EQ Tapering is key to Performance

As some on you know I work with professional athletes. I have drawn parallels between athletic performance and workplace performance for many years. The former presents a microcosm in one event of how workplace professionals perform per quarter or year or whenever they are ‘measured’ for their performance against business goals. One athlete I am working with had a tournament that started on a Friday. From a neuropsychology perspective, I helped her understand that her tournament actually starts 24-48 hours prior to Friday. Those 1-2 days are crucial emotionally and intellectually. On those two days, and this is covered in my books, it it critical to (1) do activities that you enjoy and (2) avoid activities/people that can make you unhappy. This “EQ Taper” allows athletes to fill their “EQ Tank” given that when Friday comes along, and knowing the inherent nature of competition is one of anxiety as mistakes can be severely consequential, so that the brain has enough front-loaded positivity (dopamine) to make it more difficult to get it to make poor decisions and perform poorly.