PART II Building The Foundation

PART III Programming Peak Performance

PART IV Releasing Your Brakes

APPENDICES

Introduction

It is not enough to do; sometimes, a person has to stop and realize that knowledge is meant to be shared. That's what happened to me. You may wonder why I'm making such a statement. Simple..... I continually see results beyond expectations happening to the people I coach. Consequently, I have come to the conclusion that more people can replicate those results. After all, aren't we all performers? No matter what your profession, art, trade, or life circumstance is, you're called upon to perform every day of your life. What if you had a simple recipe to help you increase your results while reducing stress? Let's explore how you can improve your performance by using some of your God-given talents more effectively.

Personal Viewpoint

I've now passed my sixtieth birthday and have met many people from different walks of life. Even more importantly, I've witnessed in business and in sports numerous individuals who are otherwise high achievers in their career, but have created less than expected results because they were on what could be called "automatic". It's a reality of life that we often go through our daily routines without really being there. I mean present in mind, mindful of the context, the dynamics, the people, the human tendencies, the cultural differences, the ingrained beliefs, the results at stake. I had better stop.

Many factors are at play in most circumstances. If we are less than mindful in these circumstances, how many of these factors can escape our awareness and be overlooked in dealing with various situations? It's easy to understand how people can act on "automatic" most of the time. Now, don't get me wrong. Most people succeed very well "on automatic" because they have perfected their "automatic"!

However, I will submit to you that in some instances, depending on your personal experience, we don't reach the full potential of our efforts BECAUSE we are on automatic. After all, everything changes constantly. The last time we dealt with an issue will not necessarily repeat itself exactly. And so, we miss on those little extra results that can make a big time difference in the long run.

Why AïM?

"In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore ... they had better aim at something high." — Henry David Thoreau, author, poet, naturalist, and philosopher

I've chosen "AïM for Life Mastery™" as the title to illustrate the fact that few targets in life are hit without aiming. And aiming for life mastery is no exception. We can choose to be average, to be just like the next person, to have a normal life with its ups and downs, its successes and failures, and accept that, even if we could have done better, the result was "good enough". The fact is that life is pretty dull, and at times disillusioning if we learn to accept "good enough" without doing our best. The world is full of discontented people who have accepted "good enough" as their lot.

I submit that if you're seeking happiness, you must learn to have positive discontent, always seeking to be better than the last time out, giving it all you've got. Ask any top performer. They're happy when they've given their all, no matter the result. You see, it's not about the end of the road, but about how we travel on the road to the end result that creates happiness.

And thus, I've chosen to alert you to the fact that you must "aim" if you are to hit your desired results. This world is not perfect. Everyone encounters failure. But if you aim, you will hit more often, and that is the key to self-satisfaction = happiness.

The other part of the title alludes to the result of practice. With repetition, we usually get better and with time, we gain mastery. Isn't that the case for most everything we do? Mastery is more empowering than control. Control supposes constant effort to steer, to keep aligned, to avoid bumps in the road. It is compulsive, obsessive, and constraining. Quite the opposite, mastery is an automatic. Knowing how to do so well that it is freewheeling, smooth, propulsive, liberating, and totally by choice sure makes life more pleasant on the whole! Controlling ultimately makes us tired and weak, whereas mastering energizes us and gives us strength that we didn't realize we had. Witness the peak performers who accomplish unbelievable feats as if they were just ordinary events. Mastery does provide the edge that could be called "The Force".

So as you read the following chapters, think of the underlying meaning of the title – happiness through repeated and focused action.

You'll see on every page the reason why you're reading this book. Mastery is the force that can propel you to new levels of performance and so ... may The Force be with you.

Why Write this Book?

Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that peak performance is not as easy as it might appear. What is EASY? Well, we may have the best intentions and wish to do our best, but often, unforeseen circumstances raise the potential for less than the expected results!

Let me explain.

In my coaching profession, I've had the privilege of working with a variety of people: students, professionals, ordinary folks, couples, athletes, sports coaches,...