“That’s outside my boat”

The High Performance team have been incredibly busy, recording some fabulous interviews for the new series of the podcast whilst also putting the final touches to our book.

There have been a few occasions when I was doing this, along with the regular demands of being a husband, son and Dad, I have felt a little overwhelmed. I was reminded of a common mistake which I make when under pressure: trying to control as much as possible and sometimes, focusing on controlling the uncontrollable.

With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to share with you an idea which many of our high performing guests have shared and I applied to my situation. When we met Sir Ben Ainslie at his Team Ineos HQ in Portsmouth, he told us how he would identify a few key controllables and then focus entirely on them. Every time he is asked a question about something which was outside his control (like the weather, the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents or what might go wrong during a race), he would respond with the phrase ‘That’s outside my boat’.

By refusing to focus on anything beyond his control, this serial champion was able to bring all his energy to bear on what was within his own control. I tried it and learned that focusing exclusively on what’s ‘in your boat’ not only increases your effectiveness, but reduces your levels of stress dramatically.

Now take a really close look at any challenges you are facing and figure out exactly what you can and cannot control. It’s worth writing these things down.

Good luck,

Damian