You are unique and so is your Sustainable Human Performance

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Have you ever felt you were odd because what works for someone else doesn’t work for you? Whether it’s a nutritional strategy, an exercise regime, tips on leadership style, or managing your team, what works for one person often doesn't work for others.

We see people get super fit with one type of workout routine and falsely believe that if it worked for them, it must be good for everyone. Similarly, this same thing happens with personal growth, leadership, and so many other things. The problem is, we are all unique, and one size never fits all. Propagating this misconception even more, when we collect data on a group, the myth is that the average describes everyone in that group. As Harvard professor Todd Ross describes in his book The End of Average, not one person actually fits the average.

Many factors influence our individuality. First, we have our genetic makeup (our DNA coding) and our epigenetic factors (which genes are turned on). And then there are all of the things that impact our billions of experiences that make up our life (culture, family, society, social media, education, etc.).

In many ways, our individuality is both in and out of our control.

Performing at your best is about knowing your individual needs

Recently, I (Laura) was working with a female tennis player who was experiencing repeated low-grade injuries that were taking much longer to return to play than expected to heal. Her mood was constantly up and down, she found it difficult to make decisions in key moments, and she would report times of low energy, diminished motivation, and a sense of ‘brain fog’.

On the surface, the player appeared to be doing all the right things regarding her training and recovery balance. She appeared to be eating all the right foods and was naturally frustrated with the constant injuries stopping her from playing.

The performance team was perplexed, but through an insatiable curiosity, we kept trying to figure out why this was happening. What could be hindering recovery and causing all of these nagging injuries?

After turning over every stone, we noticed the player only having episodic menstrual cycles, which made us look at her hormone profile. Interestingly, two key hormones, estrogen and progesterone, were not at the levels they should be. Again we asked, "Why?" Knowing that what an athlete eats can influence their hormone profile, we assessed her energy expenditure and energy consumption. The findings were fascinating – she was at a 1,000-calorie deficit both during her training and competition days. In sports, this is known as Relative Energy Deficiency (RED-S). After addressing her energy balance through increasing how much and how often she ate, she started to feel more energized. As her hormone profile normalized, her mood, cognitive ability, motivation, and injury status all improved over time. Finally, she was experiencing the performance she deserved.

For us, there were many learnings. It took a lot of digging to understand her individual issues and needs, but, once again, we were reminded about just how different we all are. This experience reminded us of how crucial the sex hormones, male and female, are to our performance, both physically and cognitively. Interestingly, “normal” hormones levels can differ from person to person and differ within daily and monthly cycles.

Sex hormones are an aspect of human performance that is often overlooked, especially in the corporate world. Estrogen promotes the growth and repair of our neurons. Progesterone is involved in calming the nervous system and promoting deep sleep phases. Testosterone is key for motivation and energy, as well as bone health and muscle repair. Sometimes, when you are doing everything right (according to what is working for others), but you aren't feeling the energy and performance you want, it may be time to go deeper.

Take ownership of your performance by being curious

Is there a perfect audit to discover your own unique bio-individuality? Probably not, but increasing your awareness and asking more questions is a great way to help understand your own physiology. Looking at your performance from all angles can require experts from many different fields, but ultimately, what feels right to you is critical.

At TIGNUM, we are embarking on a journey to better understand the impact of sex hormones on the brain and physiology. Our experience shows the huge impact they have on our personal readiness, and ultimately, on our Sustainable Human Performance.

If you are feeling below optimal in any area of your performance, these questions can help initiate an individuality audit:

1. Is this my normal?

2. Are there patterns (daily, weekly, monthly, annual) to how I feel?

3. Why is this happening?

4. Where can I seek more information that will help me understand this?

By being curious about what works and doesn't work for you and taking ownership of your bio-individuality, you can positively impact your personal readiness.

So, is our individuality in our control? Yes, it is. Our habits play a big role in how that is expressed. Taking ownership is key if we are to fully step into our potential. Our hormones are a prime example of this. Over the coming months, we will continue to explore how our habits influence hormones in relation to our human performance. Stay tuned.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Penhaul // Chief Innovation Officer
As TIGNUM’s Chief Innovation Officer, Laura explores the latest science and innovation to support the performance of our clients. As a double world record holder from leading a team to row across the Pacific Ocean, combined with 15 years experience working in Olympic and Paralympic sports as a Physiotherapist, Laura is passionate about supporting teams and individuals to achieve their personal best.

ABOUT TIGNUM

TIGNUM is the major performance building block for business professionals, designed around a skill- and data-based approach that respects the individuality, focuses on the brain, evolves constantly, and creates lasting impact. Its international team comes from a wide range of fields, including human behavior, elite athletics, special forces, performance medicine, executive coaching, change consultants, and more.

Designing the perfect vacation

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It's that vacation time of the year again, but this year feels different. The accumulation of fatigue is a little higher, the world is a little more unstable, and the future looks a little scarier. For these reasons and more, this vacation may be one of your most important. So are you leaving it to chance, or are you approaching it with the level of intention, purposefulness, and creativity that it really needs?

Many of you will plan the length of your vacation, the location (the "Where"), and maybe even the things to do (the "What") on your vacation. But too often, many forget the “Why" of vacation. It sounds simple, but it happens all the time.

Intentionally design your vacation to meet your needs

Executives often ask us, "How long does a vacation need to be to recharge?" That depends on how you transition from work to vacation, whether you really recharge, and how you show up to your vacation. When recharging is your top priority, and you plan all your vacation events to align with that, you could physically recharge in as little as five days and emotionally recharge in as few as three days. Unfortunately, what happens too often is a person takes a week-long vacation, thinks their priority is physically recharging, then turns it into a fitness camp, exercising at a high intensity five days in a row. They return from vacation feeling sore, exhausted, and definitely not restored. Why did this happen? There was a disconnect between their actions and the "Why" of recharging. They acted as if the “Why" was to do a cram session sort of boot camp approach to try and get physically fit. We’re not saying exercising is a bad thing, but we are saying that if your "Why" is recharging, the way you exercise may be completely different.

Clarity about being on or off can make all the difference

Similarly, many executives don’t properly transition into and out of their vacation. Without these transitions, they bring their work self on vacation, and the brain thinks it is supposed to be fully on and problem-solving. When this happens, it can take 3-5 days just to get into vacation mode. Then, on the return from vacation, the same thing can happen where their vacation self shows up at work unprepared to engage. In this condition, they can be easily overwhelmed, and the vacation is quickly forgotten.

You can avoid this very common self-image trap by creating a transition where you first ask yourself (both coming in and coming off vacation), “Who do I need to be to maximize my effectiveness?” Also, spend a little time visualizing yourself as that person so your brain can believe that you can make it happen.

One common question that comes up in our coaching is whether to work or not work during vacation. The truth is: it really depends. If you would feel better checking in and dealing with any potentially critical items, you may want to adapt the 60-minute work sprint in the morning during vacation (followed by 23 hours of being fully off). If, on the other hand, you can’t turn your mind off once it gets turned on, it may be better to fully delegate your responsibilities and perform a thorough handoff at least one day before leaving. Then, you can remain fully off throughout your vacation. Both of these situations can work, but they must be designed. If you leave it to chance, you are leaving the door open for work creep and potentially creating a huge source of conflict with your family.

How to maximize the benefit of your time off

As you plan your vacations, here are a few questions to help you get what you want and need:

_Why am I taking this vacation? (Is it, for example, to recharge my batteries, reconnect with friends and or family, change the scenery, have fun, go somewhere I have never been, cross something off my bucket list, get back in shape, work on my golf game, finish my manuscript?)

_What does success look like on this vacation and when I return from vacation? Think about emotional connections, stimulation, regeneration, etc. Based on this, you may want to go through your TIGNUM intention setting questions for both your vacation and your return from vacation. How do I want to be perceived? What do I want those I'm with to know? How do I want them to feel?

_When I return from my vacation, how do I want to feel (e.g., relaxed, energized, pain-free, inspired, focused, passionate, creative, in love, reconnected to my family)?

_What do I need to do on this vacation to make this vision of success a reality?

If you approach your vacation with this intentionality, you can quickly see that questions like these answer themselves. Should I shut down 100% or stay connected? Should we do five big things or one big thing? Should we chill on the beach or explore a new city or nature park? There are infinite ways to design and execute a vacation, and they can all be right, or they can all be wrong - it depends on what it is you want.

Sustainable Human Performance doesn't happen by luck or chance; it happens by design. This is why you may want to design your next vacation to make it the best ever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Peltin // Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst

As the Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst of TIGNUM, Scott has coached many top CEOs, executives, professional athletes, and others to Rule Their Impact. Scott’s unique blend of his 25 years in the Fire Service, education, and coaching experience helps him combine the art and science of Sustainable High Impact to help TIGNUM clients be better, for longer, when it counts the most.

ABOUT TIGNUM

TIGNUM is the major performance building block for business professionals, designed around a skill- and data-based approach that respects the individuality, focuses on the brain, evolves constantly, and creates lasting impact. Its international team comes from a wide range of fields, including human behavior, elite athletics, special forces, performance medicine, executive coaching, change consultants, and more.

The Firefighter Mindset

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The world is undeniably getting more chaotic, less predictable, more uncertain, and more combustible. This leads to an increasing number of clients telling us that they spend more and more time firefighting. When we ask them how they prepare their mindset, approach their challenges, deal with the roller coaster of emotions, and recover from these high-stress engagements, we are often met with a blind stare and silence.

As we coach our clients to achieve their bold projects in this combustible environment, we have found that combining our TIGNUM Sustainable Human Performance tools and strategies with our combined 55+ years of experience in the fire service has been helpful. We want to share a few mental maps to help you engage more strategically, think more logically, find more calm in the storm, recover better, and learn more purposefully. Ultimately, you will be more prepared and strategic with your future firefights.

Increase your readiness for the unexpected

The first lesson you learn in the fire service is that your personal readiness is your greatest tool. Your team depends on you, the effectiveness of the operation depends on you, and, most importantly, those who call you for assistance on their worst day depend on you. You start every shift by checking your protective equipment, investing in your physical capabilities, gathering any learnings from the crew you’re replacing, and mentally transitioning to be ready for the most challenging call in your life that may come any minute.

What’s the first thing you do to start your day at work? Are you really ready?

When we get dispatched, we immediately begin a systematic and comprehensive problem analysis that analyzes the extent of the situation, the volatility to life (ours and those involved), the options to tackle the problem, and the resources needed. We call this our size up, where we rapidly analyze eight critical fire ground factors and communicate our assessment, strategy, and immediate actions. Everyone involved always knows exactly what everyone else is doing and why.

How do you size up your challenges? Do you have a logical, repeatable, effective, and efficient process for managing your fires?

Mental models for quick strategic decision-making

In the fire service, we use two mental models that are key to our success. First, we assess and account for all seven sides of the building (the inside, front, left side, back side, right side, above the fire, and below the fire). We know that what we don’t know may kill us, while at the same time, we know that time is critical because fire grows exponentially. This means we combine intelligence gathering with doing the work, but we are always clear about what we know and don’t know. Second, we analyze every fire with a risk management profile. Simply put, we will risk our lives a lot in a calculated manner to save savable lives. We will risk our lives a little in a calculated manner to save savable property. And, we will not risk our lives at all to save lives or property that are already lost.

What mental models do you apply to your bold projects and challenges to assess your risks and opportunities?

From the second we engage with a building on fire, we are tracking both the effectiveness of the workers and their well-being. We track how much air they have left in their breathing apparatus and their progress on their assigned tasks, and we constantly make sure they have the resources needed to achieve their tasks. As each crew exits the hazard zone, we immediately send them to a rehabilitation sector where they are assessed and monitored, hydrated and nourished, and where they can quickly recover and reset before they are reassigned to the firefight.

Do you oscillate in the middle of your biggest challenges, or do you just put your head down and attempt to be superhuman? Do you go alone, or do you check in with the team and help them come along?

At the onset of every incident, the first responding unit assumes and announces command. There are no leaderless emergencies, so it is always clear that there is accountability, a purposeful strategy, a practiced and polished communications system, and constant attention to everyone’s safety.

Do you always know who is in charge of your crisis? Do you have a set communication model? Do you have someone paying attention to everyone’s needs for recovery?

After-action reviews are crucial for increasing readiness

When an incident is over, it is announced that the fire is under control, there is an all-clear (there are no victims), there is a loss stopped (no more damage will occur), and all units are accounted for (everyone is safe and able to return home). At this time, an after-action critique occurs on the scene, and all learnings are captured. We go to each unit and have them tell us what actions they took, what they did well, and what they could have done better. When the units are released, they are ready for the next emergency, and everyone is smarter.

How do you announce when your bold project or crisis is completed? Do you always do an after-action review?

With the right mindset, fighting your fires will no longer be full of chaos, reactivity, high stress, and avoidance. You will find yourself being able to approach your problems with the calmness, proactiveness, strategic thinking, and professionalism as a firefighter. At TIGNUM, we make people with extreme jobs stronger. This starts by developing your mindset skills to take on your boldest projects. While the work is important, nothing is more important and more foundational than your and your team’s Personal Readiness.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Scott Peltin // Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst

As the Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst of TIGNUM, Scott has coached many top CEOs, executives, professional athletes, and others to Rule Their Impact. Scott’s unique blend of his 25 years in the Fire Service, education, and coaching experience helps him combine the art and science of Sustainable High Performance to help TIGNUM clients be better, for longer, when it counts the most.

Jeff Case // Senior Performance Specialist

Jeff is a Performance Specialist for TIGNUM. He is responsible for delivering and supporting TIGNUM programs. His role includes coaching top senior executives, as well as delivering TIGNUM programs around the globe. Jeff's professional background includes 35 years in the Fire Service with over 18 years at the Executive Chief Officer level, providing strategic level leadership and advancement of the Fire Service as a national presenter and innovator.

ABOUT TIGNUM

TIGNUM is the major performance building block for business professionals, designed around a skill- and data-based approach that respects the individuality, focuses on the brain, evolves constantly, and creates lasting impact. Its international team comes from a wide range of fields, including human behavior, elite athletics, special forces, performance medicine, executive coaching, change consultants, and more.

The Promise and Pitfalls of AI in Human Performance Support

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Laura Penhaul and Chris Males, Performance Specialists, TIGNUM

With the new AI modalities it will become easier for clients to get the information on human performance that they are looking for. But will that lead them to the insight they need?

ABOUT TIGNUM THOUGHTCAST

TIGNUM ThoughtCast is a series of short interviews in which TIGNUM co-founder Scott Peltin sits down with friends, clients, and human performance experts to explore the application of Sustainable Human Performance.

Symptoms or causes- get to the root of human performance in business

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Jogi Rippel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Scott Peltin, Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst, TIGNUM

How can companies expect better outcomes if they never address the root causes of low performance? In this conversation, TIGNUM founders Scott Peltin and Jogi Rippel dissect common misconceptions about human performance in the corporate world. Sharing stories, data, and their expertise, they leave no doubt about what it takes to create actual performance gains: make people stronger.

ABOUT TIGNUM THOUGHTCAST

TIGNUM ThoughtCast is a series of short interviews in which TIGNUM co-founder Scott Peltin sits down with friends, clients, and human performance experts to explore the application of Sustainable Human Performance.