3 Things: Positive Voice & Peak Performance (Jonathan Roche)
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How do elite athletes, CEOs, and other peak performers unlock - and maintain - the very best versions of themselves? What routines and habits do they invest in? What do they measure? And importantly, how do they ensure they’re still having fun along the way?
Jonathan Roche is an award-winning expert and best-selling author who specializes in all of the above. This episode is essentially a coaching session with Jonathan - packed with actionable advice to control your mindset, optimize your habits, and level up in all areas of your life.
This is 3 Things.
Listen:
In this episode:
Four inputs to measure day-to-day peak performance (1:00-5:00)
Jonathan coaches elite athletes and top executives, but he doesn’t track traditional stats. Instead, he breaks “peak performance” down into two factors: fun and growth. How do you have the most fun in your field while growing personally and professionally?
Every day, you can aim to earn a 4/4 “peak game score.”
Input #1 = World-class mindset. Your positive voice was at the podium of your mind.
Input #2 = World-class effort. You were all-in, focused, acting as a tone-setter.
Input #3 = World-class teammate. You uplift others on your team.
Input #4 = World-class character. You positively represented yourself, your family, your team.
Four versions of the “negative voice” (5:00-10:00)
Who’s at the podium of your mind? Your positive voice is your biggest fan and pushes you forward ; your negative voice holds you back in several ways.
Negative Voice #1 = The Bully, which makes us feel less-than, and like we don’t belong.
Negative Voice #2 = The Procrastinator, which pushes off priorities and takes you out of an optimized state.
Negative Voice #3 = The Overthinker, which traps us in “thought loops” - replaying the tape, ruminating on failures vs processing the lesson and moving on.
Negative Voice #4 = The Buddy, which enables you to pull back when you’re doing well or when external factors are challenging vs keeping momentum.
Two simple tools can help you fend off any version of your negative voice. First, ask what your positive voice thinks - which is to just make sure you’re learning ; and second, ask who cares?! Only your negative voice cares.
“If you take one thing out of our coaching session today, this is it. Your negative voice is an unpleasable critic.
If you want mental freedom, just decide: I am not going to try to please my negative voice anymore. It’s a game I can’t win, and it’s exhausting. ”
How to optimize your morning routine, which starts the night before (10:00-15:00)
Jonathan shares a method originally published by Brendan Bouchard called “3, 2, 1, Bed” - which means three hours before bed, no nutrients ; two hours, no water ; one hour, no electronics.
Simplify, systematize, and optimize your morning routine. The more systems you can create and optimize, the more you can guarantee the likelihood of favorable results.
If you have no morning routine now, start small. The worst thing you could do is create a long routine that you’ll instantly fall out of. Consider a gratitude list of what Jonathan calls a “Declaration to Thrive” - stating who you are, what is your identity? How do you want to show up? What are your goals?
Check out Jonathan’s morning routine and Declaration to Thrive below!
Gratitude is rocket fuel (15:00-18:00)
Your top competitors are your negative voice, your prior self, and your cell phone.
Your perspective is “the game within the game.” We are not always in control of what happens in life, but we are always in control of our voice choice. (Who is at the podium of your mind.)
Reframe your to-do list as a “get-to do” list. Embedding warmth and appreciation into your day-to-day actions helps create a positive perspective.
Lightning round & the difference between confidence and arrogance (18:00-22:00)
What’s more important - consistency or motivation? Consistency.
What’s more important - mental or physical endurance? Mental.
Who inspires you? People who come in last and fight to finish the race inspire me.
What’s the difference between confidence and arrogance? Confidence is earned, and is nothing more than a reflection of preparation. The most prepared person is the most confident person because they’ve done the work.
About Jonathan Roche:
Jonathan Roche is an award-winning Peak Performance Coach for Professional Athletes, CEOs and other leaders from some of the largest companies in the US. He’s also a best-selling author, 29-time Boston Marathon Finisher (running 28 straight to raise funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), 12-time Ironman Triathlon Finisher, and the Founder and CEO of Breakthrough Health.
He holds two patents on Personalized Interval Training, with a focus on achieving “peak performance lock-in” - a state of being your absolute best physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.
Jonathan’s Morning Routine
6AM = Wake-up
I say my Morning Prayers and then go through my Gratitude List.
I then say "Positive Voice at the Podium!", "Earn your 5! (for an Energy Level of 5)", "Attitude of Gratitude!" and "Be Happy and Have Fun Today!"
Then I say "Let's make it an Awesome Day!" and I get out of bed.
6:10AM = I have 1/3 a cup of water then I have 1/3 a cup of orange juice and then I pour my coffee and turn on my phone and check my Whoop app for my sleep results.
6:20AM = I do 1 minute of Box Breathing and then 12 minutes of Meditation
I use the Headspace app and then I read my Declaration to Thrive (it takes 6 minutes).
During the Spring, Summer and Fall I do this on my front porch (ideally in the sun) that overlooks the ocean. I suggest you find an inspiring outdoor space at your house.
6:40AM = Ready to pour my positive mindset and vibe into my family and then my coaching clients.
* I do my morning workout at 9am each day so that is why it’s not part of my early morning routine.
Jonathan’s Declaration to Thrive
My Top 3 Priorities:
1) To be the Absolute Best Version of Myself Mentally, Physically, Spiritually & Emotionally!
2) To support Karen, Alex, Ben and Adeline in being the Absolute Best Versions of Themselves!
3) To Positively Impact as many people as Humanly Possible!
My Mission Statement:
Honor and serve God by positively impacting as many people as humanly possible (one person at a time and most importantly my family). My core belief is that every person on this planet is remarkable, kind, brilliant, athletic, resourceful, caring and important. My role and responsibility is to hold up a mirror for them to see who they really are and to then equip them with the tools and strategies to reveal that version of themselves. While fulfilling my mission, I trust that God has lined my life up so that everything happens for a reason and is meant to grow me, equip me, serve me, empower me and enlighten me so that I can maximize my positive impact on my family, friends, team, clients, community and the world. What a gift it is to have this be my life’s work!
12 Rules to Thrive:
1) Nail my Voice Choice (Choose my Positive Voice over my negative voice)!
2) Have fun!
3) Try my best!
4) Treat everyone (including myself) with respect!
5) Treat everyone (including myself) as if they already are who they have the potential to be!
6) Leave everyone (and everything) better than I found them!
7) How much I care about others and uniquely see them and understand them (empathy) will dictate how many people allow me to serve them and positively impact them!
8) Extreme Gratitude is key to true happiness! Don’t ever forget opening up the fridge and seeing just ketchup and butter – you are now Blessed Beyond Comprehension (BBC)!
9) Always keep your energy bucket full because you can’t give away what you don’t have!
10) Live like a Professional Athlete by perpetually nurturing your mind and body!
11) Earn your Healthy Longevity! You don’t feel your age – you feel your habits!
12) Out-care, out-serve, out-give, out-prepare, out-coach and out-lead everyone else!
My Insanely Big Goals:
1) Be one of the Most Energetic, Healthy, Optimistic, Happy and Inspiring people in the world!
2) Be the #1 Peak Performance Coach in the World for Professional and College Athletes!
3) Run 75 straight Boston Marathons for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in memory of my Mom! So I’ll run my last one when I’m 98 – in 2070.
4) Sell 100 Million “12 Key Habits” Books by 2033 (not to sell books but to use books as vehicles to reach and Positively Impact Lives)
5) Guide my NBA Clients in earning 14+ year careers (3X the league average of 4.5 years), my NFL Clients in earning 10+ year careers (3X the league average of 3.3 years) and my PGA Clients in earning 20+ career wins (only 65 players have won 20+ events).
Powerful & Inspiring Quotes:
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” - Confucius
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
“Don’t wish it was easier. Wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
“Lions do not lose sleep over the opinions of sheep.” – Unknown
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” – Unknown
“When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” – Jim Rohn
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
“Everyone gets the good stuff! Treat the garbage man the same way you treat a CEO. Giving respect is free and easy!” – Don Roche, Sr.
“If you have your health, someone to love, a roof over your head and food in the fridge then you have everything you need for an amazing life. Don’t ever forget that!” – Dory Roche
“You can be anything you want to be if you believe in yourself, treat people right, work really hard and always do the right thing.” – Dory Roche
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” - Ronald Osborn
“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.” – Robert Kiyosaki
"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes" - Andrew Carnegie
“Stand guard at the gates to your mind!” – Jim Rohn
“Your energy announces you to the room before you speak.” - Unknown
“To achieve what 1 out of 1,000 people achieve, you must do what 999 out of 1,000 people are not willing to do.” – Jonathan Roche
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
“The answer to every un-asked question is no.” – Jonathan Roche
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West
“It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”–Theodore Roosevelt
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
Mantras:
Use Your Gift!
Earn Your Awesome!
Blessed Beyond Comprehension!
6 Key Daily Actions that Make Success Inevitable:
1) I Jump into Each Day with Positive Energy, Extreme Gratitude and Relentless Optimism!
2) I Focus only on my Controllables: My Voice Choice, Attitude, Habits and Effort!
3) I Work Hard and I Ignore the Doubters as I chase down my Insanely Big Goals!
4) I Embrace Discomfort as my Relationship with Discomfort is the gateway to Unlock my Potential!
5) I Relentlessly Focus on Closing my Potential Gap and making a Positive Impact!
6) I Embrace being a Leader and I Pay the Fees every day to be a World-Class Coach and Leader!
“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.” - Heartsill Wilson
3 Things To Take Away
1) Our thoughts really matter. How we internalize what happens to us in life will dictate how we show up in the future. Why not pick the friendly, benign, kind voice to keep us company as we go through life’s journey?
2) We all have the opportunity to own our own power. Why do we give others so much control over how we feel about things? The question of “who cares” is one we should keep asking ourselves as we take risks and engage in all sorts of adventures in life.
3) As we start the year, a powerful reminder is that, ultimately, we will not fail to reach our goals because they are too aspirational - we will fail to reach them because of our systems. What systems should we re-evaluate and re-imagine and re-invent for the good of the journey that lays ahead in 2025?
Ric Elias. Now he’s sharing conversations with remarkable people, and 3 things we all can take away from each.