TIGNUM BLOG

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

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

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

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

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

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

Every TIGNUM program we run we have a discussion about what makes up a performance mindset and what destroys a performance mindset. This often leads to a comment that nothing destroys a performance mindset like the negative mindset of a colleague. This brings up a great discussion about whether a person’s mindset is contagious or not.

There is some interesting research that strongly suggests that your thoughts definitely impact those around you. Your attitude affects those around you. In a team, we are constantly impacting and influencing each other’s mindset.

Recently, a client shared with me, that taking her team through TIGNUM was the single best leadership and team building experience she has ever had. At first this really surprised me, since our program was never designed to achieve this. But when I reflected on how this could happen, it made perfect sense to me. When you get a team of Sustainable High Performers together, and they all desire to achieve excellence by building their own (and then virally their team’s) performance mindset, it’s no wonder they develop a team bond like they never had.

This is why one of the most important things a leader can do is to develop their own high performance mindset and then infect their team with it. 

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

A breakfast buffet at a nice hotel is a thing of beauty. You know the buffet I’m speaking of. It has all the breads and pastries, eggs, bacon, ham, fruit, yogurt, meat, cheese, juice………….This morning I was getting my breakfast at the buffet at the Hilton in Munich and something hit me. The mindset you take into a buffet determines so much. Yesterday morning I clearly remember thinking about getting my money’s worth at this 26 euro breakfast. I grabbed a plate, and as I frantically worked clockwise around the buffet, I filled my plate to the brim (maybe two). I didn’t miss a beat because I wanted to be sure to get every penny’s worth. I’m sure you’ve done the same so I don’t need to tell you how I felt the next three hours. I was full, bloated, uncomfortable and half asleep. This morning I decided to approach the buffet with a different mindset. I certainly couldn’t change the cost but I could change my mindset. This time I entered with a “get my health’s worth” approach. I was amazed at what a difference it made. Instead of the normal load and run approach, I walked around the buffet once clockwise, once counter-clockwise, and then I was ready to select only the foods I needed to improve my health. I got my protein, my fiber, my fruits, my probiotics and surprisingly it all fit on one plate. In fact, there was actually some room to spare. I relaxed, I didn’t worry about the cost (can’t control it anyway), and I enjoyed every bite. The crazy thing is that all day I have felt great. I have energy, I have focus, and I’m firing on all cylinders. Funny thing, I would certainly pay 26 euros to be this high performance. I guess today I really did get my money’s worth.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

Every day I turn on the news and hear about the struggling economy. They talk about government loans to banks, incentive packages, lower interest rates, etc. It’s all about stimulating the economy.

Then I head to work, talk to prospective clients (many of them CEO’s or board members), and hear about how exhausted their leaders are because of their current work challenges and work loads. The thing that really perplexes me is to hear their frustration with their leadership fatigue as they explain to me that now is not the time to invest in their Sustainable High Performance.

Today, during a recovery walk, a thought hit me. Why don’t we stimulate the economy by stimulating the leadership of the Fortune 100 companies? This is what speculators, investors, and fund managers should be talking about. Let's help them realize the benefits of being Sustainable High Performers.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

So often people see TIGNUM as something they should do on their own, something they should do when there is enough “extra” time, something that will make them healthy. What they fail to recognize is that everything we talk about at TIGNUM is designed to help our clients perform their best during the most demanding times.

One of the most rewarding clients we have worked with have been the Unilever Audit teams. These teams travel all over the world and perform internal audits on business groups or small companies that make up the Global Unilever business. These audits are psychologically, physically, emotionally and professionally challenging. They require that a team travel to a location, spend 4 to 6 weeks of intense work, and live away from home in a hotel. It is very stressful and it challenges any routine of normalcy.

This year we completed taking every single member of the Unilever Global Audit team through the TIGNUM program. This gives us a rare opportunity because the team can implement their TIGNUM Sustainable High Performance strategies together. As I’ve always said in the fire service, “No one ever goes into a fire unhealthy and comes out healthier.” The truth is that every crisis or major challenge takes a little away from you. This is why you have to be at your best before it hits, take care of yourself during the event, and recover adequately after it’s over so you’re ready for the next challenge.

After a recent audit in Vietnam, one of our clients emailed me sharing the power of the TIGNUM Sustainable High Performance strategies on his team. This is his note to me.

“It's the first time I've experienced an Audit where the whole team fully embraced the TIGNUM mindset. At the outset the team members agreed to volunteer as Champions to lead the various TIGNUM Pillars (Mindset, Movement, Nutrition, Recovery). From amongst our activities we held daily movement sessions, set aside an area for Power naps, nutritious snacks, etc - all sustained throughout the Audit. It worked. It made for a positive and effective team. In my view, it had an impact on making this a less stressful and successful Audit.“

There is nothing new here, but its clear that sustaining this mindset has an impact on our abilities at an individual and social level....having one motivated person in a team is great, but when everyone is firing on all cylinders it sure does make a difference”

So often it’s difficult for people to see the power of integrating Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies. They fall into the trap of just thinking it’s a health issue. Clearly this demonstrates this is about performance – yours and the teams. What more can you do to help your team become Sustainable High Performers?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

We live in a world of constant change. Most of the clients I deal with are in a constant flux. They are moving to a new city, they are traveling constantly, they are changing positions within their company, and they can’t seem to find the happiness they are seeking.

Recently, I was working with a client and he told me: “I’m trying to keep a positive mindset but to be honest, I don’t like living in London, I don’t like my new position, I miss my friends back home, and it’s really hard right now.” I immediately could feel his pain and his feelings of being overwhelmed with NEW. The problem when we are confronted with all of this new is that it’s hard to see the light of comfort when we’re buried with so much unfamiliar.

This is very common and it often leads to feeling sad, feeling lost, and losing motivation to be a high performer.  The key to finding your high performing self during these times is to find just one thing you love in your NEW. What is one thing you love about your new city? What is one thing you love about your new role? What is one thing you love about your new situation? When I ask my clients these questions they can always find one thing. In fact, they often find more than one.

Once you’ve found this One thing to love the key is to only focus on this one thing. Embrace it, experience it, explore it and enjoy it. Quickly you will turn your anxiety into enthusiasm and quickly you will be out of the doldrums and back into being a Sustainable High Performer. Try it and let me know what happens.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Recently I went to a great Melissa Etheridge concert. For those of you who have attended one of our programs you are familiar with her song “The Inconvenient Truth”. This song is a great reflection song about facing the truth within ourselves, even when it may be inconvenient. I love her songs because they always make me think and feel something significant. This is exactly what happened when I heard one of her new songs “What About Tomorrow”.
This song really resonated with me because this is the essence of what Sustainable High Performance is to me, and TIGNUM. Sure you may perform at a high level today but what about tomorrow? Do you have the habits, strategies, and actions necessary to do it again tomorrow? And the next day?  Are you a Sustainable High Performer or are you just a Blind High Performer (someone who is living on fragile credit)?

As we age we get new experiences, new knowledge, and new opportunities. Unfortunately though, many people have such bad Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits that they never get to take advantage of these new opportunities. They never planned for “Tomorrow”. We need to have the energy, capacity and passion to make “Tomorrow” really special.

Sustainable High Performance doesn’t happen by chance it happens by choice. The choices you make today will truly impact “What Happens Tomorrow”. What will your legacy be? What are your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits? What happens tomorrow depends on them.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Yesterday I saw a report that predicted employment trends for the next 12 years. In light of the current turmoil of the market I found these trends especially meaningful. The projected trend is that very few workers will be able to retire at the current acceptable retirement ages of 59 to 64. This will be for several reasons. First, due to the challenges businesses are facing with the Generation Y workforce, older executives will be asked to continue working to provide leadership and experience. Second, with the market sensitivity and the growing debt of many nations, it is unlikely that the current government retirement benefit plans will remain healthy enough to support our current retirement ages. Finally, with the progress of modern medicine, the life expectancy is growing longer and longer. Unfortunately, with the rising levels of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease this may not mean a longer high quality life.

These projections really interested me because one of the things that we try to do at TIGNUM is to help our clients Think Different about their future. We challenge them to plan for their own performance, sustainability and vitality just as they customarily do for their financial health. We say, open your mind, become more aware of your potential to be better tomorrow, and make the changes now so you can enjoy the benefits. Unfortunately, so many people wait for a crisis to really change their habits. With the new trends the need for strong Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits has never been greater- and these four pillars are key to becoming a Sustainable High Performer.

by Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I wanted to share this research article that discusses the impact of Laughter. A Japanese study looked at the effect of laughter on diabetes patients. The researchers were measuring the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels and immune cell function. The study intervention was carried out over two days.

First day they were exposed to comic videos and during the laughter, blood samples were taken 3 different time periods to measure blood glucose levels and immune cell response. The next day was the control day and no humor introduced but the same blood parameters were measured. Results revealed that after the period of laughter on the first day, the blood glucose levels over the course of 4 hours (even with a meal) were better controlled and steady then the day without laughter. The researchers also reported that on the first day, the increase in Natural Killer cells suggested that laughter also could have an impact on the immune system.

In the Tignum recovery module, we discuss how laughter can help offer recovery and rejuvenation to positively impact performance and sustainability. I always find that I get excited when we can have clinical evidence that is measurable that links the Tignum strategies to optimal health and performance.  By employing laughter as a recovery tool, you can steady blood sugar and positively impact your immune system-both important for sustainability and peak performance (mentally and physically).

The Japanese doctors that conducted the study concluded their results add to the growing body of evidence pointing to the healing effects of laughter. I think I will go read the comics in the local newspaper to help me keep my Sustainable High Performer mindset! Hope you do as well.

By Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Today I had one of those crazy days where my best plans to get a workout in fell to the wayside. I swore when I woke up that I had time to get 45 minutes of movement in.  But after an unexpected call and an urgent SMS message that didn’t happen. I rushed off to work with a day full of meetings, emails, and coaching calls and as usual very few opportunities to squeeze my movement in.

After a long day, I crawled home in rush hour traffic and arrived home to my teenage son who was waiting for me to take him to the store to get some last minute school supplies. By this time I was not only sure that my movement had fallen to the wayside, I was tired and almost happy to let my movement habit slide away.

Then I remembered my own advice: “Something is always better than nothing!” “The key is keeping your habit!” So I went upstairs and invested 10 minutes into a No Excuse Workout. I don’t want to be smug and say I told me so, but I did. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, how much my energy improved, and most important how proud I was with myself that I kept my promise to myself to do some movement today.

When you think about the key to becoming a Sustainable High Performer it really is action. It’s having great habits and moving from knowing to doing.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I just finished reading an interesting book called Think Better by Tim Hurson. It's all about how to become more innovative by improving productive thinking. While I was reading this book it really made me think. I started thinking about what motivated me to think about TIGNUM. Sure there was the motivation of my father being sick but clearly, from the beginning, there was more. That "more" for me was the irony that so many people thought that "thinking differently' just happened. This amazed me and started me down the path to really look at how to help top executives learn to be more innovative, more creative, but most of all better thinkers so they could perform better for longer.

When I met Scott, and we talked about the importance for firefighters to do this under the most stressful situations, I knew we were onto something. Today I realized that the world, and most of our clients, are in one of these "stressful situations". There are huge global challenges, huge business challenges, and huge personal challenges and yet the need for clear, creative, innovative and better thinking has never been higher. Unfortunately, most of the CEO's and other top executives I meet, still think this happens by chance. They think you either have it or you don't.

My experience, through TIGNUM, has taught me that nothing can be further from the truth. Everything can be taught! The tipping point is that just because you Learn it doesn't mean you'll Do it. Doing it is really the key and that's what Scott showed me that firefighters do best. They practice their performance mindset on the small calls, doing the simple things, so that when they need them the most they will be second nature. This is the same approach we have taken with teaching our Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits. We ask our clients to practice them everyday so when the pressure really hits, on those really stressful days (which seem to be coming way more frequently), these habits that make them Sustainable High Performers, will be second nature.

When I hear a client say that they didn't have time to use our high performance strategies I immediately know that here is a client that is leaving their performance and their sustainability, and unfortunately their company's performance to chance. I can't remember who said that desperate times require desperate measures but at Tignum we believe that's a recipe for a disaster. Desperate times (e.g. tough markets, smaller margins, tight competition, high stress, high workloads, etc.) require good habits - Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits!

By Jogi Rippel, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I hope this blog finds you happy and relaxed after a nice summer holiday. Unfortunately, the story I hear all too often is not one of returning to work refreshed and rejuvenated, but rather one of shock, despair, and a gasp for air. Why does this happen? How can 7 days, 14 days, or even longer of vacation leave you feeling inadequate within 2 hours of returning to work?

The answer is simple but often overlooked. It’s a matter of not preparing your mindset for the change of scenery and demands. It’s basically bringing a knife to a gun fight and this is why it can be so unnerving.

As a Sustainable High Performer, the next time you take a vacation try doing a little gear shifting before you head back into the jungle. The night before you go back to work take 30 minutes and begin planning for your transition. What will be in your inbox? Who will be waiting to meet with you? What tasks will be the most critical for you to tackle? Spend some time doing some mental preparation for what’s ahead, how you will meet the challenges, where you will get your recovery breaks, where you will need to be really sharp, and what you plan on accomplishing (realistically).

When you go back to work ill prepared you not only leave high performance to chance, you also throw away the money and time you spent rejuvenating yourself. The next time you take a holiday (even a 3 day weekend), spend 30 minutes getting into your performance mindset before you head back to work. You just may find the challenges that wait for you stimulating.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

A question I often get is: "How can I use some of the TIGNUM recovery strategies when I'm in the middle of a meeting and I feel the pressure growing?" . This is a great question because clearly you need to stay 100% present during these challenging moments. This may not seem like the appropriate time to put on your ipod, close your eyes, and break into some alternate nostril breathing.

If you really think of the essence of this very common question it is: How do I prevent feeling overwhelmed in the moment that I need to really be a Sustainable High Performer? My answer to this is: "Preparation is everything!".  As Scott often says, he's never seen a firefighter who went into a fire unhealthy and unprepared come out of the fire healthy and prepared. The fact is that the challenges we face chip away at us, unless we are prepared to handle them.

So how do you prepare yourself to be a high performer when you really need it? You practice your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies even when you don't think you need them. Everyday you get several often unnoticed opportunities to practice your high performance strategies such as mental imagery, oscillation, eating for brain performance, or moving to increase your creativity and focus. These strategies, and the many others you learned in the TIGNUM program, are cumulative and they strengthen your resolve and resilience for when you need it. Even more important they ensure you will be a high performer even when you find yourself in that pressure cooker.

By André Hartwich, Performance Coach

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I recently read a great article about the power of a strong mindset in race car drivers. At 200 mph/322 kmh (just slightly under the current speed of business), the unprepared brain will trigger a panicky jolt of energy, that floods the body with adrenalin and cortisol. When Patrick Jacobs coached Indianapolis 500 winner, Gil De Ferran, he coached him to resist that primal instinct with controlled breathing techniques learned through Prana Yoga. This clearly shows that with practice, breathing can help anyone handle stress, and perform their best, even under the greatest amounts of pressure.

If these techniques can be used at 200 mph/322 kmh they can also be used by Sustainable High Performers during a meeting, during a negotiation, or anytime you need high performance.

By Adrianne Bowden, Tignum Coach

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Today, while traveling in a taxi in Singapore, I realized that it really is true that we get better at whatever we practice. Having ridden in taxis all over the world I am always amazed at the surge forward, swerve right and left, slam on the brakes driving style that cab drivers share in every city. How can this be? Aren’t these professional drivers? Wouldn’t you expect them to be great drivers since they drive so many kms every day? But when you think about it, they are good at what they practice – bad driving!

So what would it take for these nausea making experts to become expert drivers? First, they would need to have the “to be” goal of being a smooth, professional and efficient driver. Second, they would need a clear vision of seeing themselves drive this way. Third, they would need to identify the exact behaviors necessary to complete this vision. Finally, they would need to practice these skills diligently. Imagine how happy we all would be if this were to happen.

Even more important, what are the things you really want to improve to help you become a Sustainable High Performer? Now you know how, so get practicing.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Every once in a while I hear a CEO or team leader make a comment that sounds something like this: “My team is really burned out, they are pushing hard trying to do more with less. I really wish I could take them through the TIGNUM program so they could learn new strategies for sustainable high performance. I wish I could stop their speed train for the 2 days so they could recharge and see how important they are to me and the business. Unfortunately, I have to make my numbers this quarter or else, so I can’t take the time or spend the money on the team and their Sustainable High Performance right now. Maybe next quarter.”

I can totally appreciate the pressures of business, especially in these tough times. But I have to be brutally honest (a quality I’m not good at hiding). Does it make sense to drive your car and then put oil in it? Does it make sense to play all your soccer games and then go back and have preseason practice? Does it make sense to race a top Formula One race car on old bald warn out tires? Can you imagine if Tiger Woods would not have invested in reinventing his swing 5 times over his career? We wouldn’t have been blessed with his 14th Masters at the US Open – a win that will forever live in the record books as one of the best. In fact, he may have never won a second masters. In Good to Great, Jim Collins, talked about getting the right people on the bus (a morphism for team). I think that’s only half the battle. You have to get the right people on the bus and then you need to make sure they have the energy, vitality, capacity, and health to get you to where you need to go.

At TIGNUM we say over and over again that our client’s performance (and their company’s performance) is built on the foundation of personal energy and performance. And this is held together by each member’s mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery habits. Can you imagine building a house on soft dirt and then saying you will come back later and put in the foundation when you have more time and maybe  more money? In my opinion you can wait till next quarter, or next year, or in your next job, to get your team the necessary mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery strategies they need – but you would have paid many times over for waiting.

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Yesterday I watched the TedTalk presentation by Al Gore where he shares his insights into 2 years of his climate change campaign.  At the beginning he talked about human behavior and how we all know from a factual point of view how important this topic is, yet in terms of daily action it moves down in the list of urgent matters. I saw some analogy of this issue with the topic we promote at TIGNUM. Everybody understands the importance and the impact of our work (remember: your energy, health,
capacity, vitality build the foundation of high performance)  but some companies (luckily not many) still see it as nice to have. Al Gore gave one answer on how to solve the issue: great leadership is needed- and this is true in producing an environment that is rich in Sustainable High Performers as well.

Here's the link to his TedTalk:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/243

by Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I’m traveling today, listening to my jet lag sound file, and I got to thinking- Boy the economy is really facing some hard times. Oil prices are up and the stock market is down and my clients are constantly telling me of the pressures they are facing to make their quarter numbers. Why is it that during these tough times many very smart leaders sacrifice their own well being to just get by?

They tell me they are too overwhelmed or too busy to follow their TIGNUM strategies. I ask them, you’re too busy to stay hydrated? You’re too busy to take the stairs? You’re too busy to prepare properly for the key events of your day? You’re too busy to stop and take a 1-minute breathing or stretch break?

For those of you who have been through the TIGNUM program you know exactly what I’m thinking – That’s a nice story you keep telling yourself and hopefully there is some benefit to you telling it but remember YOU are choosing the habits you are living. The truth is that it doesn’t take more time to practice Sustainable High Performer habits – it just takes awareness, choice and action.

Think Different today – Think Sustainability!

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Today I had a great coaching call with one of my clients from IBM, Michelle Unger (Vice President of Information Management IOT). She just came off of a killer week and a great example of high performance. Michelle just organized the largest ever IBM Information on Demand conference in Europe. As usual, she was probably met with skepticism and doubt about the investment of time and money from IBM. Great accomplishments are often met with great resistance. This was a conference to share the passion of IBM their information on demand platform and products.

Michelle was gleaming about how well the event went. (You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5cJYn1GHeY). Most of all she was gleaming about how she used the TIGNUM Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies to make her peak performance a choice rather than leaving it to chance. She stayed hydrated, focused on her thoughts and controlled the controllable. She saw every challenge as a great opportunity to excel and as we always discuss she saw that Champions take Chances, and Pressure is a Privilege (one of my favorite Billy Jean King sayings). Michelle did some breathing techniques and as you can imagine, sprinted to put out lots of event fires. Even better, at the end – she took a few moments to celebrate her accomplishment and replay all the things she (and her team) did well.

We often use athletic experiences to make our strategies more tangible, but this is a great business example. Most important it will certainly lead to IBM profitability, happy customers, and a greater likelihood of other Sustainable High Performers emerging, after the great example Michelle gave.

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Over the weekend I read a little book called "The Dip" by Seth Godin. It's a pretty quick and fun read. It describes how every new project starts out exciting and fun but after a while it gets harder, less fun and you fall into a dip.  He goes on further, in Tignum language, to describe a mindset of how a Sustainable High Performer should approach this dip.  Successful people don't just ride out the dip and they don't just buckle down and survive it.  Instead they see it as an opportunity and they lean into the dip. The people who invest the time, energy and effort to power through the dip are the ones who become their best.  So next time you struggle with your nutrition, mindset, recovery or your movement- lean into your dip. The dip is where success happens.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

You determine your own legacy.

Books about performance training or leadership often discuss goals. Often, the acronym SMART is used to categorize the goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based. While SMART goals are a great way to create accountability, they are really focused on two types of goals: to-do goals and to-have goals. These types of goals can get you quickly motivated to accomplish something but they rarely sustain any passion.

Contrast these types of goals with those of people who are dying. People on their deathbeds who are asked what they wished they could have accomplished never say they wish they could have made more money, driven fancier cars, or lived in a mansion. Instead, they usually speak of deeper, more meaningful topics: they wish they had been kinder, more loving, more patient. These stories, though somewhat more anecdotal than the business-book approach, talk about goals that are much more powerful and meaningful than the common to-do or to-have goals. They are, instead, "to-be" goals.

When I think of an example of someone who has demonstrated and lived "to-be" goals, it would have to be Andre Agassi. Although 21 years ago he burst on to the professional tennis scene as a flashy, somewhat shallow, "image is everything" kid, what he grew into truly demonstrates the power of having "to be" goals. Recently, at his final match at this year's US Open, he received a 20-minute tear filled standing ovation for the way he had touched the New York fans over his 21 appearances and his championship-filled career. Then he proceeded to give a heart wrenching thank you address to the fans for the support they have given him in his toughest moments both professionally and personally. He spoke about how they had helped him learn that tennis was not an end but a means to giving something back to the world. With tears pouring down his face he shared his appreciation for being given the opportunity to entertain the great fans from all over the world by playing his heart out for them. Without saying so per se, he thanked them for their support in helping him reach some of his "to be" goals - to be humble, appreciative, reflective, enthusiastic, statesmanlike, and professional.

The he went into the locker room, where he received another standing ovation from all the other players. What a touching moment -- to be adored, accepted, and now honored by your peers in a sport where teamwork is non-existent and beating your opponent is on the top of every players "to do" goal list. Player after player talked about how Andre had not only changed the way tennis was played but changed the difference that tennis players could make in the world. They talked about what a great champion he was both on and off the court. Again with tears in his eyes, Andre thanked them for helping him achieve some of his "to be" goals - to be your best, to be a gracious winner and a classy loser, to be a role model, to be a diplomat, to be a gentleman.

Finally, Andre went to his final press conference at the US Open where he shared some of his most intimate memories and stories of his illustrious career for over 30 minutes. He didn't just share his highs he just as openly and honestly shared some of his lows. He shared his appreciation for the tough times he had to endure and for the way the press had pushed him to accomplish many of his "to be" goals" - to be authentic, to be honest, to be open, to be optimistic, to be articulate, to be studious and most of all to be a champion.

And then, as one member of the press described it, "a first in his lifetime," the entire pressroom gave Andre Agassi a standing ovation. This was not just a standing ovation for being a great tennis player; it was for being a great human being. Few other tennis players have done more for their community, more for underprivileged children, or more for the game of tennis than Andre Agassi. Sure, it would have been enough to have just rested on the laurels of winning eight grand slam tournaments, winning all four grand slams (a feat not accomplished by Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras or even Roger Federer), being in the top 10 for 16 of his 21 years as a professional, or being the number one player in the world. But Agassi had bigger goals. He wanted "to be" something special.

What type of person is it that you want to be? Do you want to be a Sustainable High Performer? How do you want to be remembered? What type of legacy will you leave? Will the world be a better place because you once lived in it?

by  Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

I often meet high performers that think that the only satisfaction they can ever celebrate and enjoy is being perfect. While I'm a huge advocate of never-ending improvement, I'm a firm believer that nothing destroys progress like perfectionism. I have found that behind most perfectionists is an underlying fear that is neither healthy nor productive.

When I work with clients who are in the process of their personal innovation, the ones who are most successful are the ones who successfully manage their fears. The biggest fear that must be overcome is the fear that they may not accomplish every goal they have set or they may fall short somewhere along their personal innovation map. Although this fear is normal, especially in the beginning, I quickly try to help them realize that every step towards their goal is an accomplishment.

I remember one client who rated her day on movement only a 5 on a scale of 10 because she only got to run 5 miles and she wanted to run 8 miles. Although on a perfect day (a fictional thing that doesn't exist) her goal may have been to run 8 miles, on that busy and chaotic day her accomplishment of running 5 miles was amazing. The problem is that with her old thinking she would have skipped the 5-mile run because it was short of her "perfect" goal. Once she overcame her fear of not being perfect, she learned to take each day in stride and to celebrate each step she made towards her personal innovation. Several months later, she ran her personal-best half marathon but even more important, she had achieved most of her goals in her mindset, nutrition, and recovery as well.

When you look at the most current research on burnout one common denominator is perfectionism. High performers with high goals and a perfectionist approach are the ones most likely to burn out. Similarly, Dr. Michael Sarno describes the patients most likely to develop tension myositis syndrome, a common cause of disabling back pain, as perfectionists. In his most recent book, The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mind Body Disorders, he describes the plethora of health problems that share perfectionist behavior as one of its roots.

Performance living is about setting meaningful goals, developing a reasonable and achievable plan, training smart rather than just hard, being consistent in doing simple things savagely well, and in celebrating and enjoying your progress towards your potential. Overcoming any fears you may have of not being perfect is the first step towards a new level of performance living and ultimately, in becoming a Sustainable High Performer.

by  Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

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

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

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

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

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

Your Mindset is the Biggest Team Builder

Every TIGNUM program we run we have a discussion about what makes up a performance mindset and what destroys a performance mindset. This often leads to a comment that nothing destroys a performance mindset like the negative mindset of a colleague. This brings up a great discussion about whether a person’s mindset is contagious or not.

There is some interesting research that strongly suggests that your thoughts definitely impact those around you. Your attitude affects those around you. In a team, we are constantly impacting and influencing each other’s mindset.

Recently, a client shared with me, that taking her team through TIGNUM was the single best leadership and team building experience she has ever had. At first this really surprised me, since our program was never designed to achieve this. But when I reflected on how this could happen, it made perfect sense to me. When you get a team of Sustainable High Performers together, and they all desire to achieve excellence by building their own (and then virally their team’s) performance mindset, it’s no wonder they develop a team bond like they never had.

This is why one of the most important things a leader can do is to develop their own high performance mindset and then infect their team with it. 

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Buffet Mindset

A breakfast buffet at a nice hotel is a thing of beauty. You know the buffet I’m speaking of. It has all the breads and pastries, eggs, bacon, ham, fruit, yogurt, meat, cheese, juice………….This morning I was getting my breakfast at the buffet at the Hilton in Munich and something hit me. The mindset you take into a buffet determines so much. Yesterday morning I clearly remember thinking about getting my money’s worth at this 26 euro breakfast. I grabbed a plate, and as I frantically worked clockwise around the buffet, I filled my plate to the brim (maybe two). I didn’t miss a beat because I wanted to be sure to get every penny’s worth. I’m sure you’ve done the same so I don’t need to tell you how I felt the next three hours. I was full, bloated, uncomfortable and half asleep. This morning I decided to approach the buffet with a different mindset. I certainly couldn’t change the cost but I could change my mindset. This time I entered with a “get my health’s worth” approach. I was amazed at what a difference it made. Instead of the normal load and run approach, I walked around the buffet once clockwise, once counter-clockwise, and then I was ready to select only the foods I needed to improve my health. I got my protein, my fiber, my fruits, my probiotics and surprisingly it all fit on one plate. In fact, there was actually some room to spare. I relaxed, I didn’t worry about the cost (can’t control it anyway), and I enjoyed every bite. The crazy thing is that all day I have felt great. I have energy, I have focus, and I’m firing on all cylinders. Funny thing, I would certainly pay 26 euros to be this high performance. I guess today I really did get my money’s worth.

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

Stimulating the Economy

Every day I turn on the news and hear about the struggling economy. They talk about government loans to banks, incentive packages, lower interest rates, etc. It’s all about stimulating the economy.

Then I head to work, talk to prospective clients (many of them CEO’s or board members), and hear about how exhausted their leaders are because of their current work challenges and work loads. The thing that really perplexes me is to hear their frustration with their leadership fatigue as they explain to me that now is not the time to invest in their Sustainable High Performance.

Today, during a recovery walk, a thought hit me. Why don’t we stimulate the economy by stimulating the leadership of the Fortune 100 companies? This is what speculators, investors, and fund managers should be talking about. Let's help them realize the benefits of being Sustainable High Performers.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Team Approach

So often people see TIGNUM as something they should do on their own, something they should do when there is enough “extra” time, something that will make them healthy. What they fail to recognize is that everything we talk about at TIGNUM is designed to help our clients perform their best during the most demanding times.

One of the most rewarding clients we have worked with have been the Unilever Audit teams. These teams travel all over the world and perform internal audits on business groups or small companies that make up the Global Unilever business. These audits are psychologically, physically, emotionally and professionally challenging. They require that a team travel to a location, spend 4 to 6 weeks of intense work, and live away from home in a hotel. It is very stressful and it challenges any routine of normalcy.

This year we completed taking every single member of the Unilever Global Audit team through the TIGNUM program. This gives us a rare opportunity because the team can implement their TIGNUM Sustainable High Performance strategies together. As I’ve always said in the fire service, “No one ever goes into a fire unhealthy and comes out healthier.” The truth is that every crisis or major challenge takes a little away from you. This is why you have to be at your best before it hits, take care of yourself during the event, and recover adequately after it’s over so you’re ready for the next challenge.

After a recent audit in Vietnam, one of our clients emailed me sharing the power of the TIGNUM Sustainable High Performance strategies on his team. This is his note to me.

“It's the first time I've experienced an Audit where the whole team fully embraced the TIGNUM mindset. At the outset the team members agreed to volunteer as Champions to lead the various TIGNUM Pillars (Mindset, Movement, Nutrition, Recovery). From amongst our activities we held daily movement sessions, set aside an area for Power naps, nutritious snacks, etc - all sustained throughout the Audit. It worked. It made for a positive and effective team. In my view, it had an impact on making this a less stressful and successful Audit.“

There is nothing new here, but its clear that sustaining this mindset has an impact on our abilities at an individual and social level....having one motivated person in a team is great, but when everyone is firing on all cylinders it sure does make a difference”

So often it’s difficult for people to see the power of integrating Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies. They fall into the trap of just thinking it’s a health issue. Clearly this demonstrates this is about performance – yours and the teams. What more can you do to help your team become Sustainable High Performers?

By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Find One Thing You Love

We live in a world of constant change. Most of the clients I deal with are in a constant flux. They are moving to a new city, they are traveling constantly, they are changing positions within their company, and they can’t seem to find the happiness they are seeking.

Recently, I was working with a client and he told me: “I’m trying to keep a positive mindset but to be honest, I don’t like living in London, I don’t like my new position, I miss my friends back home, and it’s really hard right now.” I immediately could feel his pain and his feelings of being overwhelmed with NEW. The problem when we are confronted with all of this new is that it’s hard to see the light of comfort when we’re buried with so much unfamiliar.

This is very common and it often leads to feeling sad, feeling lost, and losing motivation to be a high performer.  The key to finding your high performing self during these times is to find just one thing you love in your NEW. What is one thing you love about your new city? What is one thing you love about your new role? What is one thing you love about your new situation? When I ask my clients these questions they can always find one thing. In fact, they often find more than one.

Once you’ve found this One thing to love the key is to only focus on this one thing. Embrace it, experience it, explore it and enjoy it. Quickly you will turn your anxiety into enthusiasm and quickly you will be out of the doldrums and back into being a Sustainable High Performer. Try it and let me know what happens.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

What About Tomorrow

Recently I went to a great Melissa Etheridge concert. For those of you who have attended one of our programs you are familiar with her song “The Inconvenient Truth”. This song is a great reflection song about facing the truth within ourselves, even when it may be inconvenient. I love her songs because they always make me think and feel something significant. This is exactly what happened when I heard one of her new songs “What About Tomorrow”.
This song really resonated with me because this is the essence of what Sustainable High Performance is to me, and TIGNUM. Sure you may perform at a high level today but what about tomorrow? Do you have the habits, strategies, and actions necessary to do it again tomorrow? And the next day?  Are you a Sustainable High Performer or are you just a Blind High Performer (someone who is living on fragile credit)?

As we age we get new experiences, new knowledge, and new opportunities. Unfortunately though, many people have such bad Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits that they never get to take advantage of these new opportunities. They never planned for “Tomorrow”. We need to have the energy, capacity and passion to make “Tomorrow” really special.

Sustainable High Performance doesn’t happen by chance it happens by choice. The choices you make today will truly impact “What Happens Tomorrow”. What will your legacy be? What are your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits? What happens tomorrow depends on them.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Employment Trends Make Sustainable High Performance Even More Important

Yesterday I saw a report that predicted employment trends for the next 12 years. In light of the current turmoil of the market I found these trends especially meaningful. The projected trend is that very few workers will be able to retire at the current acceptable retirement ages of 59 to 64. This will be for several reasons. First, due to the challenges businesses are facing with the Generation Y workforce, older executives will be asked to continue working to provide leadership and experience. Second, with the market sensitivity and the growing debt of many nations, it is unlikely that the current government retirement benefit plans will remain healthy enough to support our current retirement ages. Finally, with the progress of modern medicine, the life expectancy is growing longer and longer. Unfortunately, with the rising levels of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease this may not mean a longer high quality life.

These projections really interested me because one of the things that we try to do at TIGNUM is to help our clients Think Different about their future. We challenge them to plan for their own performance, sustainability and vitality just as they customarily do for their financial health. We say, open your mind, become more aware of your potential to be better tomorrow, and make the changes now so you can enjoy the benefits. Unfortunately, so many people wait for a crisis to really change their habits. With the new trends the need for strong Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits has never been greater- and these four pillars are key to becoming a Sustainable High Performer.

by Jogi Rippel, Founder and CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

One of Tignum’s Recovery Tools Linked to a Key Tignum Nutrition Level!

I wanted to share this research article that discusses the impact of Laughter. A Japanese study looked at the effect of laughter on diabetes patients. The researchers were measuring the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels and immune cell function. The study intervention was carried out over two days.

First day they were exposed to comic videos and during the laughter, blood samples were taken 3 different time periods to measure blood glucose levels and immune cell response. The next day was the control day and no humor introduced but the same blood parameters were measured. Results revealed that after the period of laughter on the first day, the blood glucose levels over the course of 4 hours (even with a meal) were better controlled and steady then the day without laughter. The researchers also reported that on the first day, the increase in Natural Killer cells suggested that laughter also could have an impact on the immune system.

In the Tignum recovery module, we discuss how laughter can help offer recovery and rejuvenation to positively impact performance and sustainability. I always find that I get excited when we can have clinical evidence that is measurable that links the Tignum strategies to optimal health and performance.  By employing laughter as a recovery tool, you can steady blood sugar and positively impact your immune system-both important for sustainability and peak performance (mentally and physically).

The Japanese doctors that conducted the study concluded their results add to the growing body of evidence pointing to the healing effects of laughter. I think I will go read the comics in the local newspaper to help me keep my Sustainable High Performer mindset! Hope you do as well.

By Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Little Things Keep Habits

Today I had one of those crazy days where my best plans to get a workout in fell to the wayside. I swore when I woke up that I had time to get 45 minutes of movement in.  But after an unexpected call and an urgent SMS message that didn’t happen. I rushed off to work with a day full of meetings, emails, and coaching calls and as usual very few opportunities to squeeze my movement in.

After a long day, I crawled home in rush hour traffic and arrived home to my teenage son who was waiting for me to take him to the store to get some last minute school supplies. By this time I was not only sure that my movement had fallen to the wayside, I was tired and almost happy to let my movement habit slide away.

Then I remembered my own advice: “Something is always better than nothing!” “The key is keeping your habit!” So I went upstairs and invested 10 minutes into a No Excuse Workout. I don’t want to be smug and say I told me so, but I did. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, how much my energy improved, and most important how proud I was with myself that I kept my promise to myself to do some movement today.

When you think about the key to becoming a Sustainable High Performer it really is action. It’s having great habits and moving from knowing to doing.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Think Better

I just finished reading an interesting book called Think Better by Tim Hurson. It's all about how to become more innovative by improving productive thinking. While I was reading this book it really made me think. I started thinking about what motivated me to think about TIGNUM. Sure there was the motivation of my father being sick but clearly, from the beginning, there was more. That "more" for me was the irony that so many people thought that "thinking differently' just happened. This amazed me and started me down the path to really look at how to help top executives learn to be more innovative, more creative, but most of all better thinkers so they could perform better for longer.

When I met Scott, and we talked about the importance for firefighters to do this under the most stressful situations, I knew we were onto something. Today I realized that the world, and most of our clients, are in one of these "stressful situations". There are huge global challenges, huge business challenges, and huge personal challenges and yet the need for clear, creative, innovative and better thinking has never been higher. Unfortunately, most of the CEO's and other top executives I meet, still think this happens by chance. They think you either have it or you don't.

My experience, through TIGNUM, has taught me that nothing can be further from the truth. Everything can be taught! The tipping point is that just because you Learn it doesn't mean you'll Do it. Doing it is really the key and that's what Scott showed me that firefighters do best. They practice their performance mindset on the small calls, doing the simple things, so that when they need them the most they will be second nature. This is the same approach we have taken with teaching our Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits. We ask our clients to practice them everyday so when the pressure really hits, on those really stressful days (which seem to be coming way more frequently), these habits that make them Sustainable High Performers, will be second nature.

When I hear a client say that they didn't have time to use our high performance strategies I immediately know that here is a client that is leaving their performance and their sustainability, and unfortunately their company's performance to chance. I can't remember who said that desperate times require desperate measures but at Tignum we believe that's a recipe for a disaster. Desperate times (e.g. tough markets, smaller margins, tight competition, high stress, high workloads, etc.) require good habits - Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery habits!

By Jogi Rippel, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Feeling Empty After Vacation

I hope this blog finds you happy and relaxed after a nice summer holiday. Unfortunately, the story I hear all too often is not one of returning to work refreshed and rejuvenated, but rather one of shock, despair, and a gasp for air. Why does this happen? How can 7 days, 14 days, or even longer of vacation leave you feeling inadequate within 2 hours of returning to work?

The answer is simple but often overlooked. It’s a matter of not preparing your mindset for the change of scenery and demands. It’s basically bringing a knife to a gun fight and this is why it can be so unnerving.

As a Sustainable High Performer, the next time you take a vacation try doing a little gear shifting before you head back into the jungle. The night before you go back to work take 30 minutes and begin planning for your transition. What will be in your inbox? Who will be waiting to meet with you? What tasks will be the most critical for you to tackle? Spend some time doing some mental preparation for what’s ahead, how you will meet the challenges, where you will get your recovery breaks, where you will need to be really sharp, and what you plan on accomplishing (realistically).

When you go back to work ill prepared you not only leave high performance to chance, you also throw away the money and time you spent rejuvenating yourself. The next time you take a holiday (even a 3 day weekend), spend 30 minutes getting into your performance mindset before you head back to work. You just may find the challenges that wait for you stimulating.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Oscillation

A question I often get is: "How can I use some of the TIGNUM recovery strategies when I'm in the middle of a meeting and I feel the pressure growing?" . This is a great question because clearly you need to stay 100% present during these challenging moments. This may not seem like the appropriate time to put on your ipod, close your eyes, and break into some alternate nostril breathing.

If you really think of the essence of this very common question it is: How do I prevent feeling overwhelmed in the moment that I need to really be a Sustainable High Performer? My answer to this is: "Preparation is everything!".  As Scott often says, he's never seen a firefighter who went into a fire unhealthy and unprepared come out of the fire healthy and prepared. The fact is that the challenges we face chip away at us, unless we are prepared to handle them.

So how do you prepare yourself to be a high performer when you really need it? You practice your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies even when you don't think you need them. Everyday you get several often unnoticed opportunities to practice your high performance strategies such as mental imagery, oscillation, eating for brain performance, or moving to increase your creativity and focus. These strategies, and the many others you learned in the TIGNUM program, are cumulative and they strengthen your resolve and resilience for when you need it. Even more important they ensure you will be a high performer even when you find yourself in that pressure cooker.

By André Hartwich, Performance Coach

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Take a Deep Breath!

I recently read a great article about the power of a strong mindset in race car drivers. At 200 mph/322 kmh (just slightly under the current speed of business), the unprepared brain will trigger a panicky jolt of energy, that floods the body with adrenalin and cortisol. When Patrick Jacobs coached Indianapolis 500 winner, Gil De Ferran, he coached him to resist that primal instinct with controlled breathing techniques learned through Prana Yoga. This clearly shows that with practice, breathing can help anyone handle stress, and perform their best, even under the greatest amounts of pressure.

If these techniques can be used at 200 mph/322 kmh they can also be used by Sustainable High Performers during a meeting, during a negotiation, or anytime you need high performance.

By Adrianne Bowden, Tignum Coach

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Another Thought while Traveling

Today, while traveling in a taxi in Singapore, I realized that it really is true that we get better at whatever we practice. Having ridden in taxis all over the world I am always amazed at the surge forward, swerve right and left, slam on the brakes driving style that cab drivers share in every city. How can this be? Aren’t these professional drivers? Wouldn’t you expect them to be great drivers since they drive so many kms every day? But when you think about it, they are good at what they practice – bad driving!

So what would it take for these nausea making experts to become expert drivers? First, they would need to have the “to be” goal of being a smooth, professional and efficient driver. Second, they would need a clear vision of seeing themselves drive this way. Third, they would need to identify the exact behaviors necessary to complete this vision. Finally, they would need to practice these skills diligently. Imagine how happy we all would be if this were to happen.

Even more important, what are the things you really want to improve to help you become a Sustainable High Performer? Now you know how, so get practicing.

By Scott Peltin,  Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Building the Right Foundation for Success: Sustainability

Every once in a while I hear a CEO or team leader make a comment that sounds something like this: “My team is really burned out, they are pushing hard trying to do more with less. I really wish I could take them through the TIGNUM program so they could learn new strategies for sustainable high performance. I wish I could stop their speed train for the 2 days so they could recharge and see how important they are to me and the business. Unfortunately, I have to make my numbers this quarter or else, so I can’t take the time or spend the money on the team and their Sustainable High Performance right now. Maybe next quarter.”

I can totally appreciate the pressures of business, especially in these tough times. But I have to be brutally honest (a quality I’m not good at hiding). Does it make sense to drive your car and then put oil in it? Does it make sense to play all your soccer games and then go back and have preseason practice? Does it make sense to race a top Formula One race car on old bald warn out tires? Can you imagine if Tiger Woods would not have invested in reinventing his swing 5 times over his career? We wouldn’t have been blessed with his 14th Masters at the US Open – a win that will forever live in the record books as one of the best. In fact, he may have never won a second masters. In Good to Great, Jim Collins, talked about getting the right people on the bus (a morphism for team). I think that’s only half the battle. You have to get the right people on the bus and then you need to make sure they have the energy, vitality, capacity, and health to get you to where you need to go.

At TIGNUM we say over and over again that our client’s performance (and their company’s performance) is built on the foundation of personal energy and performance. And this is held together by each member’s mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery habits. Can you imagine building a house on soft dirt and then saying you will come back later and put in the foundation when you have more time and maybe  more money? In my opinion you can wait till next quarter, or next year, or in your next job, to get your team the necessary mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery strategies they need – but you would have paid many times over for waiting.

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Interesting Al Gore Presentation

Yesterday I watched the TedTalk presentation by Al Gore where he shares his insights into 2 years of his climate change campaign.  At the beginning he talked about human behavior and how we all know from a factual point of view how important this topic is, yet in terms of daily action it moves down in the list of urgent matters. I saw some analogy of this issue with the topic we promote at TIGNUM. Everybody understands the importance and the impact of our work (remember: your energy, health,
capacity, vitality build the foundation of high performance)  but some companies (luckily not many) still see it as nice to have. Al Gore gave one answer on how to solve the issue: great leadership is needed- and this is true in producing an environment that is rich in Sustainable High Performers as well.

Here's the link to his TedTalk:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/243

by Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

No Excuses!

I’m traveling today, listening to my jet lag sound file, and I got to thinking- Boy the economy is really facing some hard times. Oil prices are up and the stock market is down and my clients are constantly telling me of the pressures they are facing to make their quarter numbers. Why is it that during these tough times many very smart leaders sacrifice their own well being to just get by?

They tell me they are too overwhelmed or too busy to follow their TIGNUM strategies. I ask them, you’re too busy to stay hydrated? You’re too busy to take the stairs? You’re too busy to prepare properly for the key events of your day? You’re too busy to stop and take a 1-minute breathing or stretch break?

For those of you who have been through the TIGNUM program you know exactly what I’m thinking – That’s a nice story you keep telling yourself and hopefully there is some benefit to you telling it but remember YOU are choosing the habits you are living. The truth is that it doesn’t take more time to practice Sustainable High Performer habits – it just takes awareness, choice and action.

Think Different today – Think Sustainability!

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Strategies that pay off - an IBM case

Today I had a great coaching call with one of my clients from IBM, Michelle Unger (Vice President of Information Management IOT). She just came off of a killer week and a great example of high performance. Michelle just organized the largest ever IBM Information on Demand conference in Europe. As usual, she was probably met with skepticism and doubt about the investment of time and money from IBM. Great accomplishments are often met with great resistance. This was a conference to share the passion of IBM their information on demand platform and products.

Michelle was gleaming about how well the event went. (You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5cJYn1GHeY). Most of all she was gleaming about how she used the TIGNUM Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery strategies to make her peak performance a choice rather than leaving it to chance. She stayed hydrated, focused on her thoughts and controlled the controllable. She saw every challenge as a great opportunity to excel and as we always discuss she saw that Champions take Chances, and Pressure is a Privilege (one of my favorite Billy Jean King sayings). Michelle did some breathing techniques and as you can imagine, sprinted to put out lots of event fires. Even better, at the end – she took a few moments to celebrate her accomplishment and replay all the things she (and her team) did well.

We often use athletic experiences to make our strategies more tangible, but this is a great business example. Most important it will certainly lead to IBM profitability, happy customers, and a greater likelihood of other Sustainable High Performers emerging, after the great example Michelle gave.

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

The Dip

Over the weekend I read a little book called "The Dip" by Seth Godin. It's a pretty quick and fun read. It describes how every new project starts out exciting and fun but after a while it gets harder, less fun and you fall into a dip.  He goes on further, in Tignum language, to describe a mindset of how a Sustainable High Performer should approach this dip.  Successful people don't just ride out the dip and they don't just buckle down and survive it.  Instead they see it as an opportunity and they lean into the dip. The people who invest the time, energy and effort to power through the dip are the ones who become their best.  So next time you struggle with your nutrition, mindset, recovery or your movement- lean into your dip. The dip is where success happens.

By Jogi Rippel, Founder, CEO

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

What type of person do you want to be?

You determine your own legacy.

Books about performance training or leadership often discuss goals. Often, the acronym SMART is used to categorize the goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based. While SMART goals are a great way to create accountability, they are really focused on two types of goals: to-do goals and to-have goals. These types of goals can get you quickly motivated to accomplish something but they rarely sustain any passion.

Contrast these types of goals with those of people who are dying. People on their deathbeds who are asked what they wished they could have accomplished never say they wish they could have made more money, driven fancier cars, or lived in a mansion. Instead, they usually speak of deeper, more meaningful topics: they wish they had been kinder, more loving, more patient. These stories, though somewhat more anecdotal than the business-book approach, talk about goals that are much more powerful and meaningful than the common to-do or to-have goals. They are, instead, "to-be" goals.

When I think of an example of someone who has demonstrated and lived "to-be" goals, it would have to be Andre Agassi. Although 21 years ago he burst on to the professional tennis scene as a flashy, somewhat shallow, "image is everything" kid, what he grew into truly demonstrates the power of having "to be" goals. Recently, at his final match at this year's US Open, he received a 20-minute tear filled standing ovation for the way he had touched the New York fans over his 21 appearances and his championship-filled career. Then he proceeded to give a heart wrenching thank you address to the fans for the support they have given him in his toughest moments both professionally and personally. He spoke about how they had helped him learn that tennis was not an end but a means to giving something back to the world. With tears pouring down his face he shared his appreciation for being given the opportunity to entertain the great fans from all over the world by playing his heart out for them. Without saying so per se, he thanked them for their support in helping him reach some of his "to be" goals - to be humble, appreciative, reflective, enthusiastic, statesmanlike, and professional.

The he went into the locker room, where he received another standing ovation from all the other players. What a touching moment -- to be adored, accepted, and now honored by your peers in a sport where teamwork is non-existent and beating your opponent is on the top of every players "to do" goal list. Player after player talked about how Andre had not only changed the way tennis was played but changed the difference that tennis players could make in the world. They talked about what a great champion he was both on and off the court. Again with tears in his eyes, Andre thanked them for helping him achieve some of his "to be" goals - to be your best, to be a gracious winner and a classy loser, to be a role model, to be a diplomat, to be a gentleman.

Finally, Andre went to his final press conference at the US Open where he shared some of his most intimate memories and stories of his illustrious career for over 30 minutes. He didn't just share his highs he just as openly and honestly shared some of his lows. He shared his appreciation for the tough times he had to endure and for the way the press had pushed him to accomplish many of his "to be" goals" - to be authentic, to be honest, to be open, to be optimistic, to be articulate, to be studious and most of all to be a champion.

And then, as one member of the press described it, "a first in his lifetime," the entire pressroom gave Andre Agassi a standing ovation. This was not just a standing ovation for being a great tennis player; it was for being a great human being. Few other tennis players have done more for their community, more for underprivileged children, or more for the game of tennis than Andre Agassi. Sure, it would have been enough to have just rested on the laurels of winning eight grand slam tournaments, winning all four grand slams (a feat not accomplished by Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras or even Roger Federer), being in the top 10 for 16 of his 21 years as a professional, or being the number one player in the world. But Agassi had bigger goals. He wanted "to be" something special.

What type of person is it that you want to be? Do you want to be a Sustainable High Performer? How do you want to be remembered? What type of legacy will you leave? Will the world be a better place because you once lived in it?

by  Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Perfection is not a worthy goal

I often meet high performers that think that the only satisfaction they can ever celebrate and enjoy is being perfect. While I'm a huge advocate of never-ending improvement, I'm a firm believer that nothing destroys progress like perfectionism. I have found that behind most perfectionists is an underlying fear that is neither healthy nor productive.

When I work with clients who are in the process of their personal innovation, the ones who are most successful are the ones who successfully manage their fears. The biggest fear that must be overcome is the fear that they may not accomplish every goal they have set or they may fall short somewhere along their personal innovation map. Although this fear is normal, especially in the beginning, I quickly try to help them realize that every step towards their goal is an accomplishment.

I remember one client who rated her day on movement only a 5 on a scale of 10 because she only got to run 5 miles and she wanted to run 8 miles. Although on a perfect day (a fictional thing that doesn't exist) her goal may have been to run 8 miles, on that busy and chaotic day her accomplishment of running 5 miles was amazing. The problem is that with her old thinking she would have skipped the 5-mile run because it was short of her "perfect" goal. Once she overcame her fear of not being perfect, she learned to take each day in stride and to celebrate each step she made towards her personal innovation. Several months later, she ran her personal-best half marathon but even more important, she had achieved most of her goals in her mindset, nutrition, and recovery as well.

When you look at the most current research on burnout one common denominator is perfectionism. High performers with high goals and a perfectionist approach are the ones most likely to burn out. Similarly, Dr. Michael Sarno describes the patients most likely to develop tension myositis syndrome, a common cause of disabling back pain, as perfectionists. In his most recent book, The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mind Body Disorders, he describes the plethora of health problems that share perfectionist behavior as one of its roots.

Performance living is about setting meaningful goals, developing a reasonable and achievable plan, training smart rather than just hard, being consistent in doing simple things savagely well, and in celebrating and enjoying your progress towards your potential. Overcoming any fears you may have of not being perfect is the first step towards a new level of performance living and ultimately, in becoming a Sustainable High Performer.

by  Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance