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Peak Performance Professional
August 8,
2017 1878 1878 
When I started in the wealth advisory industry back in 2004 the common theme for white collar professionals was to; work long hours, drink lots of coffee, long lunches most days filled with red wine and beer. Making time to look after your body was something that was frowned upon, looked at as being ‘uncool’, even considered to be detrimental to your career.
Thankfully those days are behind us and the benefits of ‘body management’ are now making their way into mainstream media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Body management is taking the time to invest in your physical body (exercise/movement), your mind (meditation/yoga) and eating well (cutting out processed foods and eating real food).
Expanding on the above, here are four key components to performing at your best:
· Psychology: The way we think and process information
· Productivity: The way we work and the period of time we can sustain a high level of productivity
· Recovery/Management: The way we cope with stress and anxiety
· Physiology/Movement: The type of and regularity of movement we undertake
Investing time in these areas is just as important as learning the latest client management system or the latest procedure.
So what is the Peak Performance Professional?
When I meet with clients (individuals) to discuss their financial position, goals and objectives, or if I am meeting with the partners of a larger business or practice we talk about the four points above and their linkage to the overall long term objectives. More and more this is being met with understanding rather than with objection, as health and wellbeing is now no longer a taboo topic. Individuals and businesses want to understand how they can perform better, how they can get the best out of themselves and their staff. No, I am not giving them specific advice in these areas, I leave that to the experts, but I am certainly happy to give my views and opinions.
Money or success is often a significant driver or goal for people, but they end up solely focusing on the work, the business or the next big deal and neglect to realise that by taking a little time on their own body they increase their longevity in their industry. They sharpen their mind and their focus, they even increase their resilience to the likes of stress. This translates into a happy, healthier, more focused individual or employee, and over time, greater output results in greater revenue, more business opportunities and financial goals being achieved or exceeded.
As a task to start thinking about both your financial and overall health and wellbeing I recommend starting with the following:
- Write down your financial position as it stands now e.g. funds in super, funds in other investment vehicles, debts, assets, what your family position looks like, what entities you control, what businesses you are involved in, and what your current level of income is.
Then
- Write down what your ideal retirement position would look like (depending on age, this may be some years away so write down what your position would look like in ten years). What will your asset position look like, what does your family and business look like, what will your income look like, do you travel overseas for holidays, etc. Anything that creates the image of your ideal life.
Sit back and reflect on this, look at where you are now and where you want to be. Are you some distance from your ideal position, or are you on track? What changes to your financial position need to be made to help you achieve this ideal position?
Health: When you reach your ideal position, do you feel you will have the ability to maximise it? Will you be able to run around with your children or grandchildren? Do you have the mental and physical strength to work through that period to achieve the ideal position? This will begin for you the reflection, is your body capable of making the most of your ideal life and can it tolerate the stress and pressures required to get there?