SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE

Whatever you do, you do it well. That’s the problem.

Your competence is a given, so you treat your capacity like the mitten in that old Ukrainian folk tale. “Sure, I can fit a fox and a wolf and a bear in here. The more the merrier!”

But you’ve started to notice that things are getting a little tight as a result of your default “yes,” and your old strategy of handling increased demand by getting cleverer about time management is not working as well as it used to.

So what now? You’re reaching a point of diminishing returns as you try to fit it all in. You’re getting tired and restless at the same time.

Faced with this tension, a lot of high performers double down. They try to recapture the magic of the work they used to find fulfilling and prove to themselves that they’ve still got it.

To feel productive, they work on tasks that are easy to check off instead of the stuff that is more open-ended.

Understandable, but this is like trying to fit into the shoes you wore in fifth grade. They’re worn out, they’re not going to fit, and they’re not your style.

You’ve outgrown the old work. It’s time to let it go and make space for new work that will challenge you in new ways.

It might even be time to stop trying to prove yourself. What changes when you imagine that you are the person you hoped you would become? What if you really are that person now?

And what’s next?

In the Sustainable Performance Partnership, we gradually release the parts of your work that don’t match who you’ve lived and worked your way into being.

Using your day-to-day challenges as fodder, we explore new moves and approaches that allow you to step into an elevated version of yourself. A version that isn’t waiting for approval or permission, because you’ve already earned it.

What we might work on:

• Noticing which responsibilities you have outgrown, even when you can still do them exceptionally well

• Making deliberate choices about where your time, attention, and effort are most valuable

• Experimenting with new ways to use your authority, expertise, and influence

• Making space for work that is less defined and legible

• Navigating higher-stakes decisions with less second-guessing

• Recognizing and pursuing opportunities to make a larger contribution

A combination of live calls and asynchronous support over a quarter yields lots of opportunities to experiment with a more expansive, authoritative way of being — which might just mean that you start seeing yourself the way others already see you.

What you might notice:

• You are less likely to fill available capacity simply because you can.

• You become more selective about which problems deserve your attention.

• You spend more of your time doing work that challenges you in just the right way.

• You use your competence as a foundation rather than something you continually need to demonstrate.

• You take up more room in situations where your judgment and perspective are valuable.

What you’ll probably discover is that the respect and status you thought belonged only to others are yours to claim.