Performance improvement dead ahead…

“By the time friday arrived I was fried, out of energy, done,” my client told me this morning. I asked him to tell me more and to get to the root. He recounted his mistakes, his demanding client, and his anxiety around letting somebody down. He told me that he couldn’t let it go. He told me this is what makes him so effective and what drains him too.

He’s obsessive.

Nearly all high performers are. Obsessive, that is.

Next he practiced getting to the root. I asked him to write out why he loses energy when he makes a mistake. He wrote and we talked. I asked him to describe the white car in the parking lot. He saw this object with crystal clarity. When I asked him to look again at the root reasons for his anxiety, he couldn’t describe much but he could make out a little bit more of its shape. The picture was still fuzzy but it was coming into focus. I asked him to write some more about his root. He told me he felt like an idiot. I told him to not feel that way. All humans see others problems with crystal clarity just like he sees the car. We all struggle with seeing ourselves. He seemed to exhale and began to write some more.

I gave him a couple hints by having him read a few of my rants. His vision improved. He began to see that the root of his problem is the root of so many problems that plague us humans. His worldview needed some correction. He holds himself to a high bar. No problem. He obsesses when he makes a mistake. No problem. He can’t seem to forgive himself when he messes up and worries about what others think.

Problem.

As he wrote about how he’s going to learn from this correction and remind himself to learn not loathe, I noticed a crease forming on my face. He noticed it too and made some comment like he could tell how much I love this. I smiled and told him that he’s building his “second nature,” and before long he will self diagnosing and self correcting using the exact tools and techniques that he’s learning from me.

My client is a young stud. He is learning how to turn his problems into his learning. He is learning how to challenge himself to get to the root. He is learning how to think strategically about himself and see himself as clearly as he sees the white car. He is correcting his worldview.

Problem solved.

Performance improvement dead ahead…