Adventures of Lifemoves' Founder | Alfred Ball's Blog
Entrepreneur | Kinesiologist | Author | Presenter
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As we aim for our peak performance or being the best at something, many of us get wrapped up in comparing ourselves to others. But, when it comes down to race day or the day we are making an important presentation, we can only manage what is under our control.
This is a lesson I learned competing in Biathlon. Each competitor trains for months and then prepares in his own way on race day. Whether or not we end up in first, second or last really is not up to us. What we can do is go out and set ourselves up to do our personal best.
I clearly remember my strategy during the B.C. Winter Games in Comox, where I won two golds and one silver. It was to "race my own race." This was still about pushing myself and wanting to be the best, but the focus was more on my own performance. I knew that my training and pre-race preparation were both excellent, as was my confidence in my abilities.
During most of the race I saw a competitor a head of me, but not once did I decide that "I had to catch him." I could see that I was gradually reeling him in and eventually I passed him. I think that if I had switched my strategy, I would have exhausted myself trying to catch him instead of having my best race.
With Seek the Peak in July and the Grouse Mountain Run in September, I am aware of what my top physical condition was before I retired from Biathlon and what the top times are in my category. On race day, if I am fitter than I was when I competed in Biathlon and I reach my own performance goals of under 2 hours for Seek the Peak and 31:00 minutes for the BMO Grouse Mountain Run, I will have succeeded; placement is secondary.
Through years of various competitions including the Vancouver Marathon, and in my decade as a Kinesiologist, I have always defined my successes by asking, "Did I do everything I could? Was this my best performance?" Please leave a comment and let me know how you run your own race.
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Labels: biathlon, confidence, Events, Seek the Peak, Standards
Today I had to tell someone there would be a two-week wait for an assessment because her limited time choices were not available. In the past, instead of holding my ground and sticking to my booking schedule, which does have other openings, I would have extended my day into the evening just to accommodate her. She decided to think about the assessment further before committing to a time that was on her day off. As a service professional and entrepreneur, I am learning to be okay with, "Sold Out". As entrepreneurs we are in control of our own schedules and energy levels; this control is one reason I started my own business.
Health professionals have this deep desire to help everyone. Each time I speak with a potential new client, I feel empathy for their pain and feel their sense of urgency to reduce the amount of pain they are in and improve their functional capacity. However, what good am I to anyone if I myself am physically or mentally ill, or miserable and worn out?
I am still learning how to monitor my energy and the demands for my time. I have gone through cycles of being highly accommodating by booking clients during my own exercise times, as well as booking sessions into the late evening, just because I felt these clients "needed me," to regaining a sense of balance and happiness that best suits me, so I give my peak performance during each session.
Part of managing my schedule and energy has been being clear with what time of day I am best at activities that require creativity versus those requiring detail, mathematics or logic. I have also learned how many sessions I can handle in a row, day or week. This means being okay with being "Sold Out", telling people that I am booking for next week and keeping true to my own needs to maintain my physical, mental and emotional well being.
Being "Sold Out" or having a waiting list is something to be proud of, not something to mope about. It is a sign that you are doing something right, that you found a niche that needs to be filled and that you are in high demand. If you want to connect with and affect more people, try leveraging your time and expertise a little differently, such as hiring an assistant to pass on your knowledge to or write an e-book. Maybe you could teach a course/webinar or do group sessions. After all, there are only 24 hours in the day.
By looking at your schedule, booking time for yourself into each day and then placing everything else around you, you will be able to maintain your own standards, passion for your business and prevent burn-out. Be okay with Sold Out.
Labels: burn-out, Business Process Management, Entrepreneur, Growth, recovery, Relationships, Standards
"Who sits in front of you?" asked Dr. Edward Crispin, a colleague of my grandfather's and a family friend. I recently met Dr. Crispin, a family physician who shared some basic health care philosophies with me.
Dr Crispin's words made me think: Who are our clients, patients and customers? Are they really ours? When did they stop being people and how did they become "ours"? They are people with lives lived, with families, with stories to tell and with experiences to share. If we listen, we will learn from each other.
We are not here to close the deal, or make the sale. Payment is a way in which others express their gratitude for their education and for being taken care of in the health and fitness industry. Money is also used in exchange for goods and services of equal perceived value.
During my 10 years of being a health and fitness professional, I have always focused on taking care of others, whether they are clients, members or the staff I lead. I strongly believe that keeping focused on taking care of others and developing relationships with people have enabled me to become successful, both financially and professionally.
Recently two former clients who are sisters brought their aging mother in to see if I could help her sustain her independence and quality of life. Their love and caring for their mother is what touched me and I am honoured. In another instance, a client who I helped educate on health and fitness for nearly eight years and who is still maintaining this lifestyle, referred his friend to me.
Shift your thinking and get to know who sits in front of you. When you get to know them, your business will flourish. You will also learn as much from them as they will learn from you. This conversation re-energized me and will shift some of Lifemoves' metrics of success, as well as how I measure my own. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with Dr. Crispin.
Please share with us how will you make a positive difference in someone's life each day. How will you connect with them on a deep, personal level today? Who sits in front of you? Labels: Gratitude, Growth, Legacies, Recognition, Referrals, Relationships, Sales, Standards
All right. We are closing in on the middle of week 3 of my training for "Seek the Peak" on July 4, 2010. The journey thus far has not been easy. I am still in recovery from my Olympic experience and am integrating back into a more regular work schedule. Prior to the Olympics I was seeing clients six days a week, with little time to train or put into business development. This was meant to make up for the time I'd be away from clients during the two-week break for the Olympics. I also booked appointments from 10 AM to 4 PM on days between my shifts at Whistler Olympic Park. This schedule was wearing me out and making me less motivated to attend to clients, my needs, the needs of my family and the needs of my business. It also put Lifemoves on something similar to a simmer, where we were content do things "as is" because it was working. This was opposite of the standards I put forward in my head. A part of physical training that is often forgotten is regeneration. If you forget about recovery and taking breaks, you will end up burning out in business or over-training. Some of the symptoms are general malaise, lack of appetite and lack of motivation. Coming back on March 1, I felt that my time was in as high demand as it was in January. I had several new clients and not much time to get them integrated or to take care of our current clients. Getting into a depressive state is something I am highly aware of, so I know when to use strategies to turn those moods around. After the excitement and energy burn of the Olympics, along with working 6-7 days per week, I found that I felt general malaise, I was unmotivated, I was paying less attention to detail and was not delivering what I was capable of. This required a big shift in scheduling and my use of energy. I now think more in terms of energy management rather than time management and I incorporate regeneration strategies. I could feel myself slowly starting to slip into a possible depressive episode. I knew this had to change so, at the beginning of March, I set a goal of racing Seek the Peak in July. I altered my work schedule and took greater control of my sleep cycles. Part of what I discovered and am now paying close attention to, is how much energy I have and the maximum work loads I can handle before I need a break. I am in control of my schedule and my commitments. I can say no as easily as I can say yes. Moving forward from April, I am looking at the number of hours I work on a daily basis as well as my total during the week (In athletic training, this is called Total Volume). Carl Pederson, Physiotherapist, once said in a workshop to "incorporate recovery" every day; this includes physical, mental, emotional and nutritional recovery. I started the past few weeks with physical recovery, e.g., stretching, light cardio and getting the proper amount of sleep. Tuesdays and Thursdays are long, full days with clients, so I train with light cardio, such as walking and stretching. The other five days of training are more intense and every four weeks I take a recovery week with less volume and less intensity. Every eight weeks I am also adding a massage. This week, I am working on my nutritional recovery strategies which I will cover in another post. When considering emotional recovery, think about investing time in family and friends, reading a book or perhaps doing something spiritual. I am finding that doing something physical that I enjoy also connects me with my emotional recharging. After each bout of training, I feel invigorated, happy and proud that I accomplished one more training session. Remember, take time to add recovery to every day. Take breaks away from work, turn off your phone/Blackberry. Get off the grid for a little while. Have a nutritious, mindful snack. Manage and treat your body properly and it will perform at its peak. Labels: burn-out, recovery, regeneration, Seek the Peak
The Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics relight the fire and energy I had as an athlete competing in Biathlon. As an Anti-Doping Chaperone, I had the opportunity to be on the field of play, in athlete areas and surrounded by world-class athletes. This experience also reminded me of the sights, sounds and smells of competing in Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing. Ole Einer Bjoerndalen, a celebrated and highly successful Norwegian Biathlete who is now in his mid-thirties, even said he would compete in Sochi 2014 when he will be close to 40 years old. We have such amazing athletes who have either grown up with disabilities or have overcome the loss of a limb to cancer or a spinal cord injury, competing at world-class levels. No longer are age and disabilities limitations for accomplishing anything world-class, athletic or otherwise. To me, being an Olympian/Paralympian means being world-class, setting an example and inspiring others to follow. It also means finding ways around, through or over any obstacles in ethical, moral, legal and fair-play ways to reach your peak performance. As a former national athlete, these past several weeks of athletic celebration inspired me to get back to my roots of training and competition. I aim to find and create excellence to become outstanding in my business, my personal relationships and my health. This is not a single destination, but instead a journey with many steps. This means setting the new standards and adhering to everything I believe in, including myself, even when others don't or won't.
Remember, there will always be naysayers who will think you are not capable. I always have hope, create a plan and then take action. I remember last summer when I set a very high goal of knocking 17 minutes off my Grouse Grind time by my birthday. And that is exactly what I did. I know how fit I was in 1999. I know that I was able to complete a marathon in 4:08 in 2005. When I was on the BC Biathlon Team, I didn't have the confidence, but I had the talent to be on the National Team. I now have the confidence, talent and knowledge to accomplish my athletic goals this summer. I plan to complete the Grouse Grind Mountain Run in 30 minutes and the Seek the Peak Race (16 km mountain run from Ambleside Park in West Vancouver to the peak of Grouse Mountain at 4100 ft) in under 2 hours. The last things are training and smart work. I know this dedication to being the most fit I have ever been will translate to excellence in my business and my relationships. Seek the Peak is my personal and business theme for 2010. How are you Seeking the Peak? Labels: Entrepreneur, Excellence, olympics, Seek the Peak, Standards, volunteer
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