Happy Birthday to us!
Today marks a very special day in the Spring Coaching family. It is exactly two years ago that a dream to help driven people to sustain high performance without burning out became a full-time reality. I wanted to mark the occasion by sharing our origin story.
Our beginnings are from a dark moment in time when I, Josie Askin founder of Spring Coaching was on crutches. I was unable to walk for several months due to a stress fracture in my hip. At the time I didn’t know it was caused by an energy imbalance. In my mind, I had been doing everything right. Driven and goal focussed. I was always looking to improve myself – working my way up through the rank at work and always training for the next long-distance running event. I was even careful with what I ate, trying to eat as “cleanly” as I could for “better health”. I was literally always on the go, running from place to place. Perhaps you can relate?
I later learnt that inadequate rest and nutrition had placed me in chronic low energy availability, leading to the cascade of health issues that ultimately led to the time on crutches. I had Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S), the sporting world equivalent of burnout (check out this post about lessons learnt from being on crutches).
As I recovered, I observed parallels of what I experienced as a runner with my colleagues in the office. Driven, successful people, all appearing to do the “right thing” to be their best. Over time I noticed a change, a few colleagues went from strength to strength, while others seemed to struggle, some even burning out. What was the difference? Why did some grow stronger, while others suffer?
Naturally curious I decided to do further study adding to my psychology degree to find the answer. I studied sports training and development, professional coaching, nutrition, multiple brain integration technique, belief change and spoke to as many high performers as I could.
What I learned is that there’s no one definition of success or high performance. It is as individual as we are. However, there were four key lessons for sustaining high performance:
- The importance of balance: Balancing periods of peak performance with rest and recovery. As Brad Stulberg, author of Peak Performance says, no matter what way you’re trying to achieve, stress + rest = growth
- The Power of Small Steps: Sustainable change comes from breaking things down into small steps and working through them one by one. It’s better to take a small step forward them a giant leap only to fall backwards.
- Progress over perfection: Adopt a growth mindset and look to progress rather than to be perfect. Think on a continuum.
- Focus on behaviours not outcome: It’s not possible to control every outcome, however we do have control of our behaviours. Focus on what you have control over. A lesson that is particularly pertinent during uncertain times like these.
These lessons have become our coaching philosophies and what I try to live by every day as Spring Coaching grows from strength to strength.
Like everyone, we are a work in progress. We have faced our fair share of ups and downs, especially as a business born unintentionally during a covid lockdown. However, what remains true is the ability to bounce back, just like the humble spring that we are named after. Spring Coaching remains strong and agile. We focus on taking one small step at a time as we continue to build our team.
Spring Coaching success is shared by many. A big thank you to my amazingly supportive husband and family, the team at Global Office Works, my business mentors, networks, past and present clients and of course you!