What’s Your Recovery Time?

How do top performers stay “on top?”… This is a question I often times hear from people wondering what the secret is to performing at a high level with consistency.   Just last week on my flight from Los Angeles, the person sitting next to me was intrigued by my profession and asked me a similar question… “What do your top clients do when they get faced with a major challenge?”

My answer is simple:  It’s about Recovery Time.

Everyone Experiences Challenges

I say this with the assumption that you already have this knowledge, yet sometimes when we are in the “trenches” so to speak, we think we are the only ones facing challenges or adversity.  I’ve experienced this situation first hand in many casual conversations with people as they share their issues or frustrations with me.  It’s important to establish a baseline… meaning an understanding and clear picture of what’s really going on.  Here are my three quick reality checks:

1.  Your situation is not permanent

2.  Others have faced similar circumstances and succeeded

3.  So what are you going to do about it?

Your situation is not permanent simply brings you to the reality is that it’s not the end of the world… it’s an “event” that is occurring in your business or your life.  Yes, some situations are more “serious” or critical than others, and I’m not making light of very real circumstances, yet all of us go through challenges and will be faced with issues, both big and small.  The event may be permanent, yet your situation is not.

Others have faced similar circumstances and succeeded… this is one of my favorite coaching questions.  Do you think anyone else has ever faced a situation similar to yours?  And of course the answer is always “YES.”  And many people that have faced similar situations or even more severe situations and have succeeded because of their commitment to be the best father, the best leader, the best husband, the best CEO, etc.

So what are you going to do about it?  This is where “the rubber meets the road.”  As I said earlier, we all have faced, and will face challenges and adversity on our journey through life… it’s how you respond that will determine how high you fly.

Recovery Time

Recovery time is a term I created to apply to how fast someone is willing to overcome their challenges and get back on track to success.   Back to the original question…How do top performers get back on track?  The answer is simple:  They chose to make their recovery time shorter rather than longer.  Have you ever met someone who has had a business situation go the wrong way, and as a result, slipped into a two month slump?  Unfortunately it does happen.  Top performers can be faced with the same challenge, yet make the decision to come out of their emotional wreckage in two days rather than two weeks; and for some it can be two hours or two minutes!

The choice is up to you.  Realize that you cannot change what happened, so your only choice is to saddle up, recover and succeed!

Keep Believing!

Your Coach,

Dan