I know many folk have enjoyed the last two week’s episodes of the Purple Patch podcast, both featuring Brad Stulberg, author of The Practice of Groundedness, as well as other performance focused books. If you enjoyed the podcasts, then don’t miss his article in the New York Times a few days ago. Brad and I have known each other for a long time, and greatly respect each other's work.  We both get to work with high performers in sport, work and life, and share a similar mindset around how to elicit sustained high performance. This week I want to share my key takeaways that are important for you – the Purple Patch athletes. There are three main points that every athlete should embrace and commit to, no matter chasing at the point end of the field, or seeking to integrate sport and fitness into life to simply amplify health.

• The power of patience.  I really like Brad’s tagline around this; ‘Be patient to get there faster’. I cannot overstate how powerful this becomes, if you are brave enough to take the long lens.  You know that I continually shout from the rooftops about embracing the journey, and that races and events should never be considered as pass-fail endeavors?  Well, this is what I am talking about. The vast majority of injuries, disappointments and performance frustrations emerge from athletes trying to force things too quickly.  Every session becomes murky in focus, recovery and sleep get skipped, and many chase race weight through calorie restriction.  If you chase performance predictability, then begin gradually and build up.  It is easier to add instead of trim, and little victories build into great success.
• Repeated good makes great.  I think this is a really important point that many coaches and athletes don’t understand. So often, each individual training session is entered with the hope and aspiration of having a breakthrough. More than last week, chase greater power, feel invincible.  This isn’t how training, or life, actually works. Those who end up with magical and stunning performances don’t experience consistent magical and stunning training.  They get good at weaving repeated ‘pretty good to good’ training. Not better than last week, but effective and well executed sessions. Layer these together over weeks and months, and the opportunity to sparkle becomes a reality. Be brave enough to chase good, not great.  Do it repeatedly and before you know if you emerge as ready for your own brand of greatness.
• Don’t go alone. This is potent. Lean in. Across all levels of athlete, with wide-reaching goals, the consistently successful tend to have the support and accountability of community and belonging. A performance journey is never easy, and it shouldn’t be. It requires persistence, toughness and grit. But it is much easier if you have a sense of belonging and support, and don’t feel like it is just you going on the journey. A big part of the reason we built out video based coaching was to ensure that Purple Patch athletes receive real coaching and tutorials on form and execution, but an additional reason was to create a shared language and hub of sharing. When I add an interval, call something a silly name and ramble on about some story, it is because fun is important while we work hard.  Equally, it creates a shared experience from which we can laugh, make fun of me, or even moan. Suffer together and work together, and the results amplify.

I encourage you to listen to both episodes if you haven’t had a chance yet.  If you enjoy, please share with friends and on your social channel.  And oi!  All you executive folk, get it up on your linkedIn.  Your associates and employees will benefit from it!  Thank you.

No easy way folks,  No easy way.

Cheers,

Matt