to be one of the oldest of all traditions, close to 4000 years old. 

For 2009, Tignum would like to have you Think Different about how to organize your nutritional goals.  Daily, human sustainability, resilience and enhanced mental performance becomes more essential than ever in the current economy.  Your brain function, both in mental toughness and creativity will need to be sharp and in top shape. Why not make this year “the year” to nourish your brain and construct a brain nutritional program to not only enhance mental acuity and agility but also to protect it against stress.

Key nutrients have been shown to protect and nourish the brain while under stress.  L-tyrosine is an amino acid used by the body to produce certain adrenal stress hormones and chemical messengers in the nervous systems (neurotransmitters).  Research shows that levels of L-tyrosine in the brain decline with stress, and by supplying higher levels of tyrosine, it will help reverse this decline and improve brain performance.  Nutritional research also shows that using tyrosine as a supplement can help mental performance during physically stressful situations, such as noise and cold conditions.

Dairy products, lean meats, fish, whole grains (especially quinoa, oats, and millet), avocados, bananas, almonds, sesame seeds, beans (esp. lima beans) are all good sources of tyrosine.  Healthy fats (ie Omega 3 fatty acids), Vitamin C and B vitamin family are also key for brain function. Starting out the New Year with awareness of brain enhancing nutrients can be a great step towards becoming a Sustainable High Performer in 2009.

By Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

From SURVIVE.ABILITY to PERFORM.ABILITY

This week we wanted to share a short presentation we gave at a client event in London. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.


By Jogi Rippel, CEO, Founder
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

Got Me Again

Even though I know better, every once in a while the universe gives me a reminder of how important it is to properly prepare for my key meetings. You know the meetings I'm talking about, the strategy meeting with the CEO, the business plan meeting with the investors, the team meeting to get everyone on the same page. In this case, I was meeting with a well known CEO. The briefing from his assistant was that we would meet in his office at 12:30 and then walk over for lunch at his favorite restaurant.

Usually, even with a nice early lunch meeting I would pack some high performance snacks. But this morning I was running a little late so I decided to roll the dice. As I walked into his office I was greeted by his assistant,  "Hello Mr. Rippel, I apologize but he's running a little late. He should be off the phone with his conference call in a few minutes." Sixty minutes later, with no offer of water or anything, the door opens and I am rushed into the CEO's office. He just finished polishing off a sandwich and here I am hungry, thirsty and on the spot to deliver my message concisely and powerfully.

Two hours later I withered out. There was nothing to drink or snack on in the meeting. Definitely not the way to conduct a high performance meeting. But I'm not writing this blog to slam this CEO or his staff. I'm sharing with you an embarrassing but revealing example of my own low performance preparation for a meeting. It just goes to show that the one time that you don't properly prepare yourself you leave yourself vulnerable for low performance. Sustainable high performance is always a work in progress and proper preparation based on good habits is the first step.

Has this ever happened to you? I'd love to hear your experiences.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Be a Mentor

This past week we volunteered to help raise money for a great charity 
– Youth at Risk. The power of this charity is that it teams up an 
adult mentor with a teenager who is struggling to stay on track. At 
the fundraiser, a woman stood up and shared her story about how 19 
years ago she was a struggling young teenager. She was into drugs, 
hanging with the wrong crowd, failing out of school and she saw no 
hope for her own future.

Luckily someone knew of Youth at Risk and they convinced her to get 
into the program. There she met a mentor that helped change her life. 
Her mentor shared her own experiences, gave her the support and
love that was so badly needed, and showed her that there was hope
and there was a way to achieve her goals.

Today, 19 years later she is still in touch with her mentor and she is 
still touched by the experience. She is a successful woman.

This whole experience made me think. Why don’t we all reach out to 
someone at work, in our neighborhood, in our family, or anywhere and 
provide some mentoring? In a changing world, where we are often 
working alone and just trying to survive, it’s too easy to forget to 
reach out and help someone else.

In my many years in the fire service if there’s one thing I learned 
its that helping others is a great way to re-energize ourselves.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Workplace of the Future

This month in Time magazine there was a great piece on the workplace 
of the future. No briefcases, no bosses, no office (except maybe at 
your house or your local Starbucks), and no career ladder. Wow, this 
sounds great – where do I sign up? On the flipside there will be no 
benefits, no job security, no company retirement, and no place to 
hide. I knew it sounded too good to be true.

Will these trends be bad or good? Will they create constant change 
pressures or endless opportunities? Will they provide you with more 
freedom or will you be a prisoner to your own workaholic ways?

The answers to these questions depend on whether you’re currently 
sinking, floating or swimming. Do you have the habits and strategies 
to be energized? Is your gas tank full, ½ full, or empty? Have you 
trained your resilience and expanded your capacity? Is your brain 
functioning at full potential? If you have the right Sustainable High 
Performance habits the world will be your new workplace and you will 
enjoy as much success as you want. If you don’t – you better get 
started.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Even When You Know Better, Sleep Deprivation Sneaks Up On You

One of the reasons I'm so passionate about Tignum is that I live in the business world and I am constantly reminded of the need for our sustainable high performance strategies.

Two weeks ago we got a new family member. That's right, a 10 week old Labrador puppy named Alana. After two weeks of getting up every three hours to watch her empty her  bladder and to play "bite the toes,"  I decided to conduct my own research study on the effects of sleep deprivation. Below are my preliminary findings:
1. After 3 nights I began to crave sugar and wanted chocolate throughout the day.
2. After 5 nights I lost my motivation to do my morning movement (replaced of course with the broken promise that I would do something after work).
3. After 6 nights I found it difficult to focus and concentrate during meetings or while reading. I also found myself easily irritated (especially by puppies who were born with too small of a bladder to hold it all night).
4. After 1 week I had brain fog. If I were traveling I would swear I had jet lag.
5. Now after just 10 days of reducing my sleep by 20% I am over-eating, craving carbohydrates, performing at a fraction of my potential and feeling apathetic.

This week I entered phase two of my study. I started implementing the strategies that we teach. I've prioritized my to do list and I'm putting my attention, focus and energy into the things that are most important. I'm taking a 20 minute power nap every day after lunch. I'm avoiding sugar and caffeine and instead drinking lots of water and infusing more protein into all of my meals and snacks. I have shifted my movement goals from trying to beat Scott in tennis to just trying to maintain my current level. This means 15 minutes of daily prep in the morning and a nice walk after dinner (with Alana of course).

What are my findings? This stuff works. I am still suffering from not getting enough sleep at night but I am not only functioning, I'm performing at a high level again. I have regained control over the things that I can control and I'm doing what I can to maximize my energy. Better yet, I am now thoroughly enjoying the experience of having a new puppy (like having my shoelaces chewed out, having my neighbors complain about her barking, and getting licked to death every time I sit on the floor).

Last night I ended the study and my wife agreed to get up with Alana. I was so excited to begin studying her reaction to sleep deprivation. Of course, Alana slept all night last night and my wife woke up fully refreshed. Now I'm studying my self talk around how jealous I am of my wife. I'll share that study with you in a future blog.

The key here for all you business men and women is that even if you can't control your sleep (due to kids, deadlines, long hours, travel or even puppies) at least you can implement some high performance strategies to reduce the detrimental impact. If you guys have any other strategies that you have found in your research please share them with us.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Joys and the Pains of the Journey

For those of you who know me, you know that I couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about this year’s French Open and the achievements of Roger Federer.  What I love about Roger’s journey to becoming the best player ever to play men’s tennis, is that it’s full of lessons that you and I and everyone in business can learn from.
1.    Just because some things come easy, it doesn’t mean that you can take them for granted. Roger is a gifted player but he works very hard on his mindset, his game, his strategy, his image, and his self-development.
2.    Just because you suffer some losses doesn’t mean that you give up on what got you there. It doesn’t mean you have to panic or that you need to quit. Roger has had a few dips along the way to capturing the French Open. The biggest one was the emphatic loss last year to Rafael Nadal. But Roger never quit, he never panicked, he never lost his commitment to good habits, and on Sunday this paid off.
3.    Sometimes the greatest competition you face is between your ears. Being able to focus on what you can control, to commit to your “to be” goals, and to trust in your preparation and hard work is the key to overcoming your fears and in achieving your potential.
When Roger Federer was unbeatable he was fascinating to watch. But when he started losing, the press started pressuring him, and fans began questioning him – he became the greatest ever.
What if this current economy, the restructuring of your organization, or the growing pressures from the competition is just what you need to become the greatest ever? Do you have the habits, the hard work, the focus and the trusting mindset to make it happen?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Missing Link

Recently Tom Peters wrote a blog titled, “Dealing with Recessionary Times”. In it he gave some great advice on what it takes during these tough times to succeed. He stated that he is inundated with questions on insights or advice he has for leaders during the current recession. Tom started with work harder and work longer. Then he went on to list 34 items that all emphasized the need for more passion, more attention to detail, more action, and more optimism.
As always, Tom Peters was very inspiring and insightful, but in this case there definitely was something missing. For those of you who know me, and know the passion we have Tignum for high performance, you can understand why I had to speak up. I commented that in my opinion he had given the perfect recipe for burnout. This type of work harder not smarter thinking is exactly what we are addressing in our book Sink, Float or Swim.
I went on to respectively add several Tignum mantra’s like, take better care of yourself than ever. Work smart rather than just work hard. Take time for a breathing break. Go for a walk. Eat for high performance. Aggressively challenge your thoughts, self talk and stories to make sure they are high performance and you’re not just being a victim.
The sad thing is that too many leaders also miss the very important habits necessary for sustainable high performance. Without these habits there will be no energy, resilience, brain performance, or capacity to achieve Tom’s 34 recommendations. These habits aren’t just nice to do, they are a strategic must.
Although, it is very common to forget about sustainability during tough times, it’s short sighted and self-defeating. Tom agreed with me and commented back that he couldn’t believe he made the oversight. As he said, it should have been at the top of his list. The question is: Where is sustainable high performance on your list?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Human Sustainability

Recently I was asked to present to a group of college students the topic of sustainable living from a Tignum perspective. I knew that they were very familiar with the idea of sustainability from an environmental perspective so I wanted to stimulate them to think about sustainability from a human perspective. I apologize for this being so long but I thought it may provide some great nuggets for you too. Below is my rant:

In today's media the rave is definitely sustainability. Since Al Gore produced the inconvenient truth businesses, and individuals have been challenged on how they can reduce their energy consumption, reduce their carbon emissions, recycle more, consume less, and become more environmentally sustainable. Almost every company has a strategic plan on how to make their brand more "green". This is great for the reduction of global warming and the aversion of an environmental crisis but it doesn't necessarily address the inconvenient truth about humans.

Most human beings have extremely poor habits when it comes to their own sustainability. They count on medical discoveries to keep themselves alive longer but they do nothing to improve the quality of the years they have. Even worse, the demands of the business world are growing and this is exponentially increasing the stress that most people are under. When you combine the fact that we are eating more processed foods, moving less, getting more unhealthy, and under more stress you have the perfect recipe for a disaster (maybe even worse than global warming).

Interestingly enough, some of the solutions for global warming are equally beneficial for our own sustainability. If we consumed less food (especially processed and artificial foods) and eat more locally grown organic foods we would reduce the fuel used for transporting foods, we would reduce the need for packaging, we would reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides, we would produce less pollution, and we would produce more local jobs. But we would also improve our energy levels, enhance our resilience, improve our brain performance, expand our capacity to perform at a high level both at work and away from work. Similarly, if we moved our bodies more by walking, riding our bikes, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, etc. we would use less energy, create less energy, burn more calories, improve our health and become more productive.

We live in a time where expectations for performance are low. We have grown to accept mediocrity from the average person because they don't have the energy, focus, passion or capacity to consistently perform at a high level. This is a crisis. But it's also a huge opportunity.

For those that make their own sustainable high performance a priority they will be rewarded with  a plethora of options. Companies will be competing to get these people because they will be more creative, innovative, productive, and passionate. This is what companies will need to win.

So how can students begin now to invest in their own Sustainable High Performance habits? First, develop a high performance Mindset. That means become solution oriented rather than problem oriented. Quit buying into the drama of rumors and worst case scenarios and start challenging everything to find the truth. Stop settling for imitations and start creating innovations. Be new, be fresh, be passionate and be willing to take a risk. Second, begin eating in a high performance way. Your brain needs the right nutrients to perform its best. You need to keep your blood sugar steady and you need to be sure you are well hydrated. Stop using caffeine as the drug of choice to stay awake and instead use natural organic nutrient dense food to become alive. Stop skipping meals, especially breakfast, and start thinking about what your eating and the way it makes you feel. Eat better, eat more often,  but eat less at each meal. Get rid of sugar whenever possible and eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet now - its killing you. Third, move more and sit less. Swear off elevators, escalators, and people movers. You were born with a people mover - your legs. Your body was built to move. When you don't move regularly you are dying - period. Movement creates energy so skip the latte and try the stairs. Exercise is great but you can do less than you think if you just do it every day. Pick something you love like yoga, walking, riding your bike, or a recreational sport. Start looking at your body as something you are going to need for a long time (because you will). Treat it like you own it rather than like you’re just renting it. Finally, be sure to strategically plan for your own rest and recovery. Sleep isn't a luxury its a necessity. During sleep your hormones get balance, your brain gets renewed, your cells regenerate and your immune system gets strong. Learn to breath because breath connects your mind and your body and is the difference between being alive and being dead (if you don't believe me stop breathing and see what happens). Take some time to do nothing. Take powernaps every day (no more than 20 minutes). Plan breaks. Laugh often. All of these things help you recover.

If you do these things savagely well you will have more energy, a better resilience, a high performing brain, and an enhanced capacity. You will feel better, perform better, love better and live better. More importantly, you will be the cream of the crop, the golden nugget, and the most sought after commodity in the future. If you don't believe me, look around. That is what you're competing with and they don't look sustainable to me.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Get Out of Your Rut

Recently I have been reading a lot of blogs about helping people get out of their "rut" (example blog here) . I couldn't help but comment on this trend because they always miss what I feel is the most important advice.
1. Make a conscious decision that you are tired of just floating (being comfortably numb), with no passion to achieve your potential.
2. Create a clear vision of your best self. What would you look like if you were swimming (full of passion, energy, resilience and vitality) once again?
3. Spend at least 5 minutes every morning and 5 minutes every night (before bed preferably) intently visiting your best self vision.
4. Consciously change at least one of your low performance Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits.  You can read through our previous blogs for some fantastic examples. Even better, come to one of our high performance programs to learn them all.

The bottom line is that your energy, resilience, brain performance, and capacity are the foundation of YOU building a high performance YOU. You can try to do all the things that all the gurus are recommending but without this foundation you won't succeed. Start with you. Sustainable High Performance doesn't happen by chance, it happens by choice.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Just Reframe it!

There is no doubt that times are tough. Clients are losing their jobs, getting reassigned to other positions (not by choice) and many are taking pay cuts. During these times there are so many reasons to lose confidence, get angry, or even worse give up hope. I have been scanning the blog world for great reframes and today I found a really good one. It had to do with a buy out where the blogger, Polly Pearson, was giving her perspective about the worst job she ever had. As she reflected she realized that each "worst job" actually turned out to be full of great lessons. I can bet that we have all had this same or similar experience.

The kicker was when a fellow blogger commented on this blog, saying how unhappy s/he was with Polly's company, EMC,  for purchasing them. Due to the acquisition there were pay cuts and subsequently some bad feelings. But Polly's response was an amazing reframe. First, she clearly set her intentions of sharing some empathy and offering some great thoughts as a friend and not as an official of EMC.

Next she calmly and kindly shared some powerful advice that started with "Do something good for yourself or your family". At Tignum we think this is always a great place to start. Then she shared several of the positive aspects of the acquisition which included saving 2,000 employees from losing their jobs. If you get a chance I recommend you read the entire blog (here) , comments and reply because it shows a great example of a High Performance Mindset in action.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

You Are Fired!

Yesterday I had a sales presentation with a senior vice president of a huge software company. I introduced him to our approach on Sustainable High Performance and shared some of our tools and strategies with him. He was extremely excited about our work and totally understood how the performance of his team and his own could be significantly improved. After discussing some more details he came up with one big BUT. He said, "I am certain that if I invest in my team to improve their sustainable performance, I might get fired."  He was very serious about it and told me about the perception in times of cost cutting and how the corporate culture doesn't support it. Only investments that are at the core of the business can be made. That statement cracked me up because what is more at the core of business than high performing people? As you can imagine, I went home without a new exciting deal - but instead, with a new perspective on how poisoned many corporate cultures are, how trapped many senior leaders are and how little knowledge there is about what it takes to deliver high performance. I guess the great news is that there is plenty of room for improvement and tons of work to do  :-)

By Jogi Rippel, CEO and Founder
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Compartmentalize like Nadal

Today Rafael Nadal won his 5th straight Monte Carlo Masters on Clay. It was an incredible match where once again he was too tough, too focused, too smart and too prepared. In order to pull this super human feat off though he had to win 4 matches in 3 days against 2 other top 4 players.
Rafa’s play reminded me of what today’s business leaders must do. They have to play their best against the best competition even when they're tired. They have to bring their A game to work everyday and they have quickly adapt to the many challenges they see daily and weekly. So as I watched this match (and the post match ceremony) I wondered if there were any Rafa lesson’s that you apply to your performance (at work and away from it).
1.    Before every point Rafa makes sure that his mind is focused and that he has a plan. He never steps up to serve without laser like focus. You can do the same. Before every meeting, every presentation, every must-win event (and most events today are must-win) you can set your intentions and set your energy level and your focus where it needs to be (see previous blog What you focus on grows.)
2.    Rafa comes to every tournament exceptionally well prepared. He is meticulous in the way he manages his Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery. He understands that in tough competition in tough times you can’t leave anything to chance. You can do the same. Pay attention to the details. Do simple things savagely well. Take care of your most important asset – YOU.
3.    Rafa does a fantastic job of compartmentalizing. That is, he never lets a previous point or shot influence his current point or shot. He doesn’t let an outside element that he can’t control leak into his mindset to poison his game. He takes each thing and puts it into its box and deals with it appropriately (actually he deals with it exceptionally). You can do this too. You finish one meeting, its done. Go back to your office, review what went well, fix what didn’t go well and move on. You have an argument with one customer, one co-worker, or your spouse – compartmentalize it and don’t let it leak into your next conversation. You received some bad news from the market or an internal report, put it into perspective, identify what you need to do (solutions), and move on.
I love watching Rafael Nadal because for a young guy he is a master in his Mindset. I learn so much watching him and you can too. Let me know what you think. Who do you love to watch (doesn’t need to be an athlete) and what do you learn?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Peformance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Is it Size or Impact?

Recently I came across a great blog (read full blog here) that got me thinking.  More and more in business we are seeing downsizing. This is interesting because it seems everyone is always trying to make themselves look bigger and yet they are actively getting smaller. In the world of consulting, freelancing or even entrepreneuring the key is to always build your brand and to look bigger. No matter what your role is in your company you always want to be significant, to be big. So is it size that matters or is it impact? I say its impact and your impact is a direct result of your punching power, your energy, your brain performance and your capacity. So the question is, What did you do today to increase your impact?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

What Can We Learn From Former Recessions?

For a keynote we researched and analyzed some performance data from former recessions, like the one in the 80s. We came across data showing how mental and physical fatigue increased and how the number of people resorting to drug and alcohol abuse also escalated significantly. Even now, talking to HR professionals we hear more and more stories on increasing burnout statistics, sick days and people who are fed up with all the changes, unrealistic targets, reduced resources etc.
What resonated the most with us was the fact, that one of the key reasons some companies outperform their competitors, even in down cycles is that they continually innovate. The interesting thing is that innovation must come from somewhere, or more accurately, from somebody. So what does your company do for "somebody" to make sure they can perform at their best in a sustainable way while also being able to innovate? What do you do to continually perform at your best?  What do you do to remind yourself  that high performance does happen by design? What about your team? It all comes back to having a clear understanding of what  YOU at your "best" would actually look and feel like. It's the constant reflection of high performance habits in the areas of performance mindset, performance nutrition, performance movement and performance recovery.
And especially in tough times where these things might drop on the priority list, they need to be on top. It's your core asset - your brain, your body - that navigates you through the daily challenges.  As Tom Peters mentioned in an article a couple of weeks ago: "Take care of yourself more than ever."

By Jogi Rippel, CEO and Founder

The Tignum answer to the Never Ending Meeting Problem

At Tignum we are all about high performance. Seems like every time we work with a client the topic of meetings and what a waste of time they are comes up. We have brain stormed this topic many times and Seth’s list is a great one (see his full article here) .  A great question that once came up was, Why are meetings scheduled for 1 hour? The answer, we decided, was because that’s how the calendars are broken up in our outlook. The suggestion was to make all meetings 45 minutes. This would create a sense of urgency and more important leave 15 minutes to debrief from one meeting and prepare for the next. This brings up a short list of things that we at Tignum would definitely add to Seth’s great list to make meetings more productive.
1.    Show up ready – this means not only preparing your content but preparing yourself.
This means doing some mental rehearsal, setting some intentions for outcomes, getting yourself into the right state, dialing in your focus, and mentally preparing for all the what ifs. It means doing some movement to energize yourself and to turn on your right brain so you can be innovative and not just another in the box participant. It also means feeding your brain with a high performance snack filled with protein, B vitamins, complex carbohydrates and omega-3 essential fats. This will prevent brain fog, improve your concentration, keep your blood glucose steady, avoid mood swings and make your brain fire on all cylinders (a minimal requirement for any high output meeting).
2.    Be a high performer in the meeting.
This means starting by sitting with good posture at all times. If you don’t think this matters just sit for 60 seconds slouched over like you usually do and see how you feel, how you think and how you concentrate. It means staying hydrated by drinking water instead of sugary drinks or coffee. The brain is made up of 80% water and if you want it to function properly you have to keep it hydrated. It also means keeping the right Mindset by reframing negative non-productive statements, challenging bullshit stories that are full of drama and feed hysteria, and creating solutions rather than excuses.
3.    Set up a meeting culture of high performance by managing the team mindset, providing high performance snacks, and energizing the group with movement.
This means planning and setting expectations, which Seth definitely touched on. But to expand it a little, fill the room with water for everyone, provide high performance snacks not sugar filled partially hydrogenated sleeping pills (doughnuts and cookies). Get the group up moving every chance you can – do walking meetings, take frequent breaks (water helps with this), or just have everyone stretch and do a posture check. This also means challenging the team mindset by keeping each other accountable to stay focused, creative, optimistic and solution oriented.
We could go on forever on this but then it would be just like your last meeting.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

What you Focus on Grows

When I was a firefighter we used to notice how difficult it was for the police officers to accept the fact that in general, most people were good people. One day when I asked a veteran officer why that was, his answer was really enlightening. When 95% of your day is dealing with the worst 5% of the population you quickly begin to believe that 95% of the population are criminals. What do you focus on 95% of the time?
I remember an interview with Andre Agassi on a terribly windy day and they asked him if the wind bothered him. He smiled and replied, "wind – I didn’t even notice the wind. I grew up in Las Vegas where it’s always windy. I love the wind."  Funny, because Agassi's opponent blamed his own loss on the terrible weather conditions. What’s your wind that’s drawing your focus and ruining your day?
After working with thousands of top executives I’m convinced that too many people don’t take responsibility for their own focus. Either that, or they’re not even aware of where their focus is. If you really want to quickly improve your performance, take control of your focus and only place it on what you want to grow.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

How Many Emails do you Receive?

The better question is actually, how many times per day do you check  your email and how often do you get interrupted by phone calls, text  messages, IMs and colleagues just coming by your office? Researchers at the University of California in Irvine found that the average  amount of time an employee can devote to a  project before being  interrupted is 11 minutes. You might be indifferent to this because you think you have mastered multi-tasking.  In actuality, researchers have found neurological evidence that the brain 
cannot do two things at the same time. Your brain basically switches  between tasks (the exception are automatic processes in your body like  breathing).
Dave Crenshaw talks in his book, The Myth of Multitasking about how switching impacts your performance and reduces your effectiveness. After a switch, you have to go back to your old task to review where you are - and the more complicated the task the greater the cost of this switch. Basex Research estimates an average of 2.1 hours of lost productivity per person per day due to interruptions. So here is my question to you again: How many times per day do you check your email?  Please share with us your email strategies and the email etiquette of your company.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

A Crisis is a Great Time to Redefine Success

I just got off the phone with one of our clients. She was very frustrated because no matter what she does she can’t close a deal. Being a highly successful sales VP for a very big software company, this type of resistance is something she has never experienced. We talked about her Mindset and the challenges she is facing with trying to reframe her frustrations and rejections to make her thoughts and self talk more high performance and more positive.
As we talked I recognized that one thing that has shifted in these tough times is the definition of success. If you are married to your quarterly projections, your gross income, or your net profits you are clearly set up for failure. The key, not just during this crisis but all the time, is to become more process oriented in your goals. That is, focus on the processes that you know lead to success. Recently, Geoff Colvin, in his enlightening book, Why Talent is Overrated, presented some great research on goal setting and success. The poorest performers don’t set any goals at all. Mediocre performers set goals that are general and often focused simply on achieving a good outcome. But the best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.
So the big question is, what are these processes? The most important processes are the ones that increase your energy level, your resilience, your capacity, and your brain performance. If you let these processes go you don’t have a chance of being a high performer or of surviving these tough times. Once you commit to your Performance Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits you will quickly enjoy the benefits of being more passionate, more confident, more focused, and more creative. With these key qualities you’re ready to get back to your fundamentals and plant all the seeds that will lead to future success.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

High Performance is a Work in Progress

Recently, I gave a lecture at the IMD business school in Lausanne, discussing Tignum and our work on sustainable high performance. At the end of the lecture, one student raised his hand and asked the question, “I really like what you do and totally believe in it, but how come YOU look so tired?”
I smiled because I was actually grateful that this question was asked. I answered, “The problem with sustainable high performance is that most people think it is a result, when in all actuality, sustainable high performance is a process.” 
It’s always work in progress – even for us at Tignum. There are high performance days and also days where we slip back. Luckily those days are 
extremely rare. The key is to have the awareness for it and to continuously work at it.  My mistake was with travel preparation.  I arrived late to the hotel, was in a smoking room and was next to a noisey street. The quality of my sleep along with the recovery from my long trip was almost zero. I know now to be more precise with my travel plans and it was a clear demonstration to my lecture attendees that sustainable high performance really is a work in progress – But the great thing about that is, we are always just one step away from making a better choice! 

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Shift happens - Are you prepared?

During the introduction of our Tignum High Performance programs we talk about the changing business world, the increase in speed, the rise in pressure, faster product launches, email overload, etc.  Change is constant.  It’s often viewed as intangible, but it’s a given.  At Tignum, we prepare our clients to remain sustainable high performers, to be resilient, to have energy and to cope with uncertainty. 

Recently, one of our clients sent us a video (see below), which collected some interesting numbers and facts about the shift in the world.  We wanted to share it with you and ask; How do you prepare yourself?  How do you prepare your core asset to handle change?  Do you take the time to reflect on your current habits and constantly re-innovate yourself so that you are prepared for whatever shift happens?             



By, Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

How is your blood pressure during the tough times?

I just checked my blood pressure and it's 124/80.  It's been 6 months since I last checked it, but it's okay.  How is yours?  I ask this because in tough business times, most executives are so focused on solving the business issues that they put their core asset (themselves) second, third or even worse.  Pressure, stress, travel and other extreme demands impact your cardiovascular system and one sign of this is your blood pressure.  The consequences of high blood pressure can be pretty bad. 

I just returned from a stroke clinic at Lake Constance, where I visited a friend who had a brain stroke.  He had high blood pressure but didn't pay attention.  An artery in his brain ruptured.  It's a very sad story.  He just turned 40, has 3 little kids and now has to learn how to swallow, speak, read and walk again.  The problem with blood pressure is that you don't feel it when it's high, and often times don't realize it's high until it's too late.  So let me ask you again; What's your blood pressure? 

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Drama – Leave it for the Theater

In life there are many set backs, surprises and upsets. In fact, we will all experience at least one, if not more, crisis. It may be a loss of a job, it may be a significant accident or injury, or it may be something that happens to a close relative. In these situations there are few things that can destroy your mindset and drain your energy more than unnecessary drama. It’s not to say that these situations don’t deserve an emotional response, but the key is to give just the right emotion. Too often people over react, then create drama. Why do they do this? There are many reasons but most of the time they do it to get more attention, to create significance. The problem is that drama is not real, it’s not authentic, and it’s not solution oriented. Yes it creates attention, but it rarely creates solid high performance solutions. If there’s one thing I learned in the fire service it’s that drama rarely is productive. When a crisis really occurs it’s best to respond with exactly the right amount of emotion. Not any more or any less. During these crucial times it’s best to focus on the solution rather than the story. Leave the story making for the media, leave the drama for the theater, and spend your mindset energy on the truth and how to solve the problem.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

Performance Drugs

Nowadays drugs seem to be everywhere in sports. There are steroids to help players get stronger quicker, There is EPO to enhance endurance. There are stimulants to help players get up for their games and then of course there are barbiturates to help players come down. We have seen gold medal sprinters lose their gold medals, Tour de France teams lose their sponsorships and even a race winner lose his first place finish. This year we saw Olympians and professional cyclists fail drug tests because they weren’t aware that the inventor of CERA, the next generation EPO, also supplied the World Anti-Doping Agency with a test to catch dopers.

With so many examples of athletes getting caught, with such strong repercussions being doled out for getting caught, and with possible life threatening risks of using these drugs – why do so many athletes still do it? The answer is simple – they feel they need to do anything possible to try to win. Even though there are great examples of drug free, highly ethical, scientifically and statistically proven methods of training (such as those used by our partner Athlete’s Performance), athletes continue to be taunted by the quick fix to improve their performance. The crazy thing is that the same thing occurs in the business world. With the crazy demands and growing need to perform, many business executives turn to short cuts to improve their performance and help them make it through the day. Although many of these drugs aren’t illegal (Fortune reports that executive drug addiction is increasing rapidly), they are still unhealthy and unsustainable short cuts with often dangerous side effects. Whether it’s caffeine every time you need to be alert, alcohol every time you need to relax, sleeping pills every time you need to sleep, anti-depressants to fight mood swings, or pain pills every time you have aches and pain – the truth is that there is a better way.

The Tignum strategies are designed to create habits that help you develop yourself into a Sustainable High Performer – drug free. Daily Prep movements and proper hydration help energize you, mobilize you and eliminate musculoskeletal pain. Our Movement, Nutrition, and Recovery strategies are designed to help you get quality sleep, get rid of depression and maximize your creativity and focus whenever you need it. Our Mindset strategies are designed to develop your confidence, clarity and sustainable high performance. The best part is, the Tignum Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies have no negative side-effects. But I will warn you, they can be addictive.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Failure Feeds Success

When clients go through the Tignum program there are always a few people who comment “this time they don’t want to fail like they have in previous attempts in other programs.” I love this comment because it shows their commitment, but it also shows their fear of falling into the same traps they have experienced before. At Tignum we realize that changing habits is never easy. We also realize that every change has mini-setbacks called Dips (see Dip blog).

For some clients their previous failures have been so prevalent or emotional that they truly can’t see themselves being successful. Instead, the only image they have is of them being initially excited and motivated and then looking at themselves in the mirror one day and asking what happened. This is totally normal because that’s the way the brain works…but it doesn’t have to be that way.

In fact, research has shown that one of the best indicators of future success in developing new habits may just be how many times you’ve previously failed. This is because each time you try to change yourself, you learn something new about yourself, you become more motivated, and you get closure to success. Therefore, a quick reframe of previous failures is to see them as practice sessions for making the real change.

If you combine this reframe with the mental imagery of seeing yourself successful, you just may break the trend and you may just fulfill Scott’s Law of Success – You’re only one day away from being right on track and becoming a Sustainable High Performer!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Leadership in Crisis

In my many years in the fire service I definitely recognized that leadership is critical during a crisis. In fact, it was something that I studied, emulated, and tried to deeply understand. Recently, I read a great book called Extremis Leadership: Leading as if Your Life Depends On It by Tom Kolditz. Since we are in a major market crisis right now, I felt the Extremis part of this book would be more than appropriate.
As I read this book, I quickly realized that Extremis Leadership is exactly what Tignum prepares our clients to do. There is a time to energize your team but there is also a time to calm and focus your team. Interesting enough, only your preparation, intentions, and Mindset will determine your ability to do this.
When it comes to a crisis, competence becomes the primary basis for trust. As we always say – first a leader must lead themselves and then they can lead others. Your habits, your concentration, and your ability to learn from every situation will be critical. This means, how did you review your previous performances, how much did you work on your Mindset, how much did you show up for work everyday prepared to be your best?
In leadership there is a time for introspection but in a crisis, Kolditz points out, a leader’s focus must be outward. It must be on the environment and on the problem at hand. Such control of focus must be practiced and it depends on you being fully recovered, fully hydrated, well nourished, fully present, and completely engaged. This is the Tignum Performance Highrise during an earthquake and once again it depends on a strong foundation and on strong support from your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery pillars (habits).
Sustainable High Performance is an interesting term because it suggests that it’s about tomorrow. Don’t fool yourself, if you’re in a crisis – tomorrow depends on your ability to perform today. Build those Tignum habits now!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Airport Heaven - I found it!

Today I am heading home after 4 weeks on the road. Like most of my clients, when it comes to traveling, it’s almost always about finding a second best solution. Today, though, I may have hit pay dirt.

It’s been awhile since I’ve connected through Houston, but I must say this could rank at the top of my high performance training airports. I have a 2-hour layover, so I really have a chance to see this airport from all four TIGNUM Pillars (Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery). From a Nutrition point of view this place is full of choices, and some of them are actually healthy. I’ve found raw nuts, fresh fruit, great salad places, and some great frozen yogurt (20%). From a Movement standpoint, this airport is huge. I’ve walked for an hour and I just returned to my starting point. I did 6 flights of stairs, and what seemed like 3km of fast walking. Besides breaking a small sweat, I am totally energized. From a Recovery standpoint, there are a lot of quiet places to sit, breathe and listen to some TIGNUM soundfiles. There are also a lot of bookstores, which give my mind a chance to expand and explore and forget about the stresses of travel.

So what about Mindset? Well, like I said, it is a big airport – and that means long cues on the runway waiting to take off. What a great opportunity to catch up on my reading. Talk about great reframe practice.  Perfect airport for a Sustainable High Performer!

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

New Plan to Dine for 2009

I recently read that New Years celebrations are thought to be one of the oldest of all traditions, close to 4000 years old. 

For 2009, Tignum would like to have you Think Different about how to organize your nutritional goals.  Daily, human sustainability, resilience and enhanced mental performance becomes more essential than ever in the current economy.  Your brain function, both in mental toughness and creativity will need to be sharp and in top shape. Why not make this year “the year” to nourish your brain and construct a brain nutritional program to not only enhance mental acuity and agility but also to protect it against stress.

Key nutrients have been shown to protect and nourish the brain while under stress.  L-tyrosine is an amino acid used by the body to produce certain adrenal stress hormones and chemical messengers in the nervous systems (neurotransmitters).  Research shows that levels of L-tyrosine in the brain decline with stress, and by supplying higher levels of tyrosine, it will help reverse this decline and improve brain performance.  Nutritional research also shows that using tyrosine as a supplement can help mental performance during physically stressful situations, such as noise and cold conditions.

Dairy products, lean meats, fish, whole grains (especially quinoa, oats, and millet), avocados, bananas, almonds, sesame seeds, beans (esp. lima beans) are all good sources of tyrosine.  Healthy fats (ie Omega 3 fatty acids), Vitamin C and B vitamin family are also key for brain function. Starting out the New Year with awareness of brain enhancing nutrients can be a great step towards becoming a Sustainable High Performer in 2009.

By Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance