Seeking the apex of optimal performance

Written by Stuart Haden on April 22, 2020

This is the third posting in relation to The Art of Fear by Kristen Ulmer. I love the way she talks about the apex, far better than my previous held words such as balance, fusion or harmony. Now I can hold a new word and world.

Angling towards a sweet spot, an apex – the best of both worlds. Two things that are both firing, at the right time and in the right place. Set and setting. A fine line maybe.

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Resistance is futile

Written by Stuart Haden on April 8, 2020

Returning to The Art of Fear by Kristen Ulmer – could resistance be the difference between entering into flow states, versus flight, flight or freeze. It’s certainly a key part of the equation that leads to optimal performance. This time high numbers count against you, Fear X resistance = flow. Low to flow.

In fact or in flow, it could be the most critical aspect of the equation. Rather than feel the fear and do it anyway. Feel the fear and do

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Introducing The Art of Fear by Kristen Ulmer

Written by Stuart Haden on March 25, 2020

Stunning book, enjoyable on the one hand whilst supportive and challenging on the other. Didn’t find a punchline, didn’t need one – not when fear is on the table. Instead a more gradual build up, with takeaways throughout.

Liked the concept of overcoming the situation, rather than overcoming fear. A subtle, yet very powerful shift. But it’s actually the resistance that you need to pay attention to.

Resistance is our deal or flow breaker, not the perhaps more evident fear. More posts

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Sell your flow, not your soul

Written by Stuart Haden on March 11, 2020

 

The concept of soul is hard to define. We find it all over the shop; soul…food, music and friends. It also crops up with some pertinent advice – don’t sell your soul.

Wise words indeed but that gives rise to the positively loaded question – what do you want to sell? I hold the word sell lightly, we are also talking about profile, influence, encouraging, empowering, credibility and so on.

Perhaps we need to sell our flow. Being optimal, in the zone, at

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Express yourself but whatever you do don’t enjoy yourself

Written by Stuart Haden on February 26, 2020

The concept of enjoyment is slightly misleading because it’s not always within our control. Throughout my sporting endeavours the phrase ‘go out there and enjoy yourself‘ was regularly rolled out. Problem is if you lose how do your rate enjoyment now?

Instead we need to control the controllables and express ourselves. ‘Go out there and express yourself.’ It’s down to us and might lead to enjoyment!? What’s more expression is at the route of authenticity. My definition of which is to express yourself

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The law of attraction (part 3 of 3)

Written by Stuart Haden on February 12, 2020

This posting brings together two previous postings – the biology of belief and over it and on with it. The final piece to the jigsaw is inspired by The Law of Attraction by Esther and Graham Hicks.

Their work encourages you to ask, answer and accept. Tied in to the other postings this reinforces the need to ask for a positive mindset, which is a conscious process. A very typical starting point for personal development – goals, targets and intentions. So not

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Over it and on with it (part 2 of 3)

Written by Stuart Haden on January 29, 2020

In the last blog I shared Bruce Lipton’s work on the ‘biology of belief.’ A few week’s later I was listening to an Over It & On With It podcast that looked at stepping into your full potential.

The conversation highlighted the fact that the biology of belief aka perception (and therefore the things we need coaching on) is generational. I.e. the environment that we grew up in.

Furthermore there is a payoff to our negative mindset that many of us are subconsciously attached (if

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The biology of belief (part 1 of 3)

Written by Stuart Haden on January 15, 2020

I was reading a book by Bruce Lipton (The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology) and he picked up on one of my biggest interests – perception. Then he gave me the explanation of a lifetime. Signal + protein = behaviour. Without reaching for the textbooks here’s the ‘biology of belief…’

The signal could be a trauma or a toxin, but it’s everything we perceive in the environment around us. It’s our switch. How we respond to our environment influences the

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Placing values in the background and foreground

Written by Stuart Haden on October 31, 2019

In order to be at our best values are no doubt important. If ever there was a short cut the expression of one’s values has to lead to improved performance. Place importance on values, but workout where you need to place these values. That’s the workout.

Should they be in the background or foreground? The method to your madness or an operating system that may need to stay backstage. Not hidden, instead you could expose it at any time. Or it lies in wait for

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Flow can be learnt, not bought

Written by Stuart Haden on October 17, 2019

We all want things served up to us quickly. But taking short cuts doesn’t always get us to where we need to be. Being at our best requires a degree of struggle. We can’t buy it, we have to earn it.

The concept of an artificial wave for surfers described in Adventure Journal  proves this point entirely. Sure it might provide a quick fix, it could certainly be useful for training. But maybe it undermines all that surfing and the associated struggle represents.

No

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