WEBVTT - #1755 What’s Your ‘Peak Performance’ Time? - Harps

0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:02.920
<v Speaker 1>Good everyone, Craig Anthony Harper, I hope you're great. I

0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.200
<v Speaker 1>hope your days just bloody terrific. I want to talk

0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.840
<v Speaker 1>to you today about peak performance as specifically, I want

0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.160
<v Speaker 1>to talk to you about when you are at your peak.

0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.360
<v Speaker 1>I want to talk about your peak performance time. Now,

0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.639
<v Speaker 1>there's a whole lot of science behind this, with genetic

0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:24.520
<v Speaker 1>stuff and epigenetics and bi rhythms and circadian rhythms and

0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:26.480
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of stuff. I just want to talk to

0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.280
<v Speaker 1>you about what your body tells you, what your results

0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:34.160
<v Speaker 1>tell you, and what you can learn about you experientially

0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.440
<v Speaker 1>with a bit of awareness, with a bit of perhaps

0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.479
<v Speaker 1>with a bit of n equals one experimenting. That is

0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.360
<v Speaker 1>you being the experimenter and you being the subject, you

0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.720
<v Speaker 1>being the researcher, and you being the researched. What you

0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:52.680
<v Speaker 1>can learn about you, like, for example, when does your

0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:59.240
<v Speaker 1>brain work best? When are you cognitively optimal? Is it

0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.080
<v Speaker 1>the morning, is in the middle of the day, is

0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.160
<v Speaker 1>it late, is it early? Does it depend? Does it vary?

0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:09.880
<v Speaker 1>So for example, with me, I know that typically my

0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.160
<v Speaker 1>brain Now obviously it's different for different people, but my

0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.319
<v Speaker 1>brain seems to work better. And when I say better.

0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:22.720
<v Speaker 1>I'm more focused, I'm sharper, I'm I can solve problems better,

0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.119
<v Speaker 1>I can remember things better. I seem to perform better

0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:30.399
<v Speaker 1>creatively in the morning. So I get up generally around

0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:36.480
<v Speaker 1>six and generally between six and twelve. I am premium me.

0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.920
<v Speaker 1>I can still do stuff at night and in the afternoon,

0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:42.040
<v Speaker 1>of course, but I feel like it's hard to work.

0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.240
<v Speaker 1>You know. It's like after you've been for a ten

0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.720
<v Speaker 1>k run. You can still run, but you're tired. You're

0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.840
<v Speaker 1>still running, but it's not the same. And so for me,

0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.200
<v Speaker 1>it's kind of like that. I feel like there's a

0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.680
<v Speaker 1>window for me, and it's about probably three or four

0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.440
<v Speaker 1>hours where I'm flying, but maybe six hours overall where

0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.400
<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty good. And so my window won't necessarily probably

0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.360
<v Speaker 1>won't be your window. But so think about and your

0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.040
<v Speaker 1>body will tell you, and your mind, your ability to focus,

0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.520
<v Speaker 1>your ability to train, your ability to be productive will

0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.079
<v Speaker 1>tell you, like when are you the most productive? When

0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.480
<v Speaker 1>are you the most effective? When are you the most efficient?

0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.639
<v Speaker 1>When do you train best? Like our body and our

0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.120
<v Speaker 1>results and the world around us, and our conversation and

0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.519
<v Speaker 1>our relationships, our output, it's always telling us something. We're

0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.880
<v Speaker 1>always getting data. We're always getting information when it's from

0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.880
<v Speaker 1>our body. We call it biofeedback. More broadly, we might

0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.000
<v Speaker 1>just call it work feedback or productivity or efficiency when

0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.160
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about all the external stuff. But we're always

0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.600
<v Speaker 1>getting information, and it's our job. It's your job, your responsibility,

0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.360
<v Speaker 1>and my responsibility to be able to analyze that and go,

0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.280
<v Speaker 1>here's what I know when I do this, Like, for example,

0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:56.880
<v Speaker 1>when I lift weights in the morning, when I do

0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:01.080
<v Speaker 1>strength training in the morning, I'm stronger body, same bloke

0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:05.440
<v Speaker 1>doing the same things. I'm stronger. Now, that's probably because

0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.959
<v Speaker 1>I have more testosterone in the morning. I think most

0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.680
<v Speaker 1>people do. I think generally we do. Maybe it's just

0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.200
<v Speaker 1>because I'm less fatigued. Maybe that's on top of it.

0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.440
<v Speaker 1>Maybe I've got a better attitude in the morning. Maybe

0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.600
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, But here's what I know. Consistently, I

0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.400
<v Speaker 1>can still do strength training at night. But if let's

0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.600
<v Speaker 1>just make up a scale, the Craig awesomeness scale. If

0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:32.200
<v Speaker 1>in the morning i'm my awesomeness, let's call the the

0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.000
<v Speaker 1>productivity scale or the performance scale for me. In the morning,

0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.720
<v Speaker 1>I might be ten, I might be nine, But relatively

0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:41.280
<v Speaker 1>at night I'm going to be a seven or eight

0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.000
<v Speaker 1>same bloke doing the same things with the same physiology.

0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:46.360
<v Speaker 1>I'm just not quite there. So as much as I can,

0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.320
<v Speaker 1>I do my strength training in the morning. Conversely, comma,

0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.360
<v Speaker 1>I seem to do cardio better at night. I don't

0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.680
<v Speaker 1>even know why I'm excise physio. I'm an excise scientist.

0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Can't even tell you why. But here's what I know.

0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.360
<v Speaker 1>My body is always telling me something. My results are

0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.920
<v Speaker 1>always telling me something, and you are the same, Okay,

0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:07.080
<v Speaker 1>Like I know, for example, my peak performance has something

0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.080
<v Speaker 1>to do me functioning physically, mentally, emotionally, and in terms

0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.920
<v Speaker 1>of productivity. There's a relationship with meals and many of

0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.160
<v Speaker 1>you know this. When I eat lunch. For example, if

0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.200
<v Speaker 1>I have lunch in the middle of the day, as

0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:23.760
<v Speaker 1>obviously most people have lunch, I have some serious cognitive

0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.800
<v Speaker 1>decline after that depending on what I eat for an

0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:29.080
<v Speaker 1>hour or two. So I've figured out for me in

0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.880
<v Speaker 1>terms of peak performance, I breakfast, I ate dinner, I

0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.400
<v Speaker 1>ate nothing pretty much for about twelve hours. I might

0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:38.120
<v Speaker 1>have a coffee or two maybe, but it's always about

0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.440
<v Speaker 1>for me and hopefully for you, it's always about recognizing

0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:44.760
<v Speaker 1>how do I get the most out of my body

0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.800
<v Speaker 1>and my mind and my skill and my talent what

0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.680
<v Speaker 1>works best for me. So there is no set window,

0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.680
<v Speaker 1>there is no set time, There is no three step

0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.960
<v Speaker 1>operating system for optimal performance that works for every body.

0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:06.880
<v Speaker 1>And this is obviously because psychologically, physiologically, emotionally, we are

0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.640
<v Speaker 1>all different. And so the challenge is to find the

0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:15.080
<v Speaker 1>right program from some generic external source, but rather to

0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.840
<v Speaker 1>listen to the data and to act on that awareness,

0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.200
<v Speaker 1>and to act on that information that we are constantly

0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:26.160
<v Speaker 1>being given, and then to develop our own system via that.

0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.840
<v Speaker 1>I know that for me when I study in the morning,

0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.440
<v Speaker 1>when I study, when I'm doing my PhD stuff, and

0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:35.800
<v Speaker 1>I've got to read papers, and it's heavy going and

0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.839
<v Speaker 1>it's very, very cerebral and very it's not fun, right,

0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.280
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of sucks a lot of it. But I

0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:46.040
<v Speaker 1>know that I absorb more, I'm more present, I can

0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:50.320
<v Speaker 1>concentrate better, and I can get through what might take

0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:52.839
<v Speaker 1>me ninety minutes in the afternoon and will take me

0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.680
<v Speaker 1>sixty minutes in the morning. I also know that, for example,

0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:01.120
<v Speaker 1>as a presenter, as somebody who stands in of audiences,

0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.360
<v Speaker 1>and we're not just talking about peak performance time. Now

0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:08.120
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about peak performance habits here, but I know

0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.679
<v Speaker 1>that if I'm speaking at nine o'clock in the morning,

0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.640
<v Speaker 1>even though I normally eat breakfast, I won't eat breakfast

0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.320
<v Speaker 1>because even after breakfast there's a little bit of a

0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.839
<v Speaker 1>cognitive lull. Not massive, but I know. And again this

0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.560
<v Speaker 1>is not a recommendation. This is a personal revelation that

0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.080
<v Speaker 1>I've had an awareness that I have when I am

0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:31.720
<v Speaker 1>a little bit hungry, I present better, My brain works better,

0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.240
<v Speaker 1>I'm more present, I'm more switched on, and I tend

0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.760
<v Speaker 1>to perform at a higher level. So what's the bottom line.

0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.920
<v Speaker 1>The bottom line is you are constantly getting feedback from

0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.440
<v Speaker 1>your body and from your results, and from all the

0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.560
<v Speaker 1>things happening to you and around you because of you

0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.880
<v Speaker 1>and despite you. And the challenge is to think about,

0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.200
<v Speaker 1>how do I get the most out of my genetics,

0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.120
<v Speaker 1>What is the thing that works best? How do I

0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:56.839
<v Speaker 1>get the most out of my mind? How do I

0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:58.839
<v Speaker 1>get the most out of my time and my talent

0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.680
<v Speaker 1>and my resources. What are the peak performance times for

0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.400
<v Speaker 1>me to get stuff done, to do stuff to be

0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:09.159
<v Speaker 1>most effective? What are the piece the peak performance habits

0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:13.480
<v Speaker 1>and behaviors that work optimally for me, and when we

0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.400
<v Speaker 1>start to pay rather than just being in this groundhog

0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.280
<v Speaker 1>daaness of repetition. I train at six pm every night

0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.080
<v Speaker 1>because I always train at six pm. And I know

0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:24.560
<v Speaker 1>there are lots of variables that mean we can't always

0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.240
<v Speaker 1>train or do things at the best time because of

0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:31.160
<v Speaker 1>practical commitments. But there are some things over time where

0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:32.840
<v Speaker 1>we say, you know what, maybe I could get up

0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:34.960
<v Speaker 1>and go for a run at five point thirty because

0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.520
<v Speaker 1>when I run at five thirty AM, I feel way

0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.160
<v Speaker 1>better than five point thirty pm. But it's about awareness,

0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.880
<v Speaker 1>it's about trying stuff. It's about an equals one. It's

0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:46.280
<v Speaker 1>about you being able to do a bit of research

0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:48.760
<v Speaker 1>on you. You don't need to be a scientist to

0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:52.360
<v Speaker 1>do scientific stuff so that you can figure out what

0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.480
<v Speaker 1>works optimally for you on planet you. We'll be back

0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:01.559
<v Speaker 1>in a minute. So here's my my suggestion for this week,

0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.360
<v Speaker 1>not a or yeah for the coming week, not a question,

0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:08.600
<v Speaker 1>more a suggestion. Maybe if you feel compelled, if what

0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.120
<v Speaker 1>I said kind of makes sense and you want to

0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.000
<v Speaker 1>do something about that, identify an area or a couple

0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.040
<v Speaker 1>of areas that for you you would really like to

0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.160
<v Speaker 1>do better, or you would like to become more of

0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.440
<v Speaker 1>a peak performer in that place. Well, rather than just

0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.160
<v Speaker 1>doing what you've always done, try something new. Start to

0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.760
<v Speaker 1>record like one of the things that I used to

0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.520
<v Speaker 1>do for years and years and years. I'm not suggesting

0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.800
<v Speaker 1>you do this, and of course it's about much more

0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:36.360
<v Speaker 1>than your body and food, but I'm just giving you

0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:40.679
<v Speaker 1>a practical example. I recorded all of my workouts. I

0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:46.000
<v Speaker 1>recorded sets, reps, volume, intensity, workload. I recorded food, I

0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:50.760
<v Speaker 1>recorded Micro's macros meals, I recorded sleep, I recorded I

0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.840
<v Speaker 1>recorded all of the things, all of the variables that

0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.040
<v Speaker 1>would get me in shape and give me peak physical performance.

0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:02.600
<v Speaker 1>I recorded all of that for fifteen years, and somewhere

0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.040
<v Speaker 1>I've got fifteen years worth of data, but me me

0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.640
<v Speaker 1>tracking my behavior and diorizing my behavior so that I

0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.240
<v Speaker 1>could recognize where peak performance, where optimal performance came from

0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.280
<v Speaker 1>for me. So maybe an idea for you is to

0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.960
<v Speaker 1>start tracking things so that you can see what works.

0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.920
<v Speaker 1>Trying things and don't try it for two days and

0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.400
<v Speaker 1>ago it didn't work. Maybe you're going to go, you

0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.240
<v Speaker 1>know what, I'm gonna work out, or I'm going to

0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.080
<v Speaker 1>do a cold shower every day for the next twenty

0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.079
<v Speaker 1>eight days. See what happens. Or you might go, I'm

0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.480
<v Speaker 1>going to switch my workouts from this time to that time,

0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.600
<v Speaker 1>see what happens. Or I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm going

0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.079
<v Speaker 1>to stop eating at six o'clock at night, and I'm

0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.880
<v Speaker 1>not going to eat till eight the next morning, so

0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.240
<v Speaker 1>I've got a fourteen hour window when nothing's gone, I

0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.719
<v Speaker 1>might sleep better. Or I'm gonna I'm not going to

0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.320
<v Speaker 1>look at a screen, any kind of screen, a phone,

0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.719
<v Speaker 1>a tablet, a television, a computer. I'm not going to

0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.160
<v Speaker 1>look at a screen from seven pm on any night,

0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:00.559
<v Speaker 1>Or I'm not going to turn on my phone to

0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.400
<v Speaker 1>ten o'clock every day, or whatever it is. Figure out

0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.120
<v Speaker 1>what the thing is for you that might be relevant,

0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.640
<v Speaker 1>Try stuff, change stuff. You're not going to accidentally figure

0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.720
<v Speaker 1>it out. It needs to be a conscious process where

0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.680
<v Speaker 1>you are starting to figure out what works optimally for you.

0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:17.920
<v Speaker 1>See tomorrow,