Our ideal world might be closer than we think…..

Imagine if everyone was inspired to achieve. To do their best work. To try to constantly improve and do a little bit better today than they did yesterday. What sort of world would that be? It might sound like a fantasy to many managers, but in reality, the science tells us that we live in that world right now. Ok, for most people it�s not �right now� but it�s a heck of a lot closer than most people realise, if only we tap into the things that drive people toward greater performance.

Ask most managers what their job is and they�ll answer something along the lines of �to make sure people do the right things,� or �to keep people on track,� or I�ve even heard, �my job is to crack the whip!�

We manage people as if they would do the wrong thing, given half a chance. We manage people as if they would just slack off if we let them. We manage people as though they need to be kept on the straight and narrow. And for some staff this is true, but for the majority, it isn’t. In short, we manage for the lowest common denominator, as if everyone would do what the worst person would do if we took our foot of the gas. But, let�s look at the evidence.

Our inbuilt reward system

One thing that performance science tells us is that we have an inbuilt reward mechanism. When we achieve something, regardless what it is � from crossing off the last thing on your to-do-list to completing a marathon; from getting a client request pushed through just in the nick of time to signing up a multi-million dollar client � we get this reward response. The reward response, amongst other things, is represented physiologically by an increase in our levels of a chemical called dopamine. You may have heard of it before � it is also one of the endorphins or the �feel good� chemicals. Dopamine signals that a reward or something important has inspired us and just about every human being on the planet gets this little reward when they achieve something.

Dopamine is also the chemical that gets out of balance when people are addicted to something � be it drugs or a member of the opposite sex. These addicted states are characterised by an oversupply of dopamine in the system � the dopamine stimulates the desire to keep chasing after the reward.

So, what you have is a system that is intrinsically rewarded by achieving something. You could say we are all, in our own way, addicted to achievement and, as leaders, �we can capitalise on this pre-disposition to performance by leveraging some of the common motivators that cause people to do their best work.

A self-fulfilling prophecy?

The irony is that when we manage people as if they don�t want to do their best work, we actually sabotage their ability to perform. The science tells us that it almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. By contrast, when we believe that people actually want to do well and manage them accordingly, we get better results.

It sounds flaky, but almost every single piece of research tells us that happy people are more successful and live longer. I could simply ask you to �choose your attitude� but there are other things that you can do to set your day up for happiness. The most prevalent predictors of happiness are gratitude, meaningful work and helping others. Factor these into your day, every day.

Why does it work like this? Well if you�ve read a lot of my material, you would realise that the �feel good� chemicals are actually one and the same as the �performance chemicals� so it makes sense that when we feel good we perform better. And being happy is pretty much the pinnacle. For reasons I can�t quite explain (except that the research shows them as consistent), the following things will make you happier on a daily basis and most likely live longer.

Gratitude � find someone to thank. You will make their day as well as helping yourself

Meaningful work � if you think your job is mundane, then find at least one block of time each day when you are working toward something you think is worthwhile. Most people fail to prioritise projects that they actually want to work on and instead get bogged down in day-to-day rigmarole

Helping others � this might actually appeal to the part of us that craves status. If we help someone else we are more useful, therefore our status increases. Find someone that needs help and give them a hand.

What happens when we’re dehydrated – you’ll be surprised

We constantly look for ways to improve our performance. Whether it�s at work, in our personal endeavours or in our relationships. We listen to professionals, non-professionals, pop-psychology and gurus. We take pills, natural energy boosters, synthetic energy boosters, herbs and super foods. We read books, listen to cd�s, watch dvd�s and go on holidays to �find ourselves�.

But the simplest thing we can do to boost performance is a no brainer. Drink enough water.

Of all the things that aid performance in almost every single realm imaginable, water is probably the most underrated. Most people don�t drink enough and those that do probably do it for health-related benefits. But some research that was highlighted in Scientific American might just show that water does far more than that.

More than just physical

Dehydration affects the brain in many different ways and though to some people that might mean that they just won�t be able to �think� as clearly, they couldn�t be more wrong. The specific part of the brain that dehydration affects also affects the following things:

• Problem solving and decision-making � you will find it harder to make decisions and waste valuable time agonising over what to do
• Short-term memory � you will tend to forget things and waste valuable time having to back track and/or locate information/items
• Analytical skills � you are likely to miss key pieces of information when making a decision
• Your ability to control emotions � you are more likely to get angry, frustrated, distressed at anything and anyone
• Your ability to control unproductive behaviours � you are more likely to revert to harmful habits that you thought you had under control
• Your capacity for self-control � which will make any of the above situations exceedingly worse
• You will use more energy and effort to do the same things � this will lead to decreased energy and resources, which will exacerbate all the above, sending you into a downward spiral
• Your aptitude for mathematics � Ok. You might not need this � unless you get short changed at the store

From an actual mechanics point of view, the research shows us that when we are dehydrated, brain cells shrivel up, shrinking tissue and enlarging the spaces within the brain.

As a consequence, the withered tissue is less able to process information effectively, which is why the effect is so great.

This effect is so great, that giving mildly dehydrated children a glass of water before a test improved scores and boosted performance in many attention-related tasks.

So if you thought that drinking water was just good for your kidneys and your general immune system, then think again. If you want to perform at your peak in any area at all, being hydrated is a key component.