The O.M.I.R Framework For High Performance
DEFINING HIGH PERFORMANCE
So what is high performance?
What do we mean when we say somebody is a high-performer?
High performance, as I like to define it, is the state of being and performing at your best.
It’s you firing on all cylinders, using the maximum amount of your potential.
It’s a feeling of not being restricted by anything, but moving freely towards your goal.
It’s not about optimizing every minute of your day – on the contrary, it’s a state of flow and effortlessness, when you can just be and do and express your natural best self.
A state when you feel productive and able to deal with anything life throws at you.
But what’s the secret sauce that sets high performers apart?
In this article, we’ll delve into the fascinating world of high performance, breaking it down into four essential components: Inspirational O.utcome, Flow M.ovement, I.nterference, and R.esources.
By understanding and mastering each of these elements, you can unlock your full potential and achieve your most ambitious goals.
Whether you’re an inspiring athlete, a professional with big dreams, or someone simply looking to be the best version of themselves, understanding these elements will give you a huge advantage in your performance.
1. ONE OUTCOME
In my observation, high performance starts with one clear, inspirational goal.
This can be winning a championship, building a million dollar company, achieving financial independence or anything in between.
Whatever it may be, the main thing is that this outcome gets your juices flowing, that it energizes you and gives new meaning to your life.
Having an inspirational outcome will give you that drive and inspiration, and most importantly, give you motivation and energy to perform at a high level.
If whatever you are trying to do doesn’t scare you and inspire you at the same time, and doesn’t make your juices flowing, then it’s not going to be enough for you to perform at your best.
Ideally, an outcome needs to be inspiring and challenging at the same time. You have to be able to finish the sentence:
“Just imagine if I could…”
> Build that business
> Win that championship
> Take my business to THAT level
> Become world’s no. 1 in something
So ask yourself, what do you want?
What do you really want?
You want to be able to answer this question so that you can actually see, feel and taste your dream outcome.
This is where high performance starts!
You want to be really honest with yourself and have every part of yourself aligned.
There can be no confusion where one part of you wants something, and another wants something else.
All of you has to be on board with a resounding YES!
As corny as it sounds, it does start with a dream.
A kid kicking a football, and every time he scores celebrating his goal in front of 100.000 people – if only in his mind, is dreaming. And that is precisely where it all starts.
When Messi or Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic were kids, do you think they didn’t dream?
Do you think they were in their mind already already on that stadium, playing for those big clubs?
High performance starts with a shot of inspiration.
A goal that is a little bit “out there” but somehow still feels like it belongs to us.
So get clear on that picture of what you want.
Use your imagination.
What do you want?
If you can’t answer this question just yet, take your time with it.
What would be awesome to do?
Lock yourself in a room if you need to, or simply keep this question on your mind as you go about your day.
Write it down on a piece of paper and think about it all the time.
What do I want?
2. FLOW MOVEMENT
Once you have a clear outcome about what you want, the next step is to start moving towards it.
So let’s talk MOVEMENT.
And more importantly, let’s talk about a high-performing movement.
Years back, a guy named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi became obsessed with this question, and devoted his entire life to answering just this one simple question.
Eventually he wrote a book about it, Flow.
In it, he explained that there was just one thing that made the difference between those who performed exceptionally, and the rest who were just average.
That difference was pleasure.
High performers actually enjoyed what they were doing.
Whether they were musicians, business people, surgeons, athletes… the reason they excelled at what they did was because they actually enjoyed it.
If you want to reach high-performance, you have to find a way to enjoy whatever it is you’re doing.
So not only do you want to get yourself to move, but you want to move in flow.
So how do you do that?
There are 4 elements you want to follow in order to achieve movement in flow:
1. CLARITY on which actions you will take
2. Making those actions ACHIEVABLE
3. Constantly PUSHING your LIMITS by increasing the difficulty of the actions as you improve
4. An ENJOYABLE STRUCTURE that will help you stay consistent
So let’s talk about the first point:
GETTING CLEAR ON YOUR ACTIONS
Clarity inspires action.
The more clear you can get on the action you need to take to move closer to your goal, the more motivated you will feel about getting to work every day.
Start by creating a SIMPLE PLAN.
The plan does not have to be complicated, and often, it is much better if kept simple.
Create an outline, some sort of a roadmap of how you’re going to go about achieving your outcome.
I often use something I call the 3-step plan.
It’s a plan that involves 3 steps, and only 3 steps.
Instead of it being a detailed micro plan, it’s a broader plan with only 3 steps.
For example, if I wanted to become a doctor, my 3-step plan would be:
1. Go to school
2. Study my ass off
3. Become a doctor
The 3-step plan forces you to simplify the process so your mind can process it easier.
Remember, execution hates complexity.
The more complex something is, the less chances you have of actually getting to it and taking action.
When you’re able to simplify what you need to do to only 3 steps, you’ll instantly get clarity on to how to proceed.
ACHIEVABLE DAILY MOVEMENT(S)
Next is your daily movement, or daily actions.
When it comes to your daily movement, you want to make it so that every day you actually enjoy the movements.
And the way you’re going to achieve enjoyment is if you can see visible progress every day.
To do that, you’re going to need Achievable goals you can get done that day.
Nothing will take away the joy of doing your thing than failing to see progress on a regular basis.
You want to be able to turn back every day, and with pride say: “I did that!”
Now you might be saying:
“But what if it’s impossible to finish something in a day? When a builder is building a house he doesn’t finish it that day…”
Yes, that’s true.
However, the builder does finish smaller goals that lead to that house being built, like digging the foundations, or putting up the walls.
The whole idea is that you begin every day with an intention of finishing something.
In other words, daily goal orientation.
What will you get DONE today?
And once the day is over, what did you get DONE today?
When I worked in construction, we would always have a daily goal of what needs to get done THAT day.
And we would not stop working until it was done – which often meant working overtime, because concrete dries up too fast to wait until tomorrow!
You want to have the same urgency with your daily actions.
Start each day with a specific thing you want to get done, and then work until that thing is complete.
Again, don’t make your actions too complex, and definitely don’t create too many actions to do.
The third element of movement is:
PUSH YOUR LIMIT
By pushing your limit you want to make sure that the daily actions you take are actually the actions that count.
Muhammad Ali used to say: “I don’t start counting my sit-ups until they hurt, because only then it counts.”
You may be doing things, but are you doing the things that count? Or are you only doing things that are within your comfort zone.
As you keep doing your daily actions, you will keep improving.
And at some point, they won’t challenge you anymore.
And when that happens, progress will stale. You’ll start losing the excitement about your work and you’ll stop seeing that consistent progress.
That’s where you need to move the limit line.
We all experienced showering and feeling the hot water slowly turning cold. What we had to do at that moment is increase the hot water to match the cold water.
Same happens here.
As you keep improving, you have to consistently increase the challenge to match your increased skill level.
You see, the difference that makes the difference, be it with entrepreneurs, athletes, business people or anyone seeking high performance is that they hit the nail on the head with the actions they take.
They don’t get caught with their pants down in their comfort zone. As soon as they feel the ground underneath them getting soft, they’ll jump to a harder surface.
They are able to step forth and choose the action that will really push the needle and get them to their outcome.
Often, the thing that will move the needle and actually make you serious progress is outside of what you perceive to be comfortable or even possible/doable by you at this moment.
It may be that you are really scared of rejection, but the thing that would move the needle is precisely risking getting rejected.
Maybe you’re trying to succeed in business and money is tight, but the thing that would actually move the needle is you investing some money.
Don’t make this mistake. Push your limits.
ENJOYABLE STRUCTURE
The last element of making your actions enjoyable is having an enjoyable structure.
What do I mean by this?
Enjoyable structure means you are actually enjoying your life as you go along.
You are taking action, pushing your limit, making progress… but you are also taking time to take care of yourself and have a balanced life experience.
There is time for work, and there is time for rest. There is time for seriousness, and there is time for play.
There has to be a rhythm to it, a pulse, a beat.
Even high-performing athletes have an off season, where they recharge, spend time with their families and friends and just enjoy their life.
The way to get to high performance is not by just working, working and working, but by actually enjoying your life.
This isn’t to take away anything from actually pushing your limits and working hard.
You do want to work hard, but you also want to come home and open that “beer” or whatever you enjoy.
But be honest – when does that “beer” feel better? After you’ve slept all day, or after you’ve worked really hard and now you have a chance to fully enjoy it?
That’s the point of an enjoyable structure.
With whatever you are trying to do, build a structure that you enjoy as you are moving towards that outcome that inspires you.
3. Elimination of INTERFERENCE
Often, as you start moving, and many times before you even manage to take any action, you will have interference come up.
What is interference?
Interference are the things that come up for you as you want to do something, but you either can’t get yourself to do it, or they are simply slowing you down as you move.
This can be your fears (of rejection, failure), your self-doubt, limiting beliefs, perfectionism, confusion or feeling like an imposter.
It’s that voice inside your head that tells you that you’re not good enough, that what you’re doing won’t work, that you will fail, that you shouldn’t even be there etc.
Here’s the problem with interference:
No matter how talented or skilled you are, having only one interference can put a cap on your success and hold you back from reaching your full potential.
In other words, if you can’t get your head straight, you won’t get far.
Whatever issue you have, that will act as an anchor and pull you back, not allowing you to make any progress.
As an example, when I worked in sales, I was one of the best presenter in the company.
I knew how to present my product professionally, overcome any objections and close the sale.
So then how come I was always at the bottom of performers?
Because I had one major hindrance:
A crippling fear of rejection.
I did not want to promote myself and I wasn’t spending enough time searching for prospects.
I dreaded the phone and hearing the word “No” from potential prospects.
So I avoided it.
But what good are the skills of selling when you simply don’t have anybody to sell it to?
Let’s say you’re an athlete, and your performance is great in practice, but come game time, you buckle under the pressure.
Your mind is interfering with what your body is able to do.
How far do you think you will go as an athlete, when you can’t deliver in critical moments?
Or let’s say you’re an entrepreneur with great ideas, but you’re plagued with self-doubt and you struggle to put your ideas to action or make important decision.
How effective do you think you will be?
If you’re having interference, it’s going to be hard for you to move and take action, and even if you do, that action will probably be sporadic and never consistent.
You will probably keep stumbling upon that interference, always hindering and slowing down your performance.
If you want to achieve high performance, you need to first recognise the interference when it comes up, and then eliminate it.
You want to remove any bumps from the road, so you can flow, move without major interference.
Here are a couple of major interferences:
> Shame
> Guilt
> Doubt
> Low self-esteem
> Impostor syndrome
Eliminating interference often involves elevating ourselves from our present thoughts and emotions or feelings.
That is why it is invaluable to work with someone like a coach, who can help you identify and remove any interference as it comes along.
4. RESOURCES
The fourth and final step to high performance is to get the resources you need.
Now what do I mean by resources?
When I say resources, I don’t necessarily mean external resources like money, connections, or anything like that.
I mean internal resources that live inside of you, that can help you get the external resources.
Because to get to the next level, what or how you are is not enough and you will need additional resources.
You may need new ideas, motivation, a new mindset or a new way of thinking about things, etc.
Let me give you an example:
As I was building my business, I often came across situations and challenges that were difficult to process.
After a while of experiencing it, I started feeling burned out. Or at least that was my explanation for what I felt.
Then I stumbled upon a book from an ultra-marathoner, where he talked about something called an Ultra-Mindset.
I was blown away by the things this guy was able to withstand. It was out of this world.
These were often 24 hour runs, or 48 hour races, often with no sleeping in between.
He talked about the mindset he needed to develop to endure the ultra competitions.
One of the things he talked about was this mindset of “All good, mental training”. He gave an example when he was racing an ultra race, and at some point went 2-hours off course.
At that point, instead of sinking deep into despair, he simply said: “All good, mental training” and turned around to run back for 2 hours.
And that’s when it hit me – my experience of feeling burned out mostly came out of my mindset.
The way how I was thinking and responding to situations was fueling how I was feeling.
So just by changing my mindset, or by changing how I think about something, I can change my experience of that thing.
That’s an example of a resource.
Here’s another example:
Before 1954, scientists claimed it was humanly impossible to run 1 mile (1,6 km) under 4 minutes. They said that human body simply wasn’t built to do that.
Then on the 6th of May, 1954, a guy named Roger Banister came along, and broke the world record by running 1 mile in under 4 minutes (3:59.4).
Now mind you, this was never done before.
But then just two months later, another athlete ran the 4 minute mile. Since then, 1.755 athletes ran the sub four-minute mile, including high-school kids.
What changed?
It was belief.
Once that new belief was established (resource), it was suddenly achievable to many other people as well.
Imagine resources as your rocket fuel, as your nitro to your race car.
The purpose of these is to upgrade your level of thinking, feeling and being to the level you need in order to achieve your ultimate outcome.
Here’s one of my favourite resources:
ATTACK MINDSET
I came up with this mindset as I was thinking about the things I was afraid of. I was afraid of rejection, exposure, of showing myself and getting told No.
So at one point, I realized this was one of my biggest hindrances, because it was the one thing stopping me.
So I came up with this philosophy:
I will write down and then attack everything I’m afraid of.
I will become the predator and hunt down my fears and hold backs. So everything I felt was stopping me, I would flip that thing on it’s head and start attacking IT.
So I purposefully put myself into situations and tried to get rejected.
I exposed myself on purpose and tried to get people to put me down.
I went and did exactly that which I felt most scared about.
No fear.
When I did this, my fear turned into excitement. I couldn’t wait to try it out, to put it out and risk it, it almost became an adventure and a mission.
What if you could adopt an Attack Mindset, and start hunting down your fears like they are most wanted and you are a bounty hunter?
Working with a coach can help you exactly with that.
Someone who studied internal resources and sought to develop them in themselves, can help you look past those mindsets that are preventing you from getting to the next level and find those resources inside yourself.
The role of a coach is to help you identify your one outcome, get you to move, eliminate the interference along the way, and bring out those resources from within yourself.
After a decade of working with literally thousands of people from all over the world, and recording over 5000 coaching hours, I was able to put together one of the most powerful programs to help you reach high-performance.
Whatever your thing may be, being an athlete, a business person, an entrepreneur or a professional, high performance starts inside of you, not outside.
You see, most of the times, it’s not something external that stops us from going after and achieving our goals – it’s us, or our inner world.
By fixing up our inner world, we can achieve whatever we want.