Sneak Peek
On TIGNUM’s B-LD KITCHEN Hub, our world-class Performance Specialists share their latest insights on human performance and discuss real-life experiences and best practices with industry leaders.
Here is a limited selection for you to explore:
You are unique and so is your Sustainable Human Performance
In many ways, our individuality is both in and out of our control. 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.
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:
Is this my normal?
Are there patterns (daily, weekly, monthly, annual) to how I feel?
Why is this happening?
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
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.
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.
Leveraging Hormonal Changes Across Life's Cycles to Sustain High Performance with Dr. Emma Ross
Dr. Emma Ross (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Well HQ) advocates a better understanding of how hormones impact our performance. In this episode, she shares how important it is for us to know and expertly navigate through our individual hormonal rhythms.
Dr. Emma Ross, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Well HQ
“The body literacy piece is so important in our mid-life as women because it’s critical for helping us understand what we can do; what works and what doesn’t.”
As a lifelong athlete, mother, and highly-respected sports scientist, Dr. Emma Ross has made it her mission to tackle the taboos that exist not only within sports, but business and society, around women’s health, menstrual cycles, mental health and the impact hormones have on our ability to perform at our best. In this conversation with Scott Peltin, Dr. Ross discusses:
How our hormones ebb and flow and how this affects our mental and physical performance at different phases of our hormone cycles
Why understanding our individual rhythms is key to creating an optimal performance state
Why breaking the taboos around the natural female life cycle is imperative to creating psychological safety and effective leadership environments
Bio-individual awareness is critical for every human. Have a listen to discover how you can manage your mindset, movement, nutrition, and recovery strategies during your unique phases to maximize your impact.
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.
On Oscillation
Our TIGNUM performance experts discuss the importance of integrating purposeful recovery breaks into our days and years. They share ideas on powerful micro-breaks and how even 30 seconds can change the game.
Leaders and executives do well to recognize the value of recovery- oscillation is a strategic must for high performance at work.
TIGNUM Performance Specialists Chris Males, Brian Wade, Jake Marx, and Scott Peltin
In this roundtable our TIGNUM performance experts discuss the importance of integrating purposeful recovery breaks into our days and years. They share ideas on powerful micro-breaks and how even 30 seconds can change the game. Leaders and executives do well to recognize the value of recovery. Oscillation is a strategic must for high performance at work.
Nobody takes a pit-stop at the end of a race, it happens in the race to be ready for whats coming next.
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.