Looking to level up? This will help

I often wonder whether or not I am performing at my highest level. Am I working at my peak or am I in the dreaded "comfort zone"? If so, how do I level up?

Don't get me wrong, The comfort zone is good enough for many things. I do not need to be the world's best formula 1 race car driver - I am an above-average driver I think, just like everyone else :) And that is good enough for me. Lewis Hamilton on the other hand...

My point is that you don't always want peak performance. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

For me, where I wonder about peak performance is on the bigger picture - my life overall. Am I doing my best work? Or am I just cruising? Am I developing my potential and improving or am I marking time?

In other words, where do I need to level up?

These questions have often fascinated (haunted?) me. The problem is, I did not know how to go about even thinking about the answers much less solving the problem. Until now...

After pondering this many times over many years, I have discovered 5 areas of consideration that help me break through the ceilings and level up. Therefore in this article, I want to  share them with you. Hope it helps

Competence

It is difficult to perform at your peak if you are poor at the task.

Thinking along the lines of how competent you are will often reveal areas where you can improve - either in your knowledge, your skills or your attitudes.

To level-up in competence, you must be willing to learn new skills as well as improve upon existing ones. It is so easy to get comfortable with "good enough". The challenge is, as Anders Ericsson points out in his book Peak, when we stop consciously seeking to improve, we unconsciously begin to deteriorate.

Think about the things that matter to you - your work, your health, your family... whatever it is you want to be better - and ask if there is a competence gap. Suss it out, and see how you can improve.

Confidence

A lot of us do not think about levelling up in our confidence. And it took me a while to realize the value of this virtue - yes it is a virtue.

You see, without confidence, we do not try. And when we do not try, we do not do. And without doing, there is no giving to the greater good.

That is why I consider confidence a virtue and why I think asking yourself where you are on the confidence scale is important.

Confidence is not about knowing it all or thinking you are better than other people. It is about acknowledging your value being bold enough to bring that value to the proverbial table.

Think about the skills, abilities, and even attributes (like kindness, compassion, insight, empathy, love etc) that you have but that you are not using in the things that matter to you.

Why aren't you using them?

Is it because you lack confidence? Then building up confidence will help you close this gap. It boils down to acknowledging your value and being courageous enough to share that value.

Speaking of courage, let us consider the next point

Courage

People are often intimidated by the word courage. I know I used to be. Growing up, courage was used to describe superheroes like Biblical Samson and Marvel's Superman or historical icons like Mahatma Gandhi.

Courage was not used often to describe "everyday" sort of people who stood up for things they believed in even if it seemed to be in little ways. Like speaking up for a friend or colleague in the office even if it meant risking blowback. Or taking a bold step to start a business or venture into a new career in hopes for a better future for them and their families...

These acts of courage did not make the front page of Time magazine, but they are courageous nonetheless.

Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you often because you believe it to be the right thing to do.

To level up often requires courage. The courage to do something new or to do something old differently. It takes courage to engage with change - to come out of established (and comfortable) patterns of behaviour, and to build new ones.

Think about the ways in which a lack of courage has kept you from doing your best work. Then ask, is there something you can do about it?

A Clear Conscience

Few things give us confidence and courage like a clear conscience. Conversely, an unclear conscience robs us of the inner strength we need to accomplish great things.

I am not here to preach to you. I am here to help you unlock the potential that is within you. To do that, it is important that your entire being align in the right direction so that you can harness the greatest amount of power. Otherwise, it will be like a car driving down a highway with the parking brakes on.

To tap the power of a clear conscience, it is useful to decide on your values, and then to use them to make your decisions. Above all, do right by yourself and your fellow man.

Having done that, you can live at peace with yourself - and nothing is worth the price of your peace.

Until the next article, be your best and do your best.