New goals helped me perform during pandemic
What is the secret of peak performance in business and sport? Hard work, perseverance and skill are essential. But there is another often neglected element that optimises results.
Growing up in Sweden, I played football from a young age and continued to play at a high level until my thirties. An injury put an end to my football career but instead I took up running. I started with shorter races before moving on to marathons and ultra- marathons.
Once I had my two boys, now aged five and seven, I needed a new sport and took up powerlifting. I won “Best Female Lifter” in the Scottish Masters Championships three years in a row and had the opportunity to be part of Team Scotland and medal at the Commonwealth Championships.
At the start of the 2020, I decided that I needed a new challenge and signed up for a physique competition. I started training in January but due to the pandemic competitions kept getting cancelled. It was tempting to give up as the goal posts kept moving further away.
Finally, I competed at the UKDFBA’S ( United Kingdom Drug Free Bodybuilding Association) UK International Championships in October where I won the Novice Fitbody class.
Performing in sports has made me realise that you can achieve almost anything you set your mind to. However, hard work and tenacity are simply not enough. The missing link was an expert led, data- driven and meticulous approach to training.
Working with experts, I left no stone unturned, whether it was calculating how many tons I lifted in each session, running at a specific heart rate, or sculpting a particular body part. I even developed a spreadsheet that calculated my carbohydrate consumption per mile. This helped
take 1.5 hours off my marathon time.
Coaching and training helped me understand exactly what I had to do to improve and in what areas. I used technology to measure my progress and evaluate what worked. Precision is crucial.
And so, when I got the opportunity to work with Andragogy. co, which uses a blend of experts, technology and a datadriven approach to learning and development, I leapt at the chance to use the same approach for businesses too.
I interviewed 50 senior executives asking them about their digital skills gap and their training plans. None of the companies I spoke with used a data- driven approach. When it comes to marketing, for example, we are obsessed by data, so why are we not using the same approach when it comes to improving people’s skills?
This is often because companies rely on team leaders or the individuals themselves to seek out the training they need. Busy leaders may not have the time or skills to do this and it is hard for individuals to know what they do not know.
Andragogy. co helps individuals and teams to operate at their peak performance by assessing the skills gap and providing tailormade individual plans to plug those gaps. Much like my use of technology to inform my performance, they gather data to inform business- wide skills development, which is crucial for companies looking to accelerate their digitisation. This approach can help improve diversity and nurture a mix of talent in teams.