Peak Performance and Avoiding Burnout

William B. Cole Consultants, Silicon Valley, California

Many competitive corporations today are empowering their employees with high-performance work skills. In
a fast-paced and ever-changing workplace, companies need to avoid employee burnout and generate peak
levels of performance. To reverse declining levels of performance, it is necessary to show individuals how to
effectively combat stress and rise above daily challenges. Worker burnout is a common problem due to today’s
increasingly high stress environment; burnout is being tired of one’s work. Its symptoms are low energy, a
sense of isolation, low satisfaction, and a feeling of helplessness to change one’s condition. Top athletes, elite
military personnel, and high-level executives have unique skills that enable them to avoid burnout and rise to
the top of their professions. These skills are learnable and raise personal and organizational performance.

Psychology only studied sick people for the first hundred years of its history. However, for the last thirty years,
psychology has also been studying the healthiest individuals. Through the combined research efforts of sports
psychology, military training, and extensive studies of top achievers in all professions, we have begun to learn
from the fittest individuals exactly what makes them motivated to achieve and how they achieve. We have
learned that peak performers learn and utilize three critical areas of functioning in high-stress environments:
First, self-awareness, which is the foundation of all change. The peak performer examines current practices
around stress control and reflects on their efficacy. Next, self-renewal, the conscious, ongoing effort to
regenerate oneself, which is necessary for combating regular stressors. Finally, self-management, when the
peak performer formulates strategies for dealing with demands of work and life. These are the key
differentiators that make peak performers stand out from individuals who give in to life's challenges.

Peak performers use five fundamental peak performance proficiencies in their three critical areas of
functioning: 1) Awareness of the self in all domains- behaviorally, affectively, somatically, inter-personally
and cognitively. 2) Control of effort- where the performer learns to master energy and muscle tension levels.
3) Visualization- for mental practice and feedback purposes. 4) Cognitive skills- for strategic planning,
motivation and attitude control. 5) Self-programming- for preparation before any situation the peak
performer encounters. These five fundamental peak performance proficiencies are master skills that allow the
performer to have consistent performance at peak levels.

Finally, a prerequisite for peak performance is a special mental and emotional state called flow, which is
different from ordinary relaxed states. In flow, the performer enjoys effortless, focused, relaxed, automatic,
and confident existence. There is little anxiety, energy is abundant with an optimistic outlook, mental focus is
sharp and intense, the individual feels in control, physical relaxation is evident, and there is a feeling of calm
inside the performer. Flow, also known as the zone of optimal functioning (ZOF) or ideal performance state
(IPS), focuses one completely on the process and all sense of time can be lost. One performs at or near capacity,
with deep involvement and with full enjoyment. Although flow can occur in any endeavor such as sports, the
military, or business, it is most likely to occur when the task is right at the individual's limit of capabilities.
The flow state activates when pushing one’s limits. However, pushing too far beyond one’s limits creates
anxiety so there needs to be equilibrium. Conversely, boredom sets in when a task is too far below one’s
capabilities.

In conclusion, research from performance psychology shows that the world’s top performers in all professions
practice self-awareness, self-renewal, and self-management. They use stress to get into a state of flow that
pushes them to peak performance. One can avoid burnout and achieve peak performance by learning from
peak performers in various fields and by putting their special skills into daily practice.
Peak Performance and Avoiding Burnout

1. What aspects of your job can put you in danger of burning out?

2. What can you do to improve the work conditions that reduce your motivation?

3. What can you do for self-renewal?