The secret of High Performance in sport

There are many people who consider that there are secrets, shortcuts or keys to obtain the maximum performance, which brings us closer to achieving our most desired successes. For all those people this article is a reflection on the secrets of the word performance itself, in its etymological origins.

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What do we understand by High Performance?

Yield means to return, it comes from the Latin word "reddere" (to render). Among the meanings of the word "render" can be found the following:

1. Defeat the enemy and force him to surrender

Probably, it is by this meaning that we consider that performance in itself implies success based on the achievement of the result.

2. Submit to one's dominion

That would be in line with the first, as far as the achievement of the objectives is concerned.

3. Give or return to one what is due

In sporting terms, it would be more successful and would be in line with the effort employed.

As a result of associating the suffix “–miento” with the word “render”, a new word is produced, “performance”.

result of giving or returning effort, if we adjust to the third of its meanings, which is what the knowledge of the sports field invites us to do. Well, a high performance does not always entail a high result associated with it, paradoxically contrary to what many might believe. And, if that were the case, don't you think that the contexts of sporting excellence would be called high-result centers instead of high-performance centers (CAR)?

It is essential to emphasize these types of nuances in sports learning and in life in general. The highest goals demand everything from one, and even offering everything that we have inside, sometimes it is insufficient, because we can meet other competitors who show greater talent than the one we manifest.

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The relationship between result and performance

The result never comes before the performance. It is important to internalize this to develop a personal work culture based on effort. That is the true secret of success. That and consider your own success as the enjoyment experienced by the mere fact of doing what you want most, what you love.

That is, learn to focus on the process (the performance), rather than the product (the result). Sometimes we set goals based on high outcome goals, which push us to experience high doses of frustration, even more so when the athlete is not mature enough in terms of their personal self-confidence to set themselves these challenges.

It is there, where we meet young athletes obsessed by the inevitable committing of mistakes. No one ever learned to walk without stumbling at least several times. It is also there where the unrealistic expectations of performance and result appear, the “I have to achieve it”, “I cannot fail that” or “how can I not achieve it”. All of them based on the moral imperative to achieve an ideal result, based on a perfect path, without mistakes, inevitably pushing us towards frustration and possibly abandonment of the practice sporty.

If as an athlete or as a person, I am the product of my results, my self-confidence will suffer the blows of the mistakes made, as if it were a personal failure. In the end, any sport is a task that we have to face repeatedly in order to improve, improve and advance. And the task is not us. We are the ones who produce the results and not the other way around. Everyone cares about results, but these never come without effort, without mistakes and without learnings. If for each failure, I mistreat the machine to produce results, I will hardly be able to produce them.

It is important to become aware of this, to be able to master any sporting skill or task for which we decide to bet, without obsessing over If I will or will not be the best tomorrow or if I will achieve the highest goals, who would want to stand out in something that causes suffering or does not like? Enjoy the effort spent in an activity that I am passionate aboutWithout setting higher expectations than that, for me, that is true success.