When I Am @ My Best

What got you to where you are will seldom if ever get you to where you want to go. There's a great book about it (What Got You Here Won't Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith) and I don't know about you but it's really frustrating sometimes to think about that. I just want to arrive some day. Is that so bad? 

Much has been written recently about the swimming rivalry between Lochte & Phelps. They are definitely in a world by themselves when it comes to the 200 & 400 IM's. Following the 400 IM at Olympic Trials last week, in one interview, Phelps (who came in second with the second fastest time in the world this year) was quoted: 

"I watched some things on the video yesterday and saw some weak points in my race that I thought I could fix."

I can assure you that Lochte did the same. It's the same with the elite athletes in every sport. What got them here won't get them where they want to be. If you think you've arrived you'll get passed by the guy in the next lane!

I'm reading The Next Level, by Scott Eblin. (Remember, Abebooks.com has used books often for just $1 plus $2-$4 shipping. That's where I go this one and it's brand new on the inside, no dust jacket, and slightly worn on some corners but who cares!) This is a book my coach, Brenda, assigned me. Here's the basic premise:

"The competence that propels leaders to the executive level can be both a blessing and a curse. There is a truth in executive coaching and leadership development that a strength when overused can become a weakness. It turns out that many new executives overuse and overrely on the technical competence that served them so well earlier in their careers. A theme that came up again and again in my interviews with successful executives is that moving to the next level requires the courage and confidence to let go of some of the things that brought you there. Peak performance in the uncharted terrain of the next level demands that you identify and rely on the characteristics that describe how you are at your best. Knowing what to do is important, but knowing how you are at your best and creating the conditions to perform from that state are more important." (p. xiii-xiv)

Perhaps there are better analogies but none for me right now. Having stood over the lane for Lochte, Phelps and Soni (Rebecca, a breaststroke specialist) in close succession during a morning prelims, I can tell you that the elite athlete has worked on each and every movement of their arms and legs. They have perfected the turns and the push off the wall, the angle of the body as well as knowing the number of strokes per lap. They know when they are at their best. If they want to go faster they'll have to do something different.

We've all heard the saying: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." Doing more of the same, doing it more often, doing it with more energy, doing it more each day so you're working longer hours - it won't bring different results. It will only bring frustration and burn-out.


In leadership it's about building a team, hiring people who know more than you do, making the goal clear and then getting out of the way. That's different when you're leading the team versus being part of the team. That's part of the next level.

We all have a barrier, a ceiling, a mountain to climb in order to get to the next place. A lesson The Next Level is teaching me is arriving is never going to happen if I want to get to the next level. Not only do I have to change, but as a Christ-follower I can change.

He's all about change - the old becomes new - the sinner becomes a saint. Change starts in the heart which is Jesus' workshop.

Isaiah 43:19 "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

God is in the business of making us new and therefore at our best. We'll never arrive until the day we meet the Lord, on that Last Day. Until then it's about finding where we are at our best and living there, refusing to apologize for weaknesses, living in our strengths. There's growth to be pursued. That's for a future post.