It is important to keep the foundational philosophy of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete in mind in order to orient our pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.
Throughout this article series, the concepts underlying the framework of the Practices of the Healthcare Athleteas well as the overall objectives of this paradigm have been discussed in detail. Many of the guiding concepts as well as supporting scientific principles have been described. Ultimately the framework is utilized to optimize our pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance by leveraging our biology. It should always be remembered, however, that the foundational philosophy serves as the overall guiding light of these practices.
At its core, the purpose of embodying the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete is to become the best version of ourselves as consistently as possible. This is the organizing philosophy at the core of the skills, strategies, and tactics which comprise the framework. To the extent we are able to accomplish this, we are able to optimally pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
It is also understood within this paradigm that despite our best efforts, we will not always present as the best version of ourselves. When this occurs, it is not meant to be an opportunity for self judgment or self critique, but rather an opportunity to acknowledge what has transpired, learn from the situation, and take accountability for that which we control. Furthermore, it is important that we perform regular check-ins and self scouting in order to understand what circumstances may have contributed to us not showing up as the best version of ourselves, learn from this experience, and improve our overall practice. This process is continuous and allows us to evolve into the best version of ourselves and to present that version as consistently as possible.
It should be understood that when we are able to as consistently as possible present the best version of ourselves this will inherently position us to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. By placing the emphasis on being the best version of ourselves as often as possible, we emphasize those factors which we are able to control. As has been described throughout this article series, our biology is continually impacted by cues and stimuli across the internal, external, and relational pathways. We have limited ability to influence the experiences across the external and relational pathways. While we do not maintain full control over our internal pathway, this is the element to which we have the greatest degree of influence and control. For this reason, it makes sense that we focus our efforts on this pathway.
By placing an emphasis on the cues, stimuli, skills, strategies, and tactics impacting the internal pathway we align strongly with the perspective of internal sources of motivation and reward. This paradigm has been discussed previously. When we over emphasize sources of external motivation and external reward, we open ourselves up to a greater degree of influence across the external and relational pathways. Conversely, by focusing on the internal pathway, we are able to promote and reinforce internal sources of motivation and reward over which we have a greater degree of control. This is helpful in promoting our biology to shift towards anchored and grounded states. This contributes to a greater likelihood that we will be able to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance by becoming the best version of our self as consistently as possible. In turn, this can provide the starting point of a self-reinforcing cycle.
This philosophy simultaneously reduces to the greatest degree possible the impact of cues of uncertainty, risk, and threat which we will inevitably experience across all phases of our life along the external and relational pathways. When we view success from the perspective of sources of internal motivation and reward as discussed above, we are less dependent upon the experiences across the external and relational pathways to view ourselves as being successful in our pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. As we do not control or strongly influence that which occurs along the external and relational pathways, it is important that we decrease the degree to which we are dependent upon these sources for validation and measures of success.
It is always useful to review the perspective of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete and the foundation for accomplishing the objective of being the best version of our self as consistently as possible. This is based upon improving the strength of our anchored and grounded states as well as optimizing nervous system flexibility. These concepts have been discussed throughout this article series. By accomplishing these two objectives, we are better able to allow for the inherent attributes of the anchored and grounded states to emerge as consistently as possible. Typically, these traits are well aligned with the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance. Within the domain of sustainable high performance, it is also important that we develop the ability to leverage our biology towards the mobilized optimal performance states, manage the inevitable fear based hindrances we will encounter, and enhance our ability to implement recovery and restoration practices. These three additional attributes are based upon a strong foundation of anchored and grounded states and nervous system flexibility.
Given that it is unavoidable that we will experience obstacles and setbacks across all phases of our life, it is useful to keep in mind the guiding light and underlying philosophy of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete as described above. This allows us to return to the orienting principles of optimizing our ability to be the best version of ourselves as consistently as possible. This is particularly valuable when we experience setbacks which may challenge our ability to show up as the best version of ourselves, at least in that moment and the immediate ensuing timeframe. By doing this we optimally position ourselves to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance for the reasons described above.
To learn more, including about polyvagal informed coaching for healthcare professionals and others in high demand domains, please visit www.darindavidson.com.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.