A sustainable approach to performance
Like most of my readers, you probably share an interest in human performance. For some people, this interest is based on a singular desire for performance enhancement. Still, I recognise that, for many of us, we are really looking for ways to meet the demands of our increasingly complex lives. We want to succeed professionally, without compromising personally. We also know we need to sleep more, eat better, and perhaps we think we should be exercising harder, but what should you prioritise?
Through my content, keynotes and workshops, I aim to make the science of human performance accessible and practical. I’ll also bust some of the myths related to human performance and equip you with confidence and clarity about the actions you can take to perform at your best, with less stress.
Learning from high-performance sport
My journey into the world of human performance began in the early 2000s when I moved to France to pursue my dream of becoming a professional cyclist. Early on, it became clear that I wasn’t the most talented athlete, but I began to read and apply the latest research to make the most of my limited potential.
While my cycling career didn’t reach the heights that I hoped, I had the opportunity to race full-time for several seasons, and my passion for measuring and improving human performance was established.
If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it
I returned to the UK to study Sports Science at Loughborough University, and eventually set up my own coaching business. I worked with a range of endurance athletes from amateur to professional level. Still, the pivotal moment in my career occurred while I was working with a group of enthusiastic cyclists, who were also high-performing executives.
I observed that my client’s working lives had a significant impact on their physical performance. However, in contrast to their cycling training, where I had an array of tools available to quantify their workload, I didn’t have any tools to measure their working life and quantify the load associated with their professions.
Researching knowledge work as a cognitive endurance activity
I became fascinated with the workplace and began to apply tools and frameworks from the world of sports science to try to understand and quantify working life. I was determined to learn more about what was making their work so demanding, and how we might be able to make working life more sustainable.
As I measured a wide range of variables, from sleep and stress to work-life conflict and cognitive performance, I had a revelation. I realised that I could conceptualise knowledge work – work where we ‘think for a living’ – as a cognitive endurance activity.
Equipping clients to perform at their best, sustainably
This revelation inspires my work and research to this day which includes consulting and speaking engagements for some of the most demanding individuals and organisations, ranging from top-ranked sports teams to Fortune 500 companies.
You can start learning how to perform at your best, today
Imagine yourself becoming inspired and equipped, with a clear sense of what you need to prioritise to reach your potential.
