New Book: Triathlete EQ

Heather Gollnick, 5-Time Ironman Champion and winner of over 200 multi-sport events, and Dr. Izzy Justice, a sports neuropsychologist, proudly announce the release of their new book: TRIATHLETE EQ – A GUIDE FOR EMOTIONAL ENDURANCE. The central premise of the book is that endurance sports are as much a test of an athlete’s emotional endurance skills as they are a test of their physical ability skills.

Chrissie Wellington, 4-Time World Champion, endorsed the book as “unique and much needed … for elite and novice athletes…” The book is rooted in neuroscience, has practical exercises and tips, and has a workbook format that allows readers to build their own customized mental strategies to incorporate into training and racing. USAT and Ironman Hall of Famer Bob Bobbitt has written the forward. To read other reviews, an excerpt of the book or to purchase it, please visit www.triathleteq.com. As Olympian and 70.3 World Champion, Andy Potts, noted, “…this book will help you perform better.”

Increasing Your Probability of Success

Take a look at the graph below summarizing the findings of a study by Dr. Gail Matthews.

I posted this last year and it is still relevant this year. This week, ask yourself, which group you belong to with the goals you have already set for 2013. What can you do to move into Group 5 and increase your success rate of achieving those goals?

Motivation–Don’t Rely On It

This time of year, the gym I go to is filled to capacity. It happens every year and somewhere around late February or early March, the “new-year crowd,” as we affectionately call them, disappears again. This is a time of year when motivation is high as goals are set for both the personal and professional year ahead.

Who are your benchmarks?

I have a young son, Hunter, and a young daughter, Lexi. They are very healthy, and other than acting their age, both are great kids. This weekend, I applauded my son for a good behavior he exhibited. His response surprised me – he asked, ”Did I do better than Lexi?”  I was surprised that he could not take a compliment, and even worse, his sense of accomplishment was based on how someone else did.

Try Setting Different Goals

As some of you may know, I work with several professional athletes. One of them is a professional golfer and last week, I spoke with his swing instructor.  He talked about how hard the golfer had been working with him on his swing, the “technique” of the game. I played 9 holes with the golfer, mostly to assess where his “emotional intelligence” was (i.e., how he handled adversity on the golf course).

Biography Leads to Biology

I was in Yoga class this past weekend and overhead this phrase, “biography leads to biology.” It struck a chord with me and many of the discussions I’ve shared.  

Best Inspirational Video of 2009

If you need some extra motivation in order to prepare your resolutions, check out this video. It has gotten nearly 400,000 hits on YouTube. Key themes are similar to others discussed on this blog, including stop being a victim, have the courage to take risks, and believe in yourself.

No More IDPs

So how much fun do you have with your IDPs or ADPs (Individual or Annual Development Plans)? You know, the ones you have to fill out, schedule time with your boss, and then review. Most people report that these sessions are either very non-chalantly orchestrated or emotionally draining for both sides as development areas begin to be discussed and skeletons from months ago surface. Let me propose a solution – get rid of them.

Those Resolutions!

Welcome to my first blog of 2009. On a weekly basis, I will share and discuss my perspective on professional development here.

The beginning of a new year is typically the time when most of us make some resolutions –  both personal and professional ones. I read once that people who set goals are 60% more successful than those who don’t – and personally, I am an advocate of setting goals. But I’d like to propose some changes to the traditional way of setting goals.

Traditionally, working professionals set goals once a year – whether it is formally or informally, review these goals with their managers, and then perhaps do a mid-year check on those goals. While this method may work some of the time, it simply tends to fails us most of the time. We spend the lion’s share of the performance review going over all the reasons why the goals were not met and then to top it of, we even put together a development plan that accommodates these excuses! In 2009, consider incorporating the following in order to buck this trend:

 

1. Continue to set annual goals, but use the popular SMART acronym to make sure the goals themselves are actually achievable. There needs to be a non-debatable consensus on whether the goal was met or not and that starts by setting the right goals.
2. Think of the year as a series of milestones and those milestones should be much more frequent – I recommend two types of milestones.
   • Every Month – break the annual goals into bite size chunks of 2 months – the cumulative sum of these milestones should match the annual goal
   • Every Week – break the monthly goals into even smaller chunks of weekly activity that directly supports that goal.
3. Finally, find a buddy (peer) at work with whom you can share the monthly and weekly goals…very similar to having a workout partner at the gym. Share the goals with each other and push each other to achieving them since the ‘formal’ meeting with your manager is … well … formal.

I wish you all a great 2009 – and wish you success in establishing, tracking, and achieving your goals. One of my goals this year is to write a weekly blog (note that I used the SMART acronym) and to generate stimulating dialogue regarding the change (from traditional ways) that is already in motion for developing talent in the workplace.