How can you be at your optimum?

Lots of people talk about wanting to be the best or perform to the best of their abilities. But how often do we spend thinking about how we could be more effective in all areas of life?

Karran Bonner, who runs Dundeebased Brightside, an organisation specialising in training and coaching to help people and companies develop, suspects most of us are not spending enough time on improving ourselves.

“You may be working long hours, looking after your kids, visiting family, doing household chores, among a million other things,” she says.

“My focus in the coaching and wellbeing work I do with individuals is to redress this balance, to encourage people to start investing in them so that you can be more effective and present in all of these areas.”

So how do people enhance performance levels in their health, relationships and careers? Firstly, let’s look at health. “So many people don’t focus on this, yet the recommended guideline is that you should do 150 minutes of exercise each week to maintain a healthy physical state,” she says. “Why not try walking on your lunch break for 30 minutes? Doing this five times a week would enable you to achieve this.”

For Karran, running has been a great way to keep fit and healthy both physically and mentally.

“I often have my best ideas when out running and find it’s a great way to relax after a day of working inside,” she says.

“If you are already exercising is there something that you could do to enhance your performance, endurance or strength?

“Working out with a personal trainer or someone who is better than you can be a great push.

“If you aren’t exercising regularly, try doing just 10 minutes of exercise to start with. I believe a healthy body helps to create a healthier and happier you, enabling you to perform at your optimum level.”

Relationships often take a back seat to other pressures – whether they involve family, work or financial concerns.

To get the best from others means being supportive, listening and doing little things to make their lives better, says Karran – and it’s the same in business.

“To forge trust is the biggest challenge and once you have the trust you need to do your utmost to nurture and maintain it through putting effort into the relationship,” she adds.

So what about optimising performance in our own careers?

While there are often measures in place across organisations to review performance and development, Karran sometimes finds thir potential is overlooked.

“What if you had a plan that you actually wanted to follow and were inspired to progress?” she says.

“Finding what you love doing will mean you go out of your way to develop.

“That doesn’t mean a career change – a simple project is all it may take to spark passion in your career.”

Karran is creating a four-day programme to help individuals be at their best in all aspects of their life. It will launch in September.

For more details email Karran at info@ brightsideinspiration.com.

Helping people to be at their best: Karran Bonner.