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THE ENTREPRENEUR’S RADIO SHOW
Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs that Grow Your Business
Copyright © 2012, 2013 The Entrepreneur‟s Radio Show Page 1 of 20
EPISODE #3: DR JACQUES DALLAIRE, performance specialist
Introduction: You‟re listening to Diamonds in Your Own Backyard. The business owner‟s guide to
discovering success, wealth, and happiness within your own business where each week you‟ll hear
inspirational stories, strategies, and inside secrets of some of the most powerful small business owners
themselves. On the Amazing Women of Power Network powered by Raven International, and now here
is your host Travis Lane Jenkins and Sandra Champlain.
Dr. Jacques Dallaire
Travis: Hello, Travis Lane Jenkins here.
Sandra: And this is Sandra Champlain, and we would like to welcome you to our show. Today‟s guest
is Dr. Jacques Dallaire. Dr. Dallaire is an internationally recognized performance specialist who has
worked with thousands of high level athletes, race car drivers, occupational specialists, and business
professionals over the past forty years. His approach and techniques are being used by some of
today‟s most successful elite performers from many walks of life. His knowledge is now available to
everyone to Dr. Dallaire‟s newly released book “Performance Thinking”, so Welcome Dr. Jacques.
Dr. Jacque: Thank you very much.
Travis: Welcome to the show.
Dr. Jacque: Thanks
Travis: So Sandra,
Sandra: Doc, Oh I just want to thank you for being here. I work in the hospitality business with race car
teams providing food and hospitality and travelling all over the United States, and that‟s how I met
Jacque a couple years ago I think.
Travis: Oh, I believe it‟s been longer than that Sandra.
Sandra: I don‟t even remember, I just remember it.
Travis: It‟s been a while.
Sandra: It‟s been a while you‟ve been a smiling face under our tent, and I‟ve always been busy cooking
and preparing meals and you‟ve always just been more than welcoming, And a couple of months ago
you handed me an autographed copy of your book Performance Thinking, and it has made a profound
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difference in my life and it‟s just been an honour to know you and to have you in the show today. So
thanks for being here.
Dr. Jacques: I appreciate the invitation and the opportunity to chat with you both.
Travis: Well, you‟re more that welcome. I have heard a lot about you, so I‟m super excited. I have done
a little reading on you, and I was wondering if you can open things up and tells us a little about your
book, and where you got started and if you were always extremely successful.
Dr. Jacques: Well, I think like everybody else in society. I was very effective at sabotaging myself in
the early days. Because I didn‟t really understand how that process of mental self sabotage actually
occurred. Over time, over the years, working with literally thousands of high performance people from
many different walks of life, I have come to realize in talking to these individuals, highly successful
people many of them multiple world champions, champions in their sport, or at the top levels of their
profession. I‟ve come to realize that they‟ve sabotage themselves the same way I did, and over time
that awareness has allowed me to put a kind of a framework, or structure to the process of self
sabotage, and more importantly to start to look at ways on which we can change the way we think
about thinking, because ultimately that self sabotage that occurred is a function of mentally how we
think. So, I started off working in the Department of Exercise Science at a university, working with high
performance Olympic athletes as an assistant to some of my professors back in the early to mid
seventies just doing physiological testing and things of that nature. So I was kind of a technician, and I
was involved in helping to evaluate the skill sets and the physical capabilities of these high performance
people. And that‟s kind of what got me rolling along in that process. Over time I have taught at the
university for a number of years, I was in government as the manager of science and medicine
programs at Sports Canada, in Canada. We don‟t really have an equivalent to that here in the United
States, but I guess the closest person to what I was doing would be the individual at the US Olympic
committee that‟s responsible for coordinating the sports science and sports medicine programs that are
offered to national sport governing bodies. So I was involved in management if you will, and also in
funding through grants and other processes. We search grants as well as sports science support
programs.
Travis: Well how did that lead to some of the big superstars that you deal with now, I mean, how did
you transition in to this high level?
Dr. Jacques: Well it was actually, believe it or not simply a process of evolution at the time that I was
working with Sports Canada. As a hobby, if you will, because I come from Guillian University prior to
that. I had started a program with a colleague, my late colleague Dr. Dan Moricci and we started
working back in the very early eighties with high performance race car drivers, and it turns out, because
Montreal was a stop in the Formula One circuit that in fact I started my work in racing motor sports with
drivers, athletes at the formula one level which is really unusual if you understand the sport.
Sandra: Wow.
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Dr. Jacques: And I kind of back into it and over time as I got to know drivers better and the demands
involved in racing their interest grew in finding out how do I optimize my performance so that I can be
better in the race car. Faster, last longer, and so on and that began the process of working with more
and more people in racing world. At this point, I think the last couple of drivers that had visit with me
were the 710th and 711th type performance drivers I worked with over the years, but I‟ve also worked
with private pilots, and surgeons, musicians, actors, business executives, people in sales, fashion
models, stick and ball sports, all kinds of individuals who have all found out about our programs and
through word of mouth.
Travis: Alright. I want to point at one thing, I think, I believe this is surprising for most. I think most
people would be surprised that superstars are people that we perceive as superstars have negative
thought processes or tend to get in their own way with their negative thought processes. So I guess it‟s
surprising to me and I think it would be surprising to most other people that these high level people
have that problem.
Dr. Jacque: I agree with you Travis completely.
Dr. Jacques: Most people would say these are the most capable individuals out there.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Look at what they have accomplished, and we wouldn‟t dream that they wrestle with the
same issues like every one of us does. But let me share with you some information I think you‟ll find
very revealing.
Travis: Okay.
Dr. Jacque: One of the things that I, I‟ve tried to soften them up a little bit when they come and visit me
and spend two days in a very comprehensive one on one program.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacque: I basically ask them a simple question. What the heck are you doing here? What is it that
you want? If you could change one thing about yourself, that you know deep inside this is the reason
why you don‟t always manifest those superlative performances that sometimes you‟re capable of. What
stops you from delivering your A game? Every single time you go to compete, it doesn‟t matter what
profession they‟re from, what their occupation is, how old they are, whether it‟s a man or woman, what
culture they‟re from, what language they speak, the same two things come back more than 90% of the
time. The same two things.
Travis: What?
Dr. Jacques : The same two things.
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Travis: I think I knew, I think I knew what it is but…
Dr. Jacques: It would be an interesting question for the listeners to ponder. What stops you as a
listener from delivering the A game performance that sometimes you‟re capable of? What gets in the
way of delivering the best you‟re capable of? When you‟re towing the line and it‟s go time? Here‟s what
they ask of me, remember these are multiple world champions, series champions, people who are at
the top of their profession.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: They say, “Show me how to keep my confidence high when things are not going well.”
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacque: It‟s easy to be confident when things are going great. It‟s a horse of very different colour if
they‟re not.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: If I start to doubt myself, my performance goes down. That‟s one of the two things. The
second thing is that “show me how to focus more effectively, and when I lose my focus how do I get it
back quickly, because if I am distracted, if am not fully connected in the moment to what I‟m doing I do
not do my best work. So the key variables are consonance and the correct focus, and when I did
seminars with corporate groups, fourteen, it does not matter.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: And I pose that question to the audience within thirty seconds, almost 100% of the time
the first two things that come up are fear of failure, self doubt, and lack of confidence, and distractions,
not being correctly focused.
Travis: Right. Something very similar come in to mind for me is negativity and I think it‟s the just a form
of what you‟re saying, is some type of negative void that comes in one night, and during those
moments and also lack of focus.
Dr. Jacques: Well one drives the other.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: If you think about it, the issue of negativity, fear of failing, self doubt, however we want to
describe it, it comes back centrally to the issue of confidence or lack thereof. And here‟s the problem
with a loss of confidence, when our confidence is shaken, we start to worry. Our focus of attention shift
from what we should focus on to what it is we‟re worried about.
Travis: A very good point.
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Dr. Jacques: And ultimately, the core of the onion is the ability to focus in the moment on the task in
front of you to the exclusion of everything else that in that moment simply becomes a distraction. I‟m
convinced of that Travis that over the last 40 years of working with thousands of high performance
people that that is the holy grail of the performance equation.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: The ability to focus in the moment on the tasks in front of us with the exclusion of
everything else that becomes irrelevant in that moment. That is the core of the onion, the next layer out
is the issue of confidence. Because when we start to doubt ourselves, our focus our internal focus of
attention, that mind chatter you were talking about, shifts our thoughts away from what we should be
focused on what we‟re doing to what we are worried about, not doing it well enough, not being
successful, and all the consequences that failing might represent for us in that situation.
Travis: Right.
Sandra: For me, I never realize how automatic my thoughts were. I thought my thoughts were me. I
thought my thoughts were Sandra Champlain. I thought that little voice inside my head was me. And
maybe you can speak of it just a little bit, where these thoughts come from, why do we have the lack of
confidence, this fear. I know a lot of that comes from our past and it was new concept for me to learn
that I could actually shift my thinking that I‟m in control with some of the thoughts that are running
through my head.
Travis: That‟s a good point Sandra. I think Fear to ask this question. How many people do you think,
think about the quality of their thinking?
Travis: Not very much.
Dr. Jacques: Most people are not self aware in that way, in fact they don‟t think about the quality or the
nature of their thinking. They simply think and respond to things that happen to them. They react to
their in their environment. They don‟t stop and police their thoughts, they simply react, and their
reactions are habits. Habits define by our experiences, our value systems, our belief systems, the
things that happened to us in the past, and we automatically tend to gravitate to those habitual
responses. But what we have to do is we have to understand that we control our dominant thoughts,
and then we have to exercise that control.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Because it‟s easy enough to understand, okay I can choose to think one way or I can
choose to think another, but if we don‟t effectively make that choice and choose, we simply react to the
environment around us.
Travis: Right.
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Sandra: Can you make an example of that like on the court, like how somebody can control or focus on
their dominant thoughts?
Dr. Jacques: Well, let me use an analogy that might help people to understand how we can steer our
thoughts. If the holy grail of this performance equation is the ability to direct our focus to the right thing
at the right time, we can always imagine that our beam of concentration is like the beam of light from a
flashlight. We can choose to point that flashlight at one object, or we can choose to shift that beam of
light to another object some distance away from us. It‟s our choice right. We can shine it over here, or
we can shine it over there. We are in control of that beam of light of that beam of concentration. In the
same way, we can make the choice to exercise our beam of focus by choosing to focus on one thing, or
making an active choice to redirect it and focusing on somewhere else. We can intensify our focus, turn
the head of that flashlight and narrow the beam and intensify it or kind of the spotlight would do, or we
can open it up and soften it more like a floodlight would do.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: The truth of it is just with the same way we control a flashlight when we walk into a room.
We can walk into a room and effectively take control of our focus of attention to direct it to the right fix.
Here‟s a problem with people that I hear all time. Their response to me is this, all I have to do is focus
harder and my performance will be better, right? How many times do we hear that?
Travis: Right.
Sandra: All the time.
Dr. Jacques: All the time. Let me ask you a simple question. If the thing you‟re focussed on is the
wrong thing, how does focusing harder help?
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: It doesn‟t. Does it?
Travis: Yeah.
Sandra: Maybe.
Dr. Jacques: It makes the problem worse.
Travis: Yeah. No matter how hard your focus...
Dr. Jacques: Because the focus of attention ends up on the wrong thing and you simply focus on that
wrong thing harder.
Travis: Right.
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Dr. Jacques: And invariably that is how we shoot ourselves in the foot. That‟s how we sabotage
ourselves, by focusing on the incorrect thing. So the secret is not focusing more, it‟s focusing correctly
to the situation or circumstance we‟re in.
Travis: So let me ask you this. We have successful people and now obviously they have figured
something out or they wouldn‟t be successful, right? One of the things you say is everyone has these
negative thoughts and ineffective ways of thinking. What does successful people right versus everyone
else that made them successful and I know it varies with each case but what is the common
denominator is normally?
Dr. Jacques: Well I would think their attitude of perseverance is one of them for sure, never giving up,
but it‟s a relative issue, they have exceptional skills for focusing.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: And they have tremendous confidence probably much more so than the norm. But yet
that is the very thing they are looking for even more of. So they all are very good at directing their focus
of attention and in fact generally have tremendous self confidence, but where they crumble in their
world it‟s still the function of those two things, they are just better at it than the most.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: So it‟s a relative thing, it‟s not that they are bad at it. They‟re actually very good, they‟re
better than most, but that still represents their Achilles heel, the thing that gets in the way of them
consistently delivering superlative performances. It doesn‟t matter what the action is, what the job is
that they‟re reacting to.
Travis: So what‟s the big picture? Let‟s take it down to local business owners, because that‟s who we
speak to and that‟s where our passion is. So how does a local business owner find this over arching
focus and get crystal clear on what they need to do to either take their business to the next level or to
steer around the things that have been going on in the economy? How can we take this skill sets and
apply it to the business?
Dr. Jacques: Well, I‟d like to simplify success down to a very simple equation. Find a piece of pencil
and paper, and write this word to the right side of the page. RESULTS.
Travis: Okay.
Dr. Jacques: It‟s funny. I‟ve never met anybody in forty years in dealing with many thousands of high
performance people. I‟ve never ever had someone come to me and say, “My goal is to be a loser, I
would like to fail, and I really, really hope that I come in last.” It‟s not funny. No one has ever said that.
Of course it would be ludacristic to expect anybody to say something like that. Because the reality of it
is every single person, every listener out there right now is interested in and wants to be successful.
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Now, there are some people who don‟t know how to be successful, there are also many people who
don‟t believe they can be successful, but everyone wants to be successful, everybody wants good
results. Why? For the simple reason that the rising tide lifts all boats, so we don‟t have to ask the
question of each other. Do you really want to be successful? Because the answer intuitively is
absolutely I do.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Who wouldn‟t? So the real question, the important question becomes how do we create
results? What is the formula to create the best results possible? I‟m going to give you the answer right
now. I want you to write to the left of that word “RESULTS “equal sign to the left of that I simply want
you to put the letters A times B.
Travis: A times B or A plus B?
Dr. Jacques: A times B.
Travis and Sandra: Okay.
Dr. Jacques: So the equation reads, A times B equals results.
Travis: Okay.
Dr. Jacques: Okay, so what the heck does that do? Well let‟s break it down to its simple factors. The A
in this equation represents what I bring to the party -- the knowledge, the skills, the experience that I
bring to my moment of performance whether it‟s a negotiation, a presentation, dealing with a difficult
management issue. Whether it‟s driving a race car or operating on somebody‟s brain, I don‟t care what
it is. What I bring to the party at the moment of my performance is what I‟ve got. I can‟t stand there at
the starting line and wave a magic wand and all of a sudden have more knowledge, more skill, more
experience because I got what I‟ve got. I‟ve got the hand I‟ve been dealt. The challenge is to bring it,
because it‟s not good enough just to have it. I also need to put in effort and bring the commitment to
deliver it to that moment of my performance, because I could be lazy and not bring my A game to what
I‟m doing.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: So let‟s argue for the moment that every one of us listening bring to the next big moment
of our performance, our true and honest to God A game. Are we guaranteed to get the results we
want?
Sandra: No.
Dr. Jacques: Of course we‟re not. Because if we were, the equation would read A = results.
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Dr. Jacques: And it doesn‟t. Does it?
Travis and Sandra: No.
Dr. Jacques: Let‟s understand the fundamental truth of that statement even if we bring the best we‟re
capable of we are not guaranteed with the outcome that we so desperately want. Why? Because there
a second variable in this equation.
Travis: Okay.
Dr. Jacques: The B factor, and by definition the B factors are simply all the factors that we can‟t
control. Marketplace forces, legislative requirements, what other competitors do equipment that breaks
down or malfunctions, whatever it happens to be. All the various things that are generally are outside of
our control often do have an influence on the outcome, don‟t they?
Travis: Yes.
Dr. Jacques: Now it doesn‟t always mean that they‟re negative B‟s. Now, it doesn‟t always mean that
these B factors work against us, sometimes they actually work in our favor, good luck rather than bad
luck, sometimes they are a B+ rather than a B -. In life, sometimes they‟re the windshield instead of the
bug.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: However, it doesn‟t matter. There are always variables. Sometimes those B‟s are very big
and they have a substantive influence on the outcome. Another instance they‟re small Bs and even
though they might be + or - it don‟t really have much of an impact on the outcome.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: And everything in between so the truth is results are a consequence of what we bring to
the moment of our performance influenced by things we can‟t control. Would you agree to that
intellectually?
Travis: Yes.
Dr. Jacques: I think most people would if you break it down that simplistically it makes sense. Here is
the kicker. Can you trust it emotionally? Because if you do, it takes all the pressure off. Here‟s the basic
truth you can‟t control results because you can‟t control the B factors in the equation.
Travis: Alright.
Dr. Jacques: How many people do you know who worry like heck about the results? Who are focussed
on the results, who are worrying and fearing not getting the results while they‟re in the process of
delivering the performance itself?
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Travis: I think practically everybody.
Dr. Jacques: You got it, and I can put a number to it. You‟re right in fact one of the question is I used in
the evaluation leading up to nice program touches on what are the dominant motivators people focused
on when they are engaged in the act of their performance. Based on 450 high performance people,
taken from different occupations, about 55% of their dominant thought process is directed towards the
actual process of execution of whatever they were doing. 30% is directed towards results and the fear
of not getting them, and 15% on average is directed towards screwing up or the fear of failure.
Sandra: Wow!
Dr. Jacques: In fact, most people when they engage their performances are doing so with almost the
equivalent of one mental hand tied behind their back because they are focused on something they
cannot control -- the outcome of the event or the activity in which they are engaged, rather than the
process that actually gets them there. So let‟s use an example in the world of sales, how effective do
you think a sales person will be if when they go into a sales call their thought process is well, I‟m going
to be rejected again. I‟ve had the door slammed in my face 10 times now already today. This is
undoubtedly going to be number 11, and what happens when if I don‟t get this sale? What happens
when I don‟t start making headway? What‟s the boss going to say? I won‟t make my quota. I won‟t get
my bonus. How am I going to pay my mortgage at the end of the month? If that‟s the thought process, if
that‟s the internal mind chatter going on while the person is engaged with that prospective customer,
how effective do you think he is going to be in really connecting with that person and describing the
value proposition? Not very much.
Travis: Well, obviously he or she is not present for what they‟re doing. Right? There not completely
present.
Dr. Jacques: But they are very focused, aren‟t they?
Travis: Yeah.
Dr. Jacques: They are focused on the wrong thing. I would say that the single biggest error that people
in the corporate market place are doing today, results are so important managers and bosses keep
pounding on the heads of their employees -- focus on results it‟s all about results, results, results. What
happens is, unfortunately, the employees start to focussing more and more on the outcome of what
they‟re doing, and by focusing more and more on the outcome, we are focusing less and less on what?
The process that leads to that outcome.
Travis: It‟s a vicious cycle.
Dr. Jacques: It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The more we worry about what‟s coming, the less
we are focused on what‟s happening right now.
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Travis: Right.
Sandra: Jacques, I don‟t know if people really get how important this is, there just a flash that went
across my screen because I‟m having a brain surgeon working on my brain who is focused on the
results not being present in working on my brain or focused on not being enough or the best person to
do the job it‟s not very good for my well being. It‟s also not good to have a race car driver that‟s afraid of
a certain corner or afraid of certain drivers, I mean that could wreak havoc on these types of
performance athletes going 200 miles per hour. And just to correlate that to any entrepreneur, any
business owner, whether it‟s a salesman or any one of us, it‟s the same life or death situation. Really,
like whatever we give our attention to is what is going to win.
Dr. Jacques: Let‟s go back to the comment I made earlier as well about confidence for example. What
do most people, just a majority of people define their confidence by. When is our confidence shaken?
Travis: Well, most people define their confidence by their accomplishments.
Dr. Jacques: That‟s right. By the results we achieve. Confidence tends to be great when things are
going well, and confidence tends to sink when they‟re not.
Sandra: Right.
Dr. Jacques: And yet a little while ago, we all agreed on the conclusion that we can‟t control outcomes.
We can‟t control results. And yet when we insist on defining our confidence around results but we can‟t
control results, then why can‟t we control confidence? And that‟s why people end up on a rollercoaster.
Their confidence is great when things are going well, but it hits the bottom when they‟re not.
Travis: So what‟s the answer to getting them off this vicious cycle?
Dr. Jacques: I think the answer is two parts. #1 let‟s be explicitly clear that results are important. In my
world, the people I deal with often results mean the difference between life and death.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Let‟s say they state categorically right from the onset that results are really that important.
They are critical.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Because I don‟t want managers and business owners to be saying “Oh okay, of course
now this guy is professing that results aren‟t important, we shouldn‟t focus on results. No, we need to
understand the results we‟re looking for. We need to understand what our goals are. Because the path
we take to those goals are defined by those goals. But when it comes time to deliver the performance
day by day, and in those big moments, don‟t worry about the outcome. Focus instead on the process of
what you‟re doing, and confidence should be about self belief to step into the challenge no matter how
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big it is. When we can‟t control but to step into the challenge and bring the best you are absolutely
capable of to that situation. And if you are successful in doing that, the results that you accomplish will
be the best you could have gotten in that situation except for the impact of the deed. We can‟t do better
than the best we can do. So our goal our goal quite simplistically is simply to bring the best that we can
do, and to do that, it requires that we focus fully on what we‟re doing at the moment we‟re doing it.
Because anything that leads to our focus of attention being elsewhere, it draws away from our thought
process in the moment. And we violate one of the simple rules of the mental realm.
Sandra: Jacques can you give the example now that same salesman, how he can walk into that sales
presentation with his A game.
Dr. Jacques: Well, first of all, he has to understand what are the characteristics that define excellence
for him when he does his best work or she does her best work. Who is this person? Let‟s use some
words that probably would define that person. Confident, energized, a certain level of intensity, not too
laid back, but not over the top either, inspiring, communicative, a listener, enthusiastic, well prepared. If
that‟s the person who shows up, and who listens to, and communicates with prospective clients, if that‟s
what I‟m engaged in the interaction between myself and that person framing the value proposition
showing them how I can help them to be more successful. I‟m not going to be focused on all the
garbage that‟s on the other side of the wall.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: I am more likely to have the presence that the customers are going to say, “Wow. That‟s
sounds exciting. Heck, that guy really believes in what he‟s doing, maybe I should too.” Because the
flipside of that coin is also true. If the sales person comes across lacking confidence, being a bit of a
stumble bum not being well prepared, indecisive, not very convincing, if he doesn‟t believe in his
product, why in the world should I?
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: All things being equal. Who is going to do a better job, not only that, if I understand in my
own mind that I‟m not guaranteed the sales here because there may be other variables at play in this
environment that I don‟t even know about, that have impacted the decision of the person make my job
is to be to bring the best that I‟m capable of to the situation and make the best case possible for my
goods or my service or product. If I can do that then I can leave saying maybe not this time but maybe
next time I‟ll get them.
Travis: Well, what I‟m getting from it is, it allows you to hold on to the positive and let go of the
negative.
Dr. Jacques: Yes, and I‟ll go one step further than that because positive isn‟t good enough in a high
performance environment. This is not about the power of positive thinking although positive thinking is
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certainly much better than negative thinking. It‟s not good enough by itself. How many people do you
know? Who are positive, happy positive people but they are scattered brain. They‟re unfocused.
Travis: Quite a few.
Dr. Jacques: So do I. And the truth is positive in the high performance world isn‟t good enough. I want
positive and task focused. Now we‟re cooking with gasoline.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Give me someone who is able to be focused on what they‟re doing at the time they are
doing it and has a positive and productive mindset going in, and I‟ll show you the champion. I‟ll show
you the man or the woman who‟s the leader in the sales division.
Travis: Yeah, I agree with you 1000% that‟s how I found my success is being strategic about it. I get
crystal clear what I want to accomplish and then I create a plan on how to accomplish that, and then
adapt to a mindset that‟s nothing short of accomplishing what I needed to accomplish. In fact, I turned
everything that was a distraction off or tuned it out, so that I could be crystal clear on accomplishing my
goal. It sounds to me that‟s exactly what you‟re describing.
Dr. Jacques : Sure, focus in the moment on the task in front of us to the exclusion of everything else. If
we‟re capable of doing that, we will bring our A game consistently to what we do, and the more we
bring our A game to what we do the more effective we will be at dealing with ease that do occur and
generating results.
Sandra: Jacques, something came to my mind from your book and that‟s belief system. When I first
met Travis last year, I was struggling with my businesses, and a little bit of the „woe is me‟ victim mode.
And there in front of me was this man who shared his story. And Travis in several years time his
business turned $27M, and sitting here like, wow. I went directly to replace that he‟s got something that
I don‟t have. I remember reading in your book, you talked about the elephant being tethered to the little
post. You talked about a house of little fish were introduced into an aquarium; I‟m wondering if you
could share those stories and kind of relate that to our belief system because I think if we don‟t have a
belief system that we can have certain results, like we won‟t even take the time to create a mindset and
the focus.
Dr. Jacques: I think the examples you are referring to are really sort of the heart of the concept of
learned helplessness vs. learned optimism. An example of the elephant is, when the elephant trainer
bangs a stake to the ground in the middle of the elephant closure attaches a chain to that stake and
attaches the chain to the foot of the baby elephant. The baby elephant pulls and pulls and pulls and
cannot dislodge the stake and can‟t go beyond the circumference or the area of his particular
enclosure. Over time the elephant simply learns that his inability to go beyond the length of that chain is
simply a condition of his life, and he believed he is trained to become helpless beyond the extremity of
that border. To the point where as an adult elephant it could easily pull the stake out of the ground. Just
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one swipe of his leg and yet it never does. It sits there in the enclosure fully confident in believing that
there is no possible way it can go beyond the enclosure that it‟s in. In fact they don‟t have to attach the
chain the stake anymore they simply lay the chain out on the ground with a loose loop around the
elephant‟s foot and they don‟t know.
Sandra: Wow!
Dr. Jacques: They have learned to become helpless because they have adopted the belief system
based on the circumstances that they have been put into. How often does that happen in business? I
can tell you this. Learned helplessness costs industries hundreds of billions of dollars every year across
the globe. We learn to become helpless and our gut response is why bother? Nobody really cares.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: So I learned to fly under the radar and just do the bare minimum to get by. What‟s the
cause of that mindset? It‟s huge. What if we were able to convince people and to show people how they
can bring their A game to what they do every single day, and even if all we are able to do is increase
their ability to increase to generate their A game by 5% everyday across all the employees in an
organization. What would be the impact of that in the bottom line?
Travis: It‟s exponential.
Sandra: Incredible.
Dr. Jacques: It would be huge. We don‟t think like thinking that way. We just react to our environment.
Travis: How about the example she was talking about with the fish in the bowl. I figured I was familiar
with the elephant story. The fish in the bowl I don‟t think I have heard of that one.
Dr. Jacques: The fish in the aquarium, it turns out there was a major city aquarium they were putting
into place a new tank, with a new ecosystem basically with very large game fish from Canada. What
they did is they would put the big fish in the big tank. A million gallon tank whatever it happens to be
and they would be small fish in their full of ecosystem and it was like ringing the dinner bell. As soon as
they put the small fish in there the big fish would eat them. So some very enterprising individuals have
heard about the learned helplessness work of Martin Talisman, Dr. Martin Talisman. In fact we should
try something so what we‟ve got is a very large glass bell jar that they filled with a small fish in the water
and they suspended that glass jar in the big tank. Of course, the big fish would take a run on the small
fish just like before signalling that dinner was served and they would smash their sensitive snout
against the walls of jar. What they did was actually track the number of fish strikes on the glass jar.
Over time and within a couple of days it went from a numerous strikes to zero. And then they left it an
extra day no fish strikes. They pulled the glass jar out of the tank. Pop from the top, poured the water
with the fish into the big tank. No problem any longer with the big fish eating the little fish. Because
what the big fish learned that there was a condition in their lives, that there was nothing they could do to
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get at those little fish. If they did all they would be doing is hurting their sensitive snout, essentially it is
the elephant example again, isn‟t it?
Sandra: I think that the story is so valuable, I believe in our past of being human we‟ve had failures.
Instead of learning from it, it‟s like okay we‟ll just never do that again. So I think many of us are
swimming in oceans with unbelievable opportunities that are right in front of us. It could be a
conversation we have with someone, or a new opportunity for business or something but we won‟t even
risk it and we don‟t even know that we know this. But our belief is it couldn‟t happen. So I love those
examples because I look now at conversations with people that come into my life, or opportunities
there‟s something that‟s not be given by my past but kind of look with a new fresh set of eyes. Like,
could this be an opportunity, I love thinking about the fish, I really do.
Dr. Jacques: Rule #6 of the mental road Sandra says, “Your perception determines your emotional
response, so choose your perception carefully. “
Travis: You‟re right.
Dr. Jacques: So much of what we believe is simply defined by our perception of things and that belief
system directly impacts our perception. If we change our perception which we have 100% power to do,
we change our emotional response, we change our behaviour, we change our performance. For good
or for bad the mind doesn‟t say, “Oh, but that‟s a bad thought don‟t go there.” It doesn‟t. Our
unconscious mind simply says; “Aye, Aye captain,” whatever the conscious mind believes.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: That‟s the job of our subconscious mind to do precisely that.
Travis: I had an event happen when I was young, where I felt really silly doing something with a ton of
a group of people at my home. And it stuck with me although I‟ve had all the success in business, it
stuck with me so much that it‟s prevented me from getting on the stage of doing things that I should‟ve
done with my business. That fear, of something that happened when I was 10 years old I‟m 46 now has
owned me.
Dr. Jacques: Fear failure right?
Travis: Yes.
Dr. Jacques: What are people going to think?
Travis: Yeah, like I‟m going to go up there and make a fool of myself and I‟m going to look stupid. Even
though I‟ve had high level of success in business, I have only recently discovered how much that has
owned me and now I‟m prepared to break that.
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Dr. Jacques: Unfortunately Rule #3. You cannot think about whatever is on your mind. The more you
think, the more you tell yourself not to worry about it, the more we tell about our self not to do it. What
do we end up doing? Thinking more about it.
Travis: The more we think about it.
Dr. Jacques: What we have to do is we have to control, direct our conscious thought to the positive
and productive path focussed thought that leads to our best performance and in fact lead us away from
self sabotage that we still easily create for ourselves. But until you understand how the process of self
sabotage begins, evolves, and impacts your performance -- you‟re not going to have a good as a
handle on fixing the problem.
Travis: Right. So the first step understands that you have a problem right?
Dr. Jacques: Pretty well, I think most people know they have a problem. I think understanding what the
problem exactly looks like. And once we understand exactly what the problem is, now we‟re in the
better condition to change.
Travis: Hopefully that‟s the material provides a clear understanding, the clarity of that thought process,
and a different framework to think about thinking.
Sandra: I think the perspective thing that you brought us is so valuable too. Because even looking or
given the choice whether we‟re a victim of something or if we‟re responsible, what we can do with it. We
both know that my dad died two years ago, and it was a horrible experience and painful. Break up of
relationships with my siblings, and on one hand it could be labelled as the worst thing that‟s ever
happened to me. By shifting my perspective and asking the question how could this be the best thing
that‟s ever happened to me? Actually the thing that helped me to say I‟ve learned about grief, I‟ve
learned about what happens in the brain. I want to give this to other people. It was mentally getting out
of the victim mode, making that shift purposely and declaring that I‟m an author and I‟m going to write a
book about it and I am going to make a difference in the life of others. So I think and correct me if I‟m
wrong, I carry in life the perspective or the perception however you say it, in fact because as of the
moment it doesn‟t feels so good. It sucks.
Jacques: That‟s the heart of it.
Sandra: But it‟s all opportunity if you choose to make it an opportunity. I think it‟s more fulfilling to go
through life being responsible than being a victim. It‟s not very attractive being a victim.
Travis: More empowering also.
Dr. Jacques: Well ultimately, we understand that we can‟t control outcome. We allow ourselves to
spend more time thinking about our processes and become engaged more effectively with those
processes. And the truth of it is the more we focus on process and on execution when it‟s time to
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execute, by in large the better the results are. We all know this to be true; we‟ve all experienced it
thinks of the sweet spot moments people call being in the zone. When you‟re there you are not anxious,
in fact there is tranquillity in spirit there‟s almost serenity, an eternal calm or quiet that exist. There
might be a great deal of intensity but there‟s still calmness because it‟s possible to be both calm and
intense at the same time. Isn‟t it?
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: And that‟s what the sweet spot looks like, and if we can find that internal state that
optimizes the mindset to focus correctly and to deliver the best we are capable of, the results we
generate are the best that they can be in that situation. Except for the influence of the BS, we don‟t
even know what they are yet.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Jacques: Which we can‟t control.
Sandra: It takes practice right? Like there‟s going to be moments for people in the zone and all of a
sudden a negative thought will slip in there. But it‟s like okay that‟s what that is let‟s get back to the A
game.
Dr. Jacques: It‟s a skill and in fact that‟s what my clients have been developing over the years, it‟s an
understanding of and the skill of controlling how we think. Even in the most deadly and challenging
situation. And that‟s why they are at top of their game. And the funny thing is it‟s learnable. We can
learn to do that when we understand where it comes from, and what the process is to change. After that
you have to put in the sweat equity that actually to make the change, to work at it. It‟s simple but it‟s not
easy because it requires discipline.
Travis: I think the things that probably were not included were the good stuff that comes with it, a better
life, accomplishment, success, happiness. All of those things will come.
Dr. Jacques: Less stress.
Travis: Yeah.
Sandra: Better health.
Travis: We put the sweat equity in to these. This is something so critical. It played a critical role in the
quality of your life. To start practicing this and learn this skill is a vital part of an incredible life.
Dr. Jacques: Rule #2 says the mind can actively process one thought at a time. I could prove it to you
if we had more time.
Travis: No multi tasking?
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Dr. Jacques: The truth of it is if we we‟re processing if were focused positively and productively. If
we‟re task focus and positive and the mind can only actively process one thought at a time what we
cannot be at the same moment focusing on all the garbage that creates anxiety and stress. So how do
you avoid stress in your life? By redirecting your central processor, those thoughts and actions that are
relevant to your performance in the moment and if you do that you‟ll get into the sweet spot of life an
often a lot of it more and the outcomes will be better. That‟s what we are all shooting for.
Travis: Right, right.
Dr. Jacques: Easy to say not so easy to do.
Travis: How can people find you? What‟s the best way to get their hands on your book?
Dr. Jacques: Well the easiest way to find me is to visit me at my website, the address is
www.performanceprime.com that‟s all one word, all together performance prime.com and people can
read what the book is about. About kinds of programs both the sport and the corporate side that I‟m
involved. Also on twitter @performprime and on Facebook. Look for the pages performanceprime.com
Travis: Yeah and you‟re going to start answering questions yourself. You‟re going to create a video,
segment or something along those lines and answer people‟s direct questions right?
Dr. Jacques: Yeah and I‟m facilitating that initiatives for this week. What I‟m going to do is invite those
people who are followers my tweets as they say, and follow me on twitter and facebook to ask
questions that are relevant to them in their world that had to do with performance and mental skills they
can do so openly on those social media platforms or they can send me an email at
[email protected] . And every week I‟m going to take one of those questions and
formulate a comprehensive response. I‟ll probably end up doing it as a video response to build an
archive of such responses over time and if I do once a week by the end of the year, I should have 52 or
so archive responses that will touch on a broad variety of issues and questions that people have about
performance and hopefully it will be an archive that people can consult to help them deal with the
issues and problems that they wrestle with. Because we‟re more the same than we are different, even
though we are very much involved in different activities.
Travis: And so some housekeeping here all of that, everything you have referenced can be accessed
at performance prime so its PERFORMANCEPRIME.COM right?
Dr. Jacques: Correct.
Travis: Okay, you are absolutely brilliant Jacques. It‟s been a pleasure meeting you. There are so
many things to talk about. I‟m wondering, would you consider coming on again, maybe several months
down the road.
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Dr. Jacques: It would be my pleasure. We haven‟t even really gotten in to what these rules are about
and I will tell you the framework of the rules provides both an understanding of how we sabotage
ourselves and the solution as to how we cannot do it.
Travis: Great.
Sandra: And Jacques I want to thank you also. I know you‟re an extraordinary human being and I have
these sneaky suspicion that what you have been up to the past 40 years and where it‟s going will really
impact the lives of so many people that weren‟t even aware that they are unaware how important their
thought and focus can be. So I want to acknowledge you ahead of time for all the lives that you‟re going
to touch and the people you will probably not going to meet that will be able to make a difference in
their lives and their businesses and as a result have better health. Have great results. Have better
relationships. And it all comes from the work that you‟ve done and are doing. So thank you for that.
Dr. Jacques: Well I appreciate those comments sincerely and like everyone else, we all try to
contribute our small piece and if my small piece provide the insight and the clarity to others in some
applications and situations, then that‟s great.
End of Interview
Travis: Okay we have come to the end of this show. Let‟s go ahead and wrap it up for now, be sure to
and join us for next week‟s broadcast. Until then, and one other thing go to SandraandTravis.com and
leave your comments about the show, ideas, suggestion, feedback or even guests that you would like
to hear from. Be sure and leave that in the comment section. Both Sandra and I will be on looking in
those areas and responding to your comments so thanks again and have a great day.
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How We Can Help You
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This is a common problem for EVERY business owner. It doesn‟t matter if you are a one-man army, or
an army of 150, the problem is still the same.
Travis Lane Jenkins
Business Mentor-Turn Around Specialist
Radio Host of The Entrepreneurs Radio Show
“Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs That Grow Your Business"