5 Steps to maintaining peak performance - Learning from champions

One of the most distinguishing qualities that differentiate champions from the rest is not only the qualities that get them to the top but equally important are the qualities that keep them there for extended periods of time.

It takes immense commitment, discipline, and a focus to keep the constant flow of progress in your area of expertise. It takes courage to keep stretching your ability and taking risks when the pressure is on to make your mark at crunch time. And it takes ‘grit’ when mistakes happen and preconceived plans do not always unfold accordingly.

The research on champions and goal-achievement seems to be more focused on what constitutes achieving goals and often overlooks what it takes to maintain consistent, high levels of performance so that you can stay at the highest levels of your game in the long term. So what are these secrets that champions utilize to maintain consistent peak performance for extended periods?

One of my clients just won one of the biggest competition’s in her sport in South Africa. She has been at the top of her sport for more than 15 years. Of course, she has not stayed no. 1 in S.A for this whole period, however, she has maintained top 10 status for most of this time. This client portrays the qualities and follows the process that many a great sportsmen and women do, which support them in maintaining consistent peak performance and so ‘the top of their game’ status. The qualities that she portrayed a few months before this big competition are presented below. Strangely, if not conveniently, they all begin with the letter “A”.

The 5 “A’s” Of Champions That Maintain Their Peak Performance

1. 1. Access support
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   Despite the fact that this particular sportswoman is our South African Olympic Coach, achieved international acclaim, and she has maintained her top 10 status for a long time, gaining support from an external, neutral person, her mental coach, is simply part of her training. If you don’t have a mental coach, sharing with your technical coach honestly, whom you trust, can be just as beneficial.
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5. 2. Acknowledge her vulnerability
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7. She laid her cards of doubt and the burden of the expectations she feels from others, as well as herself on the table. She also shared her frustration and irritation with herself regarding how after all this time; she still at times, experiences the struggles of what it takes to fortify your mindset prior to competition.
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10. 3. Awareness
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    She presented easily the negative mental and physical feelings that had been culminating within her, which she knew needed to be worked through. The sentence that had assisted in her self-awareness from previous sessions was to keep a question at the back of her mind when her mental toughness mindset goes astray. This question is, “What is happening right now?” This question amplifies her awareness of both her mind and body, facilitating the process of re-centring.
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14. 4. Adjustable
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16. She admitted that the mental tools that had worked in the past were not continuing to fortify her. She was ready to adjust her old, tried and tested tools in order for her to continue growing as an athlete and person. She was ready to collaborate on new tools, no matter how unpleasant it felt to face her mental weaknesses, yet again!
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19. 5. Action-orientated
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21. After the collaboration of fresh custom-fit tools, this former South African Champion returned to training armoured with a new arsenal. She began actioning her tools in training immediately. By the time competition day arrived, she entered the arena with an even deeper level of mental toughness than ever before. Her new arsenal of tools was implemented automatically assisting her to win the competition and returning to the No. 1 in South Africa Champion status.
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The greats in their profession, be it sport or any other aspect of life, have learned the art of maintaining high-level performance. This learning has not come from their successes, but from their dips and bumps on their road of striving for the top of their game. I have been fortunate enough to get inside the minds of some world-class athletes and business people, and it certainly is not who they are that makes them different from you and I. It is, however, what they practise in their minds that transform their ordinariness into extra-ordinariness. The 5 A’s is a practice that serves consistency of ‘peak performance’, not only in their sport but also in their lives.

Toni Gaddie is a clinical psychologist that specialises in champions, and in particular, sports champions. Based on her experience as an internationally ranked professional tennis player, Toni has dedicated her life to enabling sports champions to achieve top rankings in their particular sport. Toni has participated twice in the World Economic Forum in Davos where she shared her approach with world champions in many disciplines. She is the co-founder of The Champions Academy. Visit her profile for her contact details and more information.