Peak Performance

Interview With Heather

2006-07-31T17:42:00.000+10:00

I was fortunate to be amongst the audience at the "Business Chicks" breakfast seminar on Friday in Melbourne.

Heather Swan gave her first presentation since returning from India where she set the world record for the highest base jump.

The presentation was truly inspiring and most of the 400+ people in the audience went away feeling that they too could "learn to fly" like Heather.

For those not fortunate to be in the audience here is a LINK to a recent interview with Heather. maybe you can get some of the "spirit" of her presentation from this newspaper article.

The Power of Labels...

2006-07-24T18:18:00.000+10:00

The influence of "labels" on our behaviour is an interesting topic, and one that is covered in some detail in the Peak Performance programmes.

This article which I saw in The Age headed DONT CONFORM TO TYPE takes this topic a stage further.

The article suggests that if middle aged people are given a memory test alongside older people aged over 70, the middle aged people perform worse than expected... merely as a result of being reminded that as they get older their memory will fail...

This is called the "Stereotype effect" and is now a well documented behavioural influence and includes for example, women performing less well than men at maths...merely because they are told that this is the norm...

WOW...The power of suggestion !!

More Lessons From Base Jump 3

2006-07-24T12:57:00.000+10:00

It has been a very busy time for us over the past few weeks, particularly since the news of Glenn & Heather's successful base jump filtered through...

For those of you in and around Melbourne on Friday July 28th you can see and hear Heather give a presentation at the Business Chicks breakfast seminar.

More importantly, one of the key principles of "Peak Performance" is to understand and confront your own fears, fears which undoubtedly hold you back in everything you do.

Have a look at THIS CLIP from Channel 9 "Today" programme and see and hear Glenn & Heather discussing the Base Climb 3 project...I think Glenn makes perfect sense when he says..'once you have confronted your fears (whatever they may be) then picking up the phone to make a sales call or whatever other small fear you may have no longer seems as daunting".

The good news of course is that you don't have to jump of a 6600 metre mountain to have this effect...

Neck pain in women

2006-06-30T16:51:00.000+10:00

A growing body of research shows that while low back pain has roughly the same prevalence for men and women, neck pain is significantly more common in women that men (Linton, 2000). There are a number of theories as to why.

Why is neck pain more common in women?

One theory regarding this is that women are more open about reporting and expressing pain. This is generally recognised to be true but doesn’t account for the specific difference in regard to neck pain.

Another theory is to do with vocational differences between the genders. While things are changing there is still a higher prevalence of men doing manual labour work, and women doing office based work. This position undoubtedly places increased strain on the neck and shoulders which can lead to posture related neck and head aches.

Other theories include breast size and the postural “round shoulder” strain that can result; breast feeding postures; lifestyle differences and many more.

Common features of neck pain

Whatever the cause, the most common feature of neck pain in men and women is a poking chin, ewe neck or round shoulder posture. This is common in office based workers who work long hours, have poor body awareness, and do little or no exercise outside of work.

This posture is featured by

Tight neck extensors (upper traps especially)
Tight pectoral muscles
Weak scapular muscles

When this posture becomes a habit it is very difficult to change without ongoing exercise to help you sit and stand more upright. The Positive Health workshops cover this extensively

Stress can also exacerbate this posture through increasing fatigue and promoting increased muscle tension. Poor self esteem is also linked to poor postural habits.

Trauma, such as whiplash is a common trigger point for neck pain, but ongoing pain often has little to do with the original incident, and more to do with the resultant poor posture and increased sensitivity.

Preventing neck pain through education

The recently launched e-learning program from the Peak performance Institute "Progressive women" helps prevent and overcome neck pain issues by addressing it at both the physical and psychological levels.

Exercises to alleviate the strain and tension on neck muscles are covered in detail in the third section on Health and wellbeing. This includes easy to follow video instruction.

Increasing exercise levels can easily be focused for those with little extra time to spare. Incorporating exercise into your working day results in improved body awareness, something you carry within you always, requiring no extra time.

The important issues of self esteem and confidence are covered extensively throughout the program. These play a role not only in our performance and achievements overall, but have a profound influence on our health and wellbeing.

The Lessons From The Socceroos...

2006-06-29T14:07:00.000+10:00

So...the incredible journey is over...and here in Australia we are still coming to terms with the manner of the loss and our abrupt exit from the world cup.

So what "lessons" can we learn from the socceroos?

How did they manage to transform themselves from a team which lost 7-0 to Croatia in their last meeting?....or from a team which lost to New Zealand 4 years ago when the last world cup was taking place?...or from a team which lost all 3 games in the Confederation Cup one year ago?

How did they manage to transform themselves into a team feared by Italy, the former world champions? and into a team whose illustrious opponents needed the help of a last minute "dodgy" penalty decision to win?

The answer includes many elements, including wonderful management by Guus Hiddink, great preparation...but most importantly BELIEF in themselves.

Quite simply, the socceroos achieved this level of performance because they changed their beliefs about themselves, and in changing their beliefs this fantastic "Peak Performance" followed.

So when the dust from this world cup has settled, perhaps we can all take something from the performance of the socceroos, and become inspired ourselves to become "Peak Performers"...simply by changing our beliefs.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things....

2006-06-18T11:55:00.000+10:00

Well they did it !

Two of the founders of The Peak Performance Institute, Dr. Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan finally set a new world record for climbing and base jumping from the highest cliff in the world, Mount Meru at 6604 metres in India.

Believe me, I know Glenn and Heather very well. They are very humble ordinary people coping with many of the same day to day problems we all have to cope with...health...money...family...work...etc. Just like you and I they have to work hard to earn a living, and their car breaks down on the way to work, and their dishwasher leaks, the phone bill is overdue and some days they just don't feel great.

The difference is, Glenn & Heather are a wonderful example of the application of the Peak Performance principles which helped them with this extraordinary achievement. They both had a burning desire to set this world record, they have been planning this expedition for 6 years, and made many personal, business and financial sacrifices to achieve this. Most importantly, this was a clearly defined goal they both shared and worked towards.

Many times in the past I have listened to their wonderful presentation, "Base Climb 2" where Glenn and Heather recounted the story of their previous attempt, and every time, at the end of the presentation I heard Heather say..." and we will go back and set a new world record to climb and base jump the highest cliff in the world..." At that moment, occasionally Glenn or Heather would catch my eye in the audience and smile at me, and I knew every time they said that...they meant it !

Well now they have done it and I for one cannot wait to hear their presentation of Base Climb 3

Never give in...Belief is everything...

2006-06-13T01:14:00.000+10:00

Over the weekend I have been priveleged to watch two fantastic sporting matches, where a "Never Give In" attitude and a strong belief in your own abilities have prevailed...something we can all gain inspiration from.

On Sunday I watched a fantastic tennis match, the final of the French Open, where Nadal, playing against the awesome world No.1 Roger Federer came back from a serious thrasing in the first set to recover and win the next three sets...and the match.

It must have been difficult for the 20 year old Nadal having been so convincingly beaten in that first set, to look across the net at Federer and belive that he could actually come back and beat the world No.1...but come back he did and won the match convincingly. Nadal is blessed with phenomenal talent and athleticism...but above all else it was his belief and inner strength which won him that match.

For all of us who enjoy professional sport at its very best, let's enjoy the wonderful skills on display during that match, but let's also try and become inspired by this young man to take some of his belief and never say die attitude into our more humble endeavours and learn how to perform at our peak.

On Monday night there was a similar example in a different sport...

The Australian soccerroos playing in their first soccer world cup for 32 years, were trailing 1-0 to a very efficient and well organised Japan team. If Australia were not to win this game then in truth they would probably have made an early exit from the world cup as a result of their probable failure to qualify past the group stages.

The watching millions (myself included) were watching and willing them on, but could not see how Australia were going to score....our hope was fading as the minutes went by.

But like Nadal, the soccer players never gave in and continued with their tactics in the belief that the tactics and their skills would be good enough...

The end result...3 goals in the last 10 minutes and a famous first ever world cup win for Australia by the deserved margin of 3-1. Once again I am inspired by the never give in attitude and the belief and conviction....

Hopefully these two performances will provide inspiration and re enforcement of beliefs in one or two other people...

Women Pushing the Boundaries for OnLine Usage....

2006-06-08T12:01:00.000+10:00

I came across an interesting report recently which confirmed my views....

The European Interactive Advertising Association in a recently published report says that by 2007 women will spend more time online than men. In the last 3 years the number of hours spent online by women has grown by 63% and use of the internet is now Europe's fastest growing media amongst women, far outstripping television and magazines.

The women driving this growth and spending the most time online fall into three categories:
- Young women 16-24 year olds
- Professional women in business or in careers
- Women at home with children.

Young professionals using the internet, for example, has more than
doubled (+116%) since 2003, while women with children use the internet
14% more than the average European woman. With their busy lifestyles,
young professionals and mums are clearly benefiting from the
convenience that the internet offers, which has proven popular with all
female internet users:

Interestingly, the areas that women are increasing their use of the internet are:
- OnLine shopping
- Internet banking
- Research and education

I wonder when men will realise that the use of the internet for online learning is one of the ways that women are ahead of the game?

Success in Holland

2006-06-07T21:40:00.000+10:00

Well it had to be done, a short follow-up to the post to:http://ppinst.blogspot.com/2006/05/no-guss-no-glory-will-one-mans-belief.html.

In the build up to the World Cup the Socceroos have continued on their successful run, drawing the friendly stouch in Rotterdam against Holland on Sunday night. In a mismatch of rankings and experience and the first time the two countries have met, the Socceroos prevailed against a tirade of shots on goal and being largely outclassed in the first half to draw even after fulltime.

The stats tell a story where the Dutch had some 66% of the possession, three times as many shots on goal and penalty corners. Needless to say we were lucky and Schwarzer saved the day to some extent, yet the effort was indeed notable and a good indication of what skills need to be attended to before the real test begins on July 12th against Japan. The Dutch themselves made the comment that the Socceroos would most likely make it to the second round of the WC, a great rap for their efforts.

The belief factor played a major role in the draw, as it had to. The team are clearly exhibiting all the traits that contribute to success and performance in any arena of endeavour. These are self belief, courage, persistance, a sustained effort and a measured performance within their existing skills and strengths that are constantly being honed.

Even if you are not a sports fan, nor a fan of the 'World Game', it would be worth your while to watch how the team continues to peform, if only to witness a great example of how self belief affects behaviour. See the following link to learn more about enrolling in a PPI course which will help you with the practical application of such peak performance skills in your own life!

The hidden danger of late nights...

2006-06-07T19:00:00.000+10:00

I would think that many people believe that in order to lose weight you have to be "up and about" and highly active.

Whilst this may be true as a generalisation, it is important not to lose sight of the other elements necessary for not only a healthy lifestyle, but also as an aid to weight loss. We group these elements together as the STEM system, and include within this "Sleep Management"

A new piece of research from the Woolcock Institute in Sydney suggests that not only are people not getting enough sleep, but the lack of sleep could be one of the causes of weight increase. The study suggests that not only does lack of sleep lead to heart disease and diabetes, but also people sleeping less are more prone to obesity!

So is this because when we are not sleeping we are busy munching food snacks, crisps, fast food etc?

Not so says the report...lack of sleep not only causes your brain to become confused...but also your hormones become confused, leading to obesity and possibly diabetes.

So the $64,000 question is....What is the definition of "enough sleep"?...well that answer depends on each individual, but the study observed problems in people who slept less than 6 hours per night.

So there you have it...as we Australians prepare to get up in the middle of the night to watch World Cup soccer on our TV, we need to be aware of the impact of this lack of sleep not only on our concentration levels the day following...but also on our health and weight!

The "Leisure" industry for women...

2006-06-04T18:32:00.000+10:00

Ask any man what he does for leisure and he will no doubt answer, golf, football, fishing, computer games, listening to music...etc.

I suspect the answer from most women however would be very different, with "shopping" and "housework" high on the list. Undoubtedly women are going to the gym more often, but is this really something we class as leisure, or is it in fact a "chore"?

If the definition of "leisure" is something you do when you are not doing your normal job then I confess that the only real leisure activity I peronally enjoy is reading.

Part of the reason why women's leisure activities are so limited is because the leisure industry does not really address itself to women. When was the last time you as a woman saw a TV commercial or a magazine advert from the leisure industry targeting us ? Think of the adverts for cars or sports wear, sports drinks, sports clothing...all mostly aimed at men.

The women's leisure industry instead targets shopping and housework as the main activities of women, hence the typical adverts from Uniliver, Proctor & Gamble etc suggesting that we women should spend all our leisure time cleaning the house, cleaning the bathroom, shopping and cooking. This is a hugely lucrative financial market for the likes of Unilever and it is in their interest to continue to "suggest" that this is what women should be doing.

So rather than allow ourselves to be manipulated by the "womens leisure industry" I think we should all take more time for ourselves, enjoy the thinks we do, in my case read a good book, and leave the housework and shopping to take care of itself. Perhaps also we should resolve to undertake a good "Self Development" programme and learn about some of the many other areas where a woman's lot can be improved...

Life just keeps on getting better, and better....for women!

2006-06-04T13:39:00.000+10:00

The recently published findings from "The Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project" make for interesting reading. This research project studied more than 400 Australian born women from 1991 to the present day.

The project was initially interested in the health and wellbeing of women as they progress through natural menopause. All 400 women had interviews, blood tests and health checks every year for the past 15 years.

As younger women we are led to believe that the menopause and the mid life which follows is a period of our lives to dread. The perceived wisdom suggests that mood swings, no sex and a hollow "empty nest" and empty life are all that we have to look forward to in mid life.

The good news from this report is that this is not the case at all.

Even though the actual process of menopause itslf may be less than wonderful, your 40's 50's and 60's should be good years. You should become a more relaxed person, with less mood swings, a higher feeling of satisfaction and significantly less stress.

However Professor Lorraine Dennerstein the project's chief investigator says the most important factor in our individual experience of the menopause and the midlife which follows, particularly in relation to health, sex life, mood and our feeling of happiness is our experience, our knowledge and our mindset before menopause.

One of the most important steps we women can take is to ensure that we escape from the feelings of low self esteem, lack of confidence and negative thinking which can beset our earlier lives. The lessons we can learn from a good "Personal Development" programme can help us not only immediately...but also later in life.

Are you a Pognosticator?

2006-06-01T16:26:00.000+10:00

Ask yourself this question. It's a new and curious ailment that many individuals are falling prone too in this online age and I call it 'Pognosticating'.

The word 'Pog' comes from the mashing of the words Podcasting and Blogging and describes one who is a self proclaimed technophile, typically addicted to all things online and 'cool' who spends a disproportionate amount of their time using, creating or prognosticating to others about the future uses of this technology, ironically mostly via podcasts or blogs. It is a derivation of Prog·nos·ti·cate - to foreshadow; portend: urban renewal that fortells a social and cultural renaissance.

A recent article in The Age summed up the blogging craze nicely. It highlighted the extent of this online habit and its uses in private homes and business. The picture above hints at some potential (tongue in cheek?) uses of podcasts for business before its manic adoption worldwide in 2004.

According to Technorati there exists over 30 Million Blogs with 70,000 more being created daily !
According to Feedburner there exists (in just their feeds) over 44,000 podcasts which exceeds the number of radio stations... Worldwide !

Ask yourself... how can my business and personal life benefit from the application of these technologies? Contact PBI to help you in finding ways to catch the fever.

Consider the myriad of potential clients you could attract by developing your own podcasts on your area of expertise as a free value add to not only help others in your profession but attract business. Its almost like a virtual briefing or consulting session where people get to hear you and draw an impression on your level of competency and professionalism. Likewise with a well written blog which could contain links and articles to help improve others professional or personal development and possibly attract and help maintain interest in your company and its recent activities.

http://www.blogger.com/mobile-start.g outlines how to send photos and text straight to your blog while you're on-the-go and there's even a feature, called AudioBlogger, that lets you call Blogger from any phone and leave a message that is immediately posted to your site as an MP3 audio file. While Blogger Mobile is currently only available in the US, you can always send posts to your blog using Mail-to-Blogger.

The applications are endless and to confuse you further here's just one way to mix the two - AutoCast is the premier autocasting tool. It creates mp3 audio files from RSS feeds. Readers and podcatchers can use it to rip audio versions of their favorite text-only blogs. Bloggers can use it to provide automated podcasts. For example, this sample RSS feed will produce this audio file. AutoCast was written for use on Windows, but it also functions under Linux using Wine. The license for AutoCast is free, open-source software distributed under the GNU General Public License. Get it here: www.autocastsoftware.com

Don't say I did'nt warn you...look out for Vibods (Video Blogs) and Vipods (Video Podcasts) next.

No Guss No Glory - Will one man's belief help create history?

2006-05-29T13:19:00.000+10:00

World Cup fever is spreading quickly amongst even the most die hard AFL regions of Victoria and throughout most other parts of this country with equal virulence. When 3.4 Million watched the qualifier against Uruguay on TV last year and 95,000 attended the game, those with vested interests may have seen it as a threat to the popularity of established Football codes all over Australia. To sports lovers it was simply a fantastic opportunity to see an underdog begin their journey in challenging for one of the most coveted titles in world sport.

What role will self belief play in this epic journey to World Cup glory in Germany for the Socceroos?

Since our first and only appearance 32 years ago, Australia has looked with envy at the achievements and glory the World Cup bestows on those participating in this rarefied global sporting arena. For our sporting crazed nation, having only qualified for the second time in our World Cup campaign history and ranked 42nd in the world, what gives us the right to feel we have the remotest chance of even making the finals?

I have the suspicion that many believe the Socceroos can make it through to the finals and so do the team, whether they win the final or not does not seem to be the be-all and end-all. The Nike campaign for the Socceroos is "History is against us... Stuff History".. and this sums up the general attitude well. They believe they can achieve great things, but why now? Why after all this time?

Guss Hiddink has been the man who has helped foster this attitude in the team and curiously a great percentage of the public now also share in this feeling. The level of Self Belief he has generated seems to be the magic ingredient that may well help propel them into a self-fulfilling destiny, a case of 'Scenario Fulfillment' perhaps. As explained in earlier blogs, the mind only sees what it believes, therefore, could this be the ultimate sporting example of self belief bringing about success above all odds?

Let's wait and see... I will be keenly watching SBS on Sunday night, 4th June at 10:30pm to see the Socceroos play The Netherlands at De Kuip Stadium, Rotterdam in their next step toward Glory!!

Talk to the Peak Performance Institute today about how they can demonstrate ways to introduce this level of self belief into your own business and daily life!

Another example of how beliefs affect behaviour...

2006-05-29T09:56:00.000+10:00

"There is no faster way to corrupt nations than the emancipation of women - that is getting her out on the street to entice men and ruin their morals."

No this is not a quote I dug up from some early 20th century book but apparently a quote from a Saudi pamphlateer Al Habdan referring to his belief as to why Saudi women should not go to fitness clubs and health clubs.

So strong is the inherent belief within Saudi society that women exercising in schools, gyms or outdoors is evil and will lead, through giving women more freedoms, to the decline of society, that 66% of Saudi women are now obese or overweight!!

The rest of this fascinating article can be read here.

In the Peak Performance programme we teach that in order to live a healthy life style, a balance is needed. We call this the STEM SYSTEM...
S - Sleep Well
T - Think Well
E - Eat Well
M - Move Well

According to the article societal pressure and the beliefs of society are so powerful in disuading Saudi women from exercising, that 66% are now obese and overweight with many suffering from overweight health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure...

Should he have stopped??...

2006-05-29T09:25:00.000+10:00

So we are now told that on his way to the very summit of Everest, Mark Inglis came across a dying fellow mountaineer and failed to stop to help him.

One of the key principles we teach in the Peak Performance programme is that there are no "truths" only "perceptions", and in understanding this we can realise just how significant our perceptions are in their influence on our behaviour, and how significant other people's perceptions are on their behaviour.

So was Sir Edmund Hilary correct?
Should Mark Inglis and his party have abandoned their climb and converted all their efforts into saving dying climber David Sharp?

Or was Mark Inglis correct?
There was nothing he personally could do to help David Sharp, there were people in his party better equiped to help, and the poor man's health was so bad that he was beyond help anyhow?

None of us will ever really know what happened on the mountain at that moment. Most of us are not really equipped to even begin to understand the issues faced on the mountain, and yet we are happy to offer our opinion one way or the other. Think for a moment what that says about our "perceptions" and our "beliefs" and how this influences our behaviour.

The only thing we can say for sure is that Mark Inglis climbed to the very summit of Everest and achieved his goal.

Your "perceptions" will help you decide whether this was a stunning example of goal setting and goal achieving, or the act of a single minded selfish individual...

The Da Vinci Code...The Movie!

2006-05-23T16:26:00.000+10:00

Last night I went to see the much hyped movie, The Da Vinci Code.

Leaving aside the many issues surrounding the film and its plot I was greatly amused by one particular line in the film from a specific scene.

At one point over halfway through the film, the character played by Ian McKellen welcomes Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou to his mansion in the middle of the night. He sits in front of of a copy of the Da Vinci painting of the last supper, and intructs Audrey Tautou to close her eyes and tell him how wine vessels or chalices are included on the painting.

"Why only one" says Tautou..."the grail"...at which point Mckellen tells her to open her eyes and look at the famous painting...whereupon she realises that there is in fact no grail in the painting!

"Ah" says McKellan..."You see the mind fools us and only sees what it wants to see"

If there was one and only one "truth" to emerge from this film it was indeed encapsulated in this line from McKellan. He could of course have said "Believing is Seeing".

Of course the point McKellan was making is that if we believe something, we can convince ourselves that we can see something, and act upon it...even if the reality shows there is nothing there!

On that same them I was watching a National Geographic documentary last weekend recounting the story of how in 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down the civilian airline Iran Air flight 655 causing the tragic death of 290 innocent civilians.

This incident took place in the middle of a raging sea battle of the Iranian coast. The documentary showed that there were many contributing factors as to why the captain and the crew falsely believed that the Iran Air flight was a military jet fighter attacking their ship. However one of the most significant factors which convinced the captain to fire the missiles which destroyed the airliner was when his monitoring equipment showed the plane to be losing altitude and diving to attack their ship...

...Except this never happened...the airliner was steadily gaining altitude and at no point did the ships records suggest otherwise...

The crew of the Vincennes genuinely believed the plane was diving to attack and genuinely believed their instruments showed this to be the case...

...The Mind Sees Only What it Wants To See...

It is now believed that a phenomenum called "SCENARIO FULFILMENT" was responsible for the crew and captain acting as though the airliner was diving to attack. They believed so strongy that the plane was a hostile Iranian warplane, that in their minds its next logical move would be to dive to attack, and so under the stress of the situation their minds not only convinced them that this was happening, but also convinced them that their instruments confirmed this was happening...even though this was not the case!

So, back to the Da Vinci Code movie...never mind..go and see it and decide for yourself!!

Man With No Legs Climbs Everest...

2006-05-16T18:54:00.000+10:00

How about this for "Peak Performance"...

A 47 year old double amputee from New Zealand, Mark Inglis today became the first double amputee to climb Mount Everest.

I think this stunning achievement is worthy of further consideration...a 47 year old man, not a young man with the energy and strength of youth on his side, but a 47 year old man...who lost his legs as a result of a previous mountaneering accident!!

I wonder how high his levels of motivation were ?

I wonder if the rest of us mere mortals could ever climb our own "Everest" in the face of such overwhelming odds stacked against us?

If nothing else, this remarkable story should at least inspire us to try...

Australia's Obesity Crisis...

2006-05-15T16:55:00.000+10:00

Continuing David's theme of "Behaviour Change", I came across this article in the Melbourne newspaper The Age.

The article is headlined "Australia's Obesity Time Bomb..." and the gist of the article is that Australia is heading towards a Diabetes crisis caused by overeating and lack of exercise. The article uses as its reference a new report by the Melbourne based International Diabetes Institute.

Apart from the shocking statistics...100,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes each year...16% of the poulation with abnormal glucose metabolism or "Pre Diabetes"...25% of schoolchildren are oficialy overweight...the main finding of the report is that we are contributing to this growing epidemic primarily through our individual behaviour patterns whereby we now consider it acceptable to overeat and avoid exercise.

We have to understand the impact of this behaviour on our health and learn to embrace the concept of "Behaviour Change"...we have to take responsibility for our own lifestyles.

Personal Health plans

2006-05-15T09:20:00.000+10:00

A client of mine recently asked me to put together a "Personal HSE plan" for their staff. HSE being "Health, Safety, Environment". The idea was to make the staff more accountable and responsible for their own behaviour in regards to these factors.

During the project, which took some weeks, I was quite focused on the narrow needs of my client. Only after the completion of this project was I able to step back and reflect on the value of the system I had just created. The philosophies of Ros, Belinda and myself (our Positive Health team) are greatly facilitated by the use of such a plan.

To be effective a personal health plan has to be self monitored and self driven. It has to be easy to use and meaningful. I hope I have found the balance on all of this and am currently piloting the tool for use in the corporate sector.

The basic idea is using a wheel with eight spokes. On each wheel a 'factor" is labelled that represents an important component of personal health (e.g. physical flexibility, emotional wellbeing). The user then ranks themselves on each factor and comes up with a "health profile".

Once this health profile is found, goals can be formed and action taken to improve the weaker areas. Programs like the Peak Performance Institute e-learning programs are a great place to start.

The self analysis wheel can be returned to every month or two for review. It becomes a basis for accountability and structure in our attempts to improve and maintain our personal health. I think it has a lot of potential. Watch out for it's upcoming release!

The challenge of behaviour change

2006-05-05T14:41:00.000+10:00

Having worked as a health professional for over a decade I am all too familiar with the challenge of behaviour change.
We know we should strive for more work/life balance - but few of us achieve this
We know we shouldn't drink too much, or smoke, or slouch at the computer, or eat fatty foods, or stay up late...... etc, etc.
So how do we tap into this process of positive, productive behaviour change?

I had a fascinating conversation with a young Dutch man last week who believes hypnotism is the way to do this as we bypass the conscious mind and communicate directly with the subconscious. In this "zone" he believes we can create new patterns of behaviour that are more healthy and productive.

Other training programs facilitate behaviour change through promoting greater insights at a conscious level. This can make one more aware of how we are influenced by our subconscious and encourage us to take direct and determined steps to change behaviour to being more satisfying and productive.

My Clinical Psychologist colleague at Positive Health Dr Ros Lethbridge often reminds me of the importance of control when it comes to behaviour change. If we can create improved insights in our workshops then we are achieving the first step in a path to behaviour change. But it has to go further and include...

An internal locus of control ("I am in charge")
Motivation and sense of purpose

But behaviour change also requires...

An environment conducive to changing behaviours
Peer support and encouragement

The "culture" of a workplace has a great deal of influence on our behaviour. Creating an atmosphere that encourages positive and healthy behaviour change is a great challenge for business. Those businesses that make ground in achieving this gain great rewards in productivity and performance.

Professional Development...

2006-05-02T19:46:00.000+10:00

"Taking time out to learn, develop and train in order to maintain, improve and broaden the knowledge and skills needed for professional and personal life is becoming more essential fo rindividuals who want to develop themselves and achieve a balanced lifestyle. Busy professionals need practical, easily accessible and flexible development options. They also need to be kept abreast of the latest courses and solutions available to them.

On Friday May 5, The Australian will publish a report on Professional Development. The report will outline what's available at the nation's universities, education institutions and through other professional service providers such as publishers and consultants."

I could not agree more with the sentiments echoed in this article. The whole essence of becoming a Peak Performer is about personal and professional development

I will read the article with interest and post a review on Friday

Mind The Gaps....

2006-04-28T18:03:00.000+10:00

I love using this paragraph below in our training programmes to illustrate the phenomenal power of the human brain to fill in the "gaps".

Have a read of this paragraph below and see if you can make sense of it....

I cdnuoit blvelee taht I cluod aulaclity use5dnatrd
waht I was rdgnieg The
phaonmeal pweor of the hmuan mnid
Aoccdrnig to a rschharch at Cmaanbridge
Uinervitsy, it deos't mttaer inwaht ordr the ltteers in a wrod are, the
olny ipromarat tihng is taht the frist and lsat
ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos
not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but raeds the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
yaeh and i awlyas thuougt
slpelling was ipmorantt!

So there you go...having clear and accurate instructions is not really necessary for good communications.
The really important issue for ensuring good communications is more about understanding just how our brain fils in the gaps...with our "perceptions"

Presenteeism

2006-04-21T13:49:00.000+10:00

In my research on health and wellbeing I am increasingly coming across the term "presenteeism". It is a spin off from absenteeism, but ackowledging the fact that sometimes we can be "present" at work, but highly unproductive.

Presenteeism is said to be costing the Australian economy over $31 billion a year . A staggering stastistic. The principles of the Peak performance institute tackle all of the contributions of this head on, including the important contribution of health and wellbeing.

The e-learning courses I have written based on promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace are focused on the principle of being fully alert and productive when at work. It is interesting to note that while studies show clearly the prevalence of presenteeism when employees are stressed, in pain, fatigued, etc... no quality study has looked at prevention strategies.

A good direction for future research no doubt. An area I would myself like to research over some longer term studies.

Of course, related to other health, but deeper again is the concept of "sense of purpose" in the workplace. This is something many of us seek, but often seem to lack?

Just For Laughs...

2006-04-19T21:46:00.000+10:00

On a lighter note, one of my Irish friends recently sent me this...its an "oldie" but a "goodie"...many of these will have been heard before...I love the ability of the Irish to laugh at themselves.

The Irish Medical Dictionary
Artery.......................... The study of paintings
Bacteria........................ Back door to cafeteria
Barium.......................... What doctors do when patients die
Benign.......................... What you be, after you be eight
Caesarean Section............. A neighbourhood in Rome
Catscan......................... Searching for Kitty
Cauterize....................... Made eye contact with her
Colic............................ A sheep dog
Coma............................ A punctuation mark
Dilate........................... To live long
Enema.......................... Not a friend
Fester.......................... Quicker than someone else
Fibula........................... A small lie
Impotent....................... Distinguished, well known
Labour Pain..................... Getting hurt at work
Medical Staff.................. A Doctor's cane
Morbid.......................... A higher offer
Nitrates........................ Cheaper than day rates
Node............................ I knew it
Outpatient..................... A person who has fainted
Pelvis........................... Second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative................. A letter carrier
Recovery Room................. Place to do upholstery
Rectum......................... Nearly killed him
Secretion....................... Hiding something
Seizure......................... Roman emperor
Tablet.......................... A small table
Terminal Illness................ Getting sick at the airport
Tumor........................... One plus one more
Urine........................... Opposite of you're out
2xCond0ms...................... To be sure, to be sure!