Prepare Your Leadership: Optimal State

Hello. Hello. Happy lunchtime here on Monday, August 19. Already summer is almost over. Give it about a minute here. Wait for people to join in. Beautiful day, although a little hazy. I don't really know. Hi, Cindy. Welcome. Happy Monday. Hope you're having a great Monday morning. You had a great Monday morning, and that brings you to a great Monday afternoon. Give it a couple more seconds here. Hello, Doctor Leslie. Hi. Welcome. Happy Monday. Okay, Jules. Hi. So today we're talking about the optimal state.

And I got it from a new book from Daniel Goleman, who is famous for emotional intelligence and all his research. High. Speak. Speak, wonder. Hi. And so he had a book. Dan Goleman had a book called Optimal come out this year here in 2024, called how to sustain excellence every single day. So this idea of optimal having a good zone throughout the day. And it's similar to the idea of flow, which we've talked about. Jules was in Duluth. That's awesome. Yes. Hopefully it was great weather. It's been rainy here the past couple weeks, but happy you made it up here.

Sorry, got interrupted. I'm happy when people visit Duluth. It's a fun area to visit. But this idea of optimal, having a good day every single day and sustaining that throughout the day. So it's similar to the idea of flow, where you're being concentrated on a task, or if you're playing in a sport or doing something, having that full concentration, really feeling in the zone. However, unlike flow, where it's either you're in flow or you're not in flow, this idea of being optimal is kind of more of a spectrum.

It's a zone. So you can be more optimal or less optimal, depending on the hour or the day. So it's kind of. It's described having those good days, it's feeling good, having that agility when you're making decisions, and having that full attention on what you're doing. So it's not that short state of flow, but instead that zone that you can be in whenever and wherever you're doing. Unlike we're in flow or being in a zone, you. You often need to be challenged behind your abilities. Thank you. I like the background too, because it symbolizes flowing with the waves, and it's not.

And we're in mindfulness, or kind of in that state of optimal or flow, where you're riding the waves and not being swept away in it. And it goes with preparing leadership, where you want to learn how to surf the waves before you get caught in a wave. So this idea of optimal, it's putting yourself in that optimal zone every single day and not just trying to be at peak performance every single day. So it's having that full concentration in your work, having control over work, in the sense of meaning in work, is needed for that optimal zone while in work.

So it's not like flow, where it's like a short bout of full concentration, but it's throughout the day having that sustained high level of performance. So elements of being in an optimal state is being more creative, seeing obstacles that's challenged, having that growth mindset towards things that arise, being more productive, turning out high quality work, feeling good, being in an upbeat mood, mentally sharp, making that small wins towards a larger goal, seeing those wins happen, and a positive outlook committed to your efforts.

That idea of optimism or having meaning in your work and giving and getting support in relationships. So it can happen at work, it can happen at home. And I challenge you to start thinking about what does an optimal state kind of day look like for you. Those are the broad elements that is needed. But what kind of days symbolize? I've had a good optimal day throughout my work. And you can read the whole book to find ways, through emotional intelligence, more mindful practice, to build that optimal state and be more likely to get into it.

But what does it look like for you on a daily basis, not just that peak performance, where maybe you got concentrated in a task once, but for an hour or so, but what symbolizes that good day for you? So that's the idea of the optimal state and putting yourself in that optimal zone throughout the day and not just looking for that peak performance, having that best day, but how can we make that a good day overall? So that's it for Monday. We have, I mean, for me on here on Monday, we have Jean on at 115 with leading authentically.

And then we got Daryl our glaze on at five. Thank you all for joining. I'll see you next week, Jules. Let me know next time you're in Duluth. We can get coffee or something. Hope you have a great rest of your Monday. Bye, everybody.