Performance has become a common word in our daily lives.
We are expected to perform at work, we are evaluated based on our performance, we draft performance reports.

Our societies are competitive and push us to produce results, usually measured by how much money we make, what car we drive, what job title we have, and so on.

We live in a world that often chases the appearance of a “perfect life”, showcased for everyone to see in “Instagramable” photos, images that all too often hide “ugly” truths.

But what is performance?

Is it the same as merely producing results? Or is there more to it?

One common myth about performance is that some people are “natural” high-performers, and others just don’t have what it takes. That’s not what I think. Everyone can perform, if they choose to. This doesn’t mean everyone will perform in every field, but it does mean that anyone can become effective and experience the satisfaction that comes with it.

Key ingredients of performance

For me, the key ingredients of performance are:
– discovering and keeping alive your passion about the domain you are performing in
– consistent actions
– a context of freedom and ownership, not obligation.

There is no performance without actions.
There is no performance without practice.
And there is no performance when the context you’re operating from is all about “obligation”, “I have to do it”,  or “suffering”.

Performance doesn’t come by itself, it requires consistency, but it doesn’t have to be hard either.
Practicing and giving 100% to a commitment is a very different context than just “working hard”.

But mostly performance is a function of how we view ourselves, others, the circumstances and the world.
Most of our barriers to performance are not external, but internal. They are deeply hidden and stem from our preconceptions, beliefs and limiting views. We’ve had them for so long and they are so familiar, we can’t even hear them.

At Great Empowerment, I work with people to remove these barriers so that performance becomes natural, not forced. Joyful, not heavy. Aligned, not imposed.
What could shift in your work or life if performance came from clarity and choice, not pressure and proving?