100% of Whatever You Have

I didn’t feel my best last week. I had gotten a lack of sleep, and my diet didn’t help either. To be honest, my sleep has been on a steady decline since the birth of my first child 5 ½ years ago. I’ve also reached the age where alcohol negatively impacts how I feel in ways that it never did 10 years ago. Additionally, I tore my ACL years ago and it’s had lingering effects on my body. Needless to say, I often don’t feel 100%, and sometimes I don’t feel anywhere close to it. So, what do I do? How do I respond to that feeling? I focus on giving 100% of whatever I have.

Some of my best coaching sessions and speaking gigs have come when I am not feeling 100%. It’s the truth. And while I certainly would prefer to get 8 strong hours of sleep and feel clear-headed every single day, the reality is something very different. That’s why focusing on giving whatever I have is so important. It frees me up to accept the fact that I am not 100% and, instead of focusing on perfection, I focus more on effort. When we are effort-focused during performance, it allows us to fall in love with the process and let go of distracting potential outcomes. I often find that my focus sharpens. I know that I need to be even more present because I am not performing on a full tank.

I am not suggesting that one should not prepare to be as close to 100% as they can. Prioritizing health gives us the best opportunity to succeed consistently. Certainly, it’s important. The science around sleep, exercise, and diet is profound. Yet, too often we justify a poor performance before we even start because we haven’t had the best of the above. We quit. Instead of focusing on what we have, we direct our attention to what we don’t, and it serves as the ultimate excuse. Here’s the other thing: It’s easy to perform well when we feel well. However, the best performers in the world know how to perform well when they don’t feel well.

Next time you aren’t feeling 100%, which will happen sooner than you hope, remind yourself to give 100% of whatever you have. You might be surprised by the outcome.