Your Lowest Permissible Standard
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We stop at the lowest point when we subconsciously believe we can justify stopping, I believe this is our default. As a cave person it doesn’t make sense to keep going beyond this point, I’ve won the girl, killed the mammoth, defeated my foe.
Unfortunately, we aren’t cave people anymore, and being able to move and operate beyond our own subconsciously imposed limit is key to moving through our Higher performance threshold [i explain about this threshold in my last blog].
This line, is very subjective, it’s driven by our experiences, learnt skills and ability to work ON our mindset rather than be consumed BY our minds. For me having been in a highly competitive world as an Army officer for a decade, applying my own discretionary effort has become the norm. But for you looking at the point at which you stop may help you analyse how your life to date is affecting the standards you accept.
When I went through Sandhurst [Where British Army Officers are trained] I started to interact with public school-educated individuals for the first time in my life, some of these individuals lived a very blessed and gifted life. But the majority were outstanding humans whose level of expected performance was naturally higher than those of us who had been state-educated. Notably, it was one of these individuals who demonstrated to me what discretionary effort looked like. At Sandhurst, you are busy, in training up to 20hrs a day, so the effort you put in the remaining 4hrs is where the differentiators start to appear. Or where the Delta is found. This individual would review notes, stretch and meditate in addition to our normal routine, They would be up early and bed later than everyone else, holding themselves to a higher lowest permissible standard than the rest of us.
For me, my line, my lowest permissible stop point, was greatly informed by a role model of mine, Crazy Bob. I used to Fell run a lot, every weekend, me and Crazy Bob would be out running through the Brecons up to 50km. Crazy Bob, who is 30 years older than me, would routinely chase figures on the horizon. You could see his eyes lock on some random figure on the horizon and then chase them.
We weren’t racing but he was a natural predator, he consumed miles, he hunted those in front of him as part of his being. I could see this, I could also see the figure on the horizon [2-5km away] but for me it had no pull to run faster, to put in extra effort, initially at least. After a few years of running with Bob this instinct to hunt, to find a reason to go more and go faster was cemented in my soul. My challenge now is doing a steady zone 2 run rather than thrashing myself.
I still have a line though, I failed UK Special Forces selection when I was 26, I ran off a small cliff in the snow, hyper-extended my left knee and could barely walk, I hobbled into the next checkpoint and saw the medic, who told me I was still standing and he wouldn’t medically withdraw me [An honourable way to exit] at which point I realised I had hit my point. I wasn’t willing to create a lifelong injury and carry on with the march. I voluntarily withdrew myself, For the first time in my life I had accepted my own failure, a very humbling moment as to VeeDub [VW – Voluntarily withdraw] has no honour to it, you are the lowest of the low. For context, on the same march, one guy finished with a complex leg fracture and another had lost a boot in the snow halfway in, both finished the march, and both were then medically withdrawn. I didn’t have the motivation to continue beyond my breaking point, for a variety of reasons but those reasons don’t matter. I failed, I had subconsciously accepted that I could withdraw because I could barely walk, let alone run. That was my ego saying, it’s ok, you know you’re injured and you don’t want to create a lifelong injury, but in reality, I justified in my head quitting. This is exactly what SF selection is about, its creating individuals who have gone to a dark place and out the other side, creating a covenant and drive that is required to operate at that level.
Still a significant point of regret in my life, but also something that I have used to fuel a number of growth moments. It still hurts to walk downstairs as a result of that injury but failing to have the maturity to push through until med withdrawn is a greater pain.
I was 26, I had already done 4 operational tours resting on my laurels and experience created the conditions where my lowest permissible standard was below the standard required to be in the Special Forces. I didn’t have the drive.
The performance you put out is very rarely above your lowest permissible standard, the highest performers have created a hunter or a hunger mindset that moves them to keep going to a higher lowest permissible standard.
This lowest permissible standard is in everything you do, how you get out of bed, how you sleep, how you cook for yourself, how you love others and how you parent. The physical space, the gym or on a run is a great place to test this out. Pick any fitness test, attack it full on, and listen to your mind; at what point are you saying enough is enough? And why do you think you are saying that? Is it that the pace you are holding is the fastest pace you have ever held, or is it that it’s fast enough to beat your mate.
The same could be said of those in the business development world [which is everyone in reality] when have you made enough sales calls, attended enough networking events, and developed your subject matter knowledge to a good enough standard. What’s telling you to stop? Your lowest permissible standard, this subconscious line in the imaginary sand.
This line has a use, it is a protection measure protecting us from absolute failure. So in a physical space, this could keep you alive, but in a mental or business area this is a limiter.
So what? Embrace reality and acknowledge why you are giving the level of effort you are giving.
As leaders getting others to pursue something beyond their lowest permissible standard is a core part of your role.
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My questions to you:
Do you care enough about performing to a higher level that you are willing to do the self-inspection required to identify where you are stopping short of your full potential?
Where do you need to let yourself push further and catastrophically fail?
In the comments, let me know the most obvious point in your life where you have let yourself stop, and in hindsight should have kept going, Be vulnerable it’s freeing!!
