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Where I failed

4 steps to high performance even when you fear failing

Image credit: shutterstock.com | jesadaphorn

 

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose

– Bill Gates

Some time ago I spent a week coaching business executives in an idyllic hotel in the mountains of Austria. It sounds restful, but to be fully present for their clients, coaches ideally need a clear head and a clear diary. However, I had a problem. At the same time, I was preparing to launch Coachify™ and my diary was out of control. My task list was endless and I had a series of urgent and important deadlines to meet.

In The Red Zone

My solution? To work harder. Each day I got up at 4.30am to work for 3 hours before the start of the coaching day. I was fielding emails and calls, and my mind was full of small tasks to complete and strategic challenges to solve. All this meant that I didn’t get enough exercise and I didn’t eat well either. My sleep app told me that I averaged 4.5 hours of sleep per night that week, off the back of an already exhausting schedule. I was in the red zone.
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Redefining productivity, the wearable way

Image credit: shutterstock.com | elwynn

In a world driven by results, maximising productivity is an important way to establish how to meet and exceed your goals. No more is it a question of just letting someone “get on with it”. Now is the time to embrace technological advances in measuring efficiency, and see your business grow as you redefine the way you measure efficiency across all areas. Coachify™ are specialists in providing wearable solutions to gauge productivity across all sectors.

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The rise of China – and wearables

Image credit: shutterstock.com | elwynn

I’ve just come back from a week working in Hong Kong, my first visit to the city and my second to China. New buildings are rising from the dust everywhere. On a trip to Shanghai last year I was amazed by the number of high-rise buildings under construction. I lost count on the road from the airport to the hotel alone. On this most recent trip, my taxi driver pointed out the impressive new terminal being built for the rail link between the two cities.

I remember speaking to a fellow student at Cambridge in 1996, who had decided to dedicate his career to studying China. When I asked him why, his reply was short and memorable: “Just wait and see – China is on the rise.” One colleague who has recently moved to Hong Kong is confident that China will ‘rule the world’. Whatever your view on this, one thing is indisputable: business is booming.
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Prayer, meditation and wearable tech

Image credit: shutterstock.com | Milles Studio

In May this year, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks delivered an excellent reflection on BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day, entitled ‘Prayer, meditation and ritual are fitness trackers for the soul’. His message was timely, pointing out how new technology can remind us of ancient wisdom of enduring importance.
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Productivity re-imagined

how wearables transformed my performance

Image credit: shutterstock.com | macgyverhh

Yesterday I arrived home by 5pm, having finished work for the day. The sun was shining while I chased my 2-year old Anna round the garden for a while, then settling down to dinner with Tan, the girls and a friend. Business is busy, and I was feeling well-rested having slept soundly the previous night. Later I would go for a run. It was a productive day.

But this wasn’t a one-off. I’m in a place where I’m getting a lot done, feeling fresh, and working fewer hours in the day. How did I get here?

For the last nine months I’ve been working on and using a new service called Coachify. We have launched it recently and are seeing extremely encouraging early interest. So if you like this blog, I think you’ll be interested in finding out more.

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Align what you do with what you value

Image credit: shutterstock.com | Billion Photos

It is so easy for what we do to become disconnected from what we value. Whether for financial, family, or other reasons, we can often make decisions that take us away from the things that are most fundamental to who we are – our purpose and values.

Here’s an exercise I use with my clients to help them examine their values and look at what they’re currently doing against them. Perhaps you might find it useful too.

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Wearables review: Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Surge (part 2 of 2)

Wearable reviews at nickchatrath.com are designed to let you know how useful a gadget is in helping to transform your personal performance with the big four intelligences in mind. (The big four intelligences are mental focus, emotional intelligence, physical sustainability and purpose. In my experience, the most effective leaders devote attention to all four.) Whereas other sites review wearables from purely a technical or physical fitness standpoint, if you want to stop feeling tired and start having the time to focus productively on what matters, then you are in the right place. In this review we will look at the 3 Fitbit premium wearables. Please read this post in conjunction with the general introduction to the Fitbit premium wearables (part 1).

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Wearables review: Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Surge (part 1 of 2)

Image source: fitbit.com

This post is the first of a 2-part series in which three Fitbit premium wearable devices – Charge HR, Blaze and Surge – are reviewed. We have chosen to review these three devices because they all feature heart rate measurement. Used alongside other data from Fitbit and elsewhere, this feature enables insight beyond physical sustainability alone. In this introductory post we explain how valuable they can be when used in conjunction with other data.

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4 ways to reframe when you get triggered

Image source: shutterstock.com | Dean Drobot

If you’ve seen House of Cards, you will know that Frank Underwood is one of the most fascinating and complex characters on television. Ruthlessly ambitious, his moments of cold, calm calculation are punctuated with him losing his composure when things don’t go his way, often with terrifying consequences.

I won’t spoil any of the plot for you, but I’m presuming you don’t have much in common with Frank Underwood – if you do then that’s probably beyond what I can help you with! However, all of us to face moments when we’re prone to losing our composure, usually when we react with a fight, flight or freeze response rather than using the best of our rational, emotional or other intelligences. This is what’s called being ‘triggered’, and it’s when you enter the danger zone.

I shared some tips on this issue back in February, but there’s so much to say I thought I’d revisit it. Here are four ways to reframe the situation when you become triggered.

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4 tips to sleep soundly

Image source: shutterstock.com | www.BillionPhotos.com

There’s a lot of advice out there about sleep. So much, in fact, that it would be easy to be kept awake at night worrying about whether we’re doing all of the right things!

Seeing as you’re busy and you don’t have time to compile all of this different advice, I’ve done the hard work for you. Here are my four tips to help you get a great night’s sleep.

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