Increase Performance AND Fulfillment at the Same Time: INNER EXCELLENCE by Jim Murphy

I recently read Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy. Jim Murphy had one question on his mind when he started this book. How can an Olympic athlete train for 4 years for an event that lasts less than a minute and still have peace and confidence in that moment? The answer turned out to be much more than the key to a great performance. It became life. The Olympians who are serene in the seconds that change the course of their lives are chasing something bigger than a podium finish. They're chasing self-mastery and peak performance. Murphy merges these two pursuits into one mission he calls Inner Excellence. Top Olympians and high performers use training and competition to inch closer to Inner Excellence so that by the time their big event comes, they know that regardless of the outcome, they'll walk away with the skills to live life to the fullest. That's because the pursuit of Inner Excellence leads to more self-belief, focus, and freedom. With more self-belief, you see a world of possibilities. With more focus, you're routinely absorbed in the present moment. With a greater sense of freedom, you feel no need to impress others or achieve a specific result. Freedom is key because when you're obsessed with a specific result, like hitting a salary number, closing a deal, or winning gold in your sport, you set yourself up for disappointment. Getting the result you wanted is like getting a lollipop. Sweet for a moment, gone just as fast. Achieving Inner Excellence is like taking ownership of an entire candy shop. Each day is full of sweet surprises and those surprises last until the day you die. Let's trade the lollipop for the candy shop and seek Inner Excellence with a daily rise in self-belief, focus, and freedom. Inner Excellence Quest number one, develop incredible self-belief. In 1992, Pepperdine baseball coach Andy Lopez had a problem. None of his players could imagine themselves competing at the College World Series, let alone winning it. So, he started playing footage of last year's College World Series on a continuous loop in the locker room. His players watched the highlights before and after every practice and every game and started to see themselves doing something similar. 5 months later, Pepperdine were College World Series champions. You will never outperform your beliefs. You can have talent and perfect preparation, but self-destruct the moment a situation exceeds your self-belief. Beliefs are the ceiling on your performance. Raise your ceiling by continually seeing yourself do far more than what you're capable of right now. Every morning, close your eyes and spend 30 seconds picturing yourself performing a skill you want to master, like public speaking, creating content, or performing in your sport. See yourself performing the skill how you usually perform. Then, gradually ramp up your performance until you're performing past your comfort zone and on a higher level. When the time comes to perform that skill during the day, model someone who clearly has high belief in that skill. If you're working on your three-point shot, imagine you're Steph Curry. What would he believe about himself every time he took a three-point shot? What would he think to himself after missing two shots in a row? As you raise your belief, reality will push back and your performance won't match your beliefs. You'll miss several shots in a row. You'll lose a big deal. Or choke when it matters most. This is where most people get it wrong. They either pretend the failures aren't happening or they get personal and think, "I'm terrible under pressure. " Or, "I'm just not a good shooter. " And let the setback rewrite who they are. Do neither. Instead, tell the truth, but keep it in the past tense and add one small way you're getting better or could get better. Think, "I missed a few shots yesterday, but my form is improving. " Or, "I blanked during my presentation, but next time I could pause and take a breath after my opening line. " Acknowledge the gap, but keep hope alive. Inner Excellence Quest number two, achieve absolute focus. Stewart Cink showed up to the 2009 British Open with terrible form and zero expectations. He'd missed the cut his previous tournament and hadn't broken par all week. In the first round of the British Open, he swung and missed the ball completely. But the error had little effect on him. He was just grateful to be playing a sport he loved at a venue he loved. That gratitude had a profound effect on his game. He was able to lock into every shot and be completely present. 3 days later, he found himself in a playoff with legendary golfer Tom Watson. Instead of being paralyzed by the moment and feeling pressure to win, he was grateful to watch Watson up close and play alongside him. Cink went on to win the British Open that afternoon. Gratitude may sound soft, but it's powerful. Gratitude brings an axe to past demons and future anxieties.

All that remains is the present moment. Before your next big moment, feel intense gratitude for being where you are and being able to do what you do. Let gratitude take over your body as you slip into the present moment. Now, stay in the present moment by eliminating any trace of hurry. Hurry is a signal that something has a grip on your mind, pulling you forward and stressing you out. Picture the person in the elevator frantically hitting the close door button to save 2 seconds. Do they feel present or is their mind already somewhere else? Remove hurry by imagining everything you're doing in slow motion. Every action becomes more deliberate. Your attention merges with your movements and you're fully immersed in the present. Inner Excellence Quest number three, feel absolute freedom. The biggest obstacle to inner peace and peak performance is a preoccupation with what people think of you or whether you'll get what you want. In other words, it's self-centeredness. Murphy goes to great lengths explaining that self-centeredness is the root of all fear and the cause of so much choking in high-pressure situations. The antidote to performance fear and self-centeredness is a simple question. Who benefits from me performing well? Someone other than you will benefit from your ability to demonstrate excellence. A teammate, friend, child, or stranger will be inspired and excited to raise their own level of excellence. Therefore, before and during your next performance, make it your mission to display excellence so that the people around you choose to seek excellence and enjoy the fullness of life through peak performance. Your attachment to a result fades as you're no longer playing for yourself. You're playing for the love of the game and for the chance to inspire others. In the end, Jim Murphy says, "Inner Excellence is an entire lifestyle and training system designed to help you perform extraordinarily well, whether you're a professional athlete or everyday citizen, and be your true self so you can live with absolute fullness of life. " Pursue Inner Excellence with a daily increase in belief, focus, and freedom from results and opinions. Then, watch your performance and enjoyment of life skyrocket. That was the core message that I gathered from Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy. This book is full of incredible techniques that will raise your performance at work or in any competitive sport. I highly recommend it. If you would like a one-page PDF summary of the insights I gathered from this book, just click the link in the description below and I'll email it to you. If you're already signed up for the free Productivity Game newsletter, this PDF is in your inbox.