Life, for us all, comes down to decisions.
- How are we going to choose to live our lives.
- What ambitions, pursuits and adventures will we embark on?
- Will we choose to take big risks, or stay closer to the comfort zone?
These are internal conversations we experience on a daily basis. They are at the core of who we are today and who we become in the future. This is true for all of us, whether we have chosen to ignore and cover them up, or face them head on.
As I embark on a new professional chapter, I have taken some time to reflect on how and why I navigate the big decisions in my life.
First, the news. After 2 years leading and supporting the growth at Digital Hot Sauce it is time for my next dive into the Deep End. In service of this, I have joined the leadership team of Scoop Robotix, a Vancouver based technology company, overseeing Operations, Growth and Customer Success.
My Experience Navigating Big Decisions
Part of my rationale for sharing this post is my observations that we tend to get easily stuck in life when it comes to making big decisions. Powerful parts of our reptilian brain trap us in the comfort zone. Ultimately, I believe we spend far more time in the comfort zone than is healthy or beneficial.
In many ways my decision to take this professional leap represents an active investment in the mental and emotional muscles that allow us to escape the gravitational forces of comfort.
And, like with all of us, I would be lying if I said it was easy. When you’re a part of a team and company you have helped grow by over 300% profitably, have built an incredible team and vibrant culture and are increasingly being recognized as one of the top players in your category – why leave?
This was what I was telling myself on the surface. These were the stories that wove together that gravitational force convincing my rational brain to stay “safe”.
I had to go much deeper to seek the raw, uncomfortable truth that would set me free.
An Introduction to the Hierarchy of Human Performance
To understand what I mean – I need to get you briefly up to speed on my journey.
There is one theme that has transcended all of my life experience over the last 20 years – the insatiable desire to understand the ingredients we require to holistically thrive as human beings in the 21st century. From 8 years old to my early 20s I practiced and internalized many of these ingredients and principles through mentorship from my Tribe; parents and key mentors, and the lived experience of dozens of exposures to “The Deep End” of life. Only over the last several years have I been able to begin articulating these ingredients in an effort to more effectively coach and mentor others and to use as effective tools in my life.
The Hierarchy of Human Performance is part of this framework.
Why is this important?
Because it was this tool that equipped me to peel back the layers when navigating the big decision of my professional path. I was able to use this Hierarchy of Human Performance as a checklist, a roadmap, to inquire and eventually own the right decision.
And when you go this deep, you quickly realize that the interpretation of “right” on the surface is often much shallower than “right” at our core. In fact, the right decision on the surface can often times be the greatest betrayal to our deepest ambitions, desires and dreams in life – that place locked up deep inside of you that you haven’t let another living soul see. That place that knots your stomach just thinking about it.
As I began walking through each foundational block, the writing on the wall became clear. To give that last statement some meat on the bones, below I’ve laid out how I answer some of these foundational pillars.
Non-negotiable Core Values
- Have a positive impact and influence in the world.
- Be pushed further outside of my comfort zone that perceivably possible.
- Be present and have quality time for family and close friends.
Intrinsic Motivators
- Work with individuals and groups who are the best in the world at what they do.
- Pursue audacious goals and aspirations along side intrinsically motivated individuals.
- Lead in environments with human, technology and strategic chaos and complexity.
- Spend my time around good humans who embrace discomfort.
Life Long Skills
- Leader: of teams pursuing audacious goals, of strategy, and inspired leaders
- Teacher: Equip and empower inspired humans with the roadmap & tools to navigate their own decisions in life, escaping the comfort zone and diving into the the Deep End.
- Facilitator: Leverage my ability to listen, create space, and ask meaningful questions to drive value in teams, groups and individuals.
Regardless of the chapter of life I am in, or the vehicle I am using to accelerate my learning and growth, these are the ingredients I ensure are present.
Reflection, Fear and Staying in the Deep End
So what brought me to this breaking point?
As I wound down my 2020 Olympic pursuit in Track and Field due to an injury in April of 2019 and rejoined the Digital Hot Sauce team in a full time leadership capacity, I spent time reflecting on the criteria above and found myself excited with the challenge to lead the people and business into a new chapter of growth.
Fast forward 7 months to November and we had made significant progress. Increasingly I observed the leaders on our team running the functions of the business effectively. We continued to hire individuals who were great cultural fits and brilliant young practitioners. We were sustaining our operations at a new size, and continuing to grow.
Over so many years of teaching myself to seek discomfort and embrace fear, I seem to have developed a harsh Pavlovian response as life inevitably slides back into comfort. As the holiday season approached I began to sense that dreaded feeling of comfort drawing in close. I went back to the drawing board with all options on the table and the sole goal of seeking an opportunity that aligned with my foundational values and drivers. I was beginning to crave something that would hurl me back into the Deep End.
No sooner than starting to case my eyes to the horizon to consider what could be next, came the tidal wave of fear and doubt. How crazy am I to leave a great leadership role with an amazing team investing in a one of kind culture? How can I justify exposing my family to more risk and uncertainty? Will I be able to step in and lead in the way that this new team and business requires to reach it’s goals?
Thankfully, over the years I have gained exposure to this emotional rollercoaster as well. As I began to feel the physiological fear hijacking take place, I quickly went through my standard process of engaging my Tribe (my wife Natasha, close family and mentors) and deployed all of the human performance tactics to embrace and down-shift the initial stress, anxiety and negative self talk that often follows the fear.
I circled back on the decision.
This time, the answer was a no-brainer.
This is my next High Dive.
This is the next Deep End.
I realized a comforting truth.
If all the boxes in my hierarchy of human performance are checked – then fear no longer becomes something to avoid, but the signal that I am exactly where I need to be.
Defining your Human Performance Hierarchy
At the end of the day I believe we are at our best when we find the intersection between the values, intrinsic motivators and life long skills we want to own and the pursuit or goal that scares the daylights out of us.
We are able to jump head first into these pursuits because we can articulate what we are giving up if we do not. We are able to put terms and words to the non-negotiable parts of what it takes to play at our best – and we know if those boxes are not checked, our brains may be able to trick us into feeling more safe and secure in the short term, but the long term outlook is deemed as vastly higher risk than the decision to jump in the present moment.
There are no guarantees in life.
But if my experiences over the last 20 years have taught me anything, it is that the best way to mitigate any perceived need for a guarantee in the future, is by making choices that inspire and require you to be fully invested in each present day.
Paradoxically, when we find this intersection, the future tends to take care of itself.
Reflection & Next Steps
Have you thought about your Hierarchy of Human Performance?
Does the concept resonate?
If you are looking for more context or guidance here, send me a message or visit The Human Performance Project and start with the Free Reflection Assessment to get.
March 9, 2020
