Imagine Going from a sort of chaos into control. Changing the day starting and running us to us starting the day and running it. Having that confidence, to say , “I know how my day is going to go”. Chris has the systems, the protocols and the practices where you can show up and you can determine what your day looks like.

In this episode I am talking with Chris McLean - A Peak Performance and Transformation Coach (he will explain in more detail). He helps agency owners transmute chaos into control and frenzy into flow. Through intentional mindset flow - hacking into a scientifically backed agency performance system. Gotta hear this.

I believe we should all use our strengths to pour into agency owners. Chris has a story that I think resonates with the majority of agency owners. Hear Chris experience and his solutions to burn out and much more. We are talking about topics that need to be addressed.

Takeaways From This Episode:

Peak Performance and Transformation Coach
What is your baseline financial IQ
Turns chaos into control and frenzy into flow
The four-stage cycle of flow
Transmutation - the outcome is the ability to turn something into something else
5X, 8X 10X gain in performance!!

When you're on your journey of trying to figure out what business skills you need to first, then second and so on, it can be stressful and somewhat chaotic. Chris talks about what advice he gives agency owners as they start to learn the business side of running an agency. It is hard starting an agency. It's tough and yet we have all done it.

That is what we're talking about in this episode - how to be a peak performer and truly grow your business without having burnout.

What is your baseline financial IQ

One of the big things that comes up is having a basic baseline financial IQ. Chris talks about this being something he had to develop because numbers and math was never his bag. Suddenly, he had this “thing” that he really needed to understand - a financial spreadsheet. - understanding a balance sheet. Understanding what is coming in and what is going out and why. Cash flow is a tricky deal. Teaser

Now onto the real reason for this episode.

Angry businessman has stress and troubles with bad reports, he breaks documents and throws it.

Chris is a peak performance and transformation coach. He helps agency owners transmute chaos into control and frenzy into flow through intentional mindset flow hacking into a scientifically backed agency performance system.

Chris explains that transmutation comes from the foundations of psychology and science, and the outcome is the ability to turn something into something else. That's really the idea of transformation. Ideally what we want is transformation like a butterfly. Once the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it transforms, it's not going back to a caterpillar. True transformation is sort of permanent. That is where we want to get people. We want to take them to whatever goal they are needing and it be irreversible that that's the new baseline, and then we transform again. That is the idea of transmutation.

It becomes a habit and not just a hobby.

Turns chaos into control and frenzy into flow

Figurative symbols to search for ideas Chaotic and confusing

We want those redundancies, those systems, those kind of nitty-gritty, daily stuff, that feel really unsexy to become SEXIER. Chris teaches you how to get into your peak performance of hacking, dropping into flow states, getting into higher states of consciousness, getting your most important work done in those types of states and that's pretty sexy. Going from a sort of chaos into control. Changing from the day starting and then running us to us starting the day and running it. Having that confidence, to say , “I know how my day is going to go”. Chris has the systems, the protocols and the practices in the habits where you can show up and you can determine what your day looks like.

Peak performance is operating in a state where you perform your best, you're doing your best work and you're also really enjoying what you are doing. It's quite a complex beast to actually be an agency owner, whilst maintaining creativity, right. And that can feel really chaotic. Chris wants to get people out of that and have them actually find the fun again, find the enjoyment, actually enjoy what you're doing. Even if that is filling out data in a spreadsheet, doing your finances, doing your accounts, if you can do that work in a peak performance that is what we call a flow state.

When you get into flow, the experience itself is so enjoyable, that you want to do it again. That has a lot to do with the neurochemistry of flow states and peak performance where we literally get the five most exciting pain relief, pleasure chemicals in the brain, in the body and through the nervous system when we access these states. It feels great when we actually get way more productive. We can get much more output, much more efficiency and effectiveness because when you're in a flow state, everything else falls away, and you're just 100% focused on that single thing that you're doing.

Flow is a four stage cycle that drops into a flow state

Flow is a four stage cycle that drops into a flow state, you need to push through the four stage cycle - But be aware of what we call flow triggers. These triggers can slow down your stages. The triggers are activated by certain conditions, sort of internal or external triggers. One of the big ones being a reduction in cognitive load. When we are trying to do everything, trying to think about everything, trying to manage everything, you're multitasking, you're doing everything at once - Your systems overload. The answer is to reduce that cognitive load by delegating or by deferring. By reducing that cognitive load down and getting hyper focused on one or two things you get really focused and flow follows focus.

Chris breaks down some of the barriers that keep us from getting that focus that leads to flow.

Information overload chalk icons set. Consists of cognitive dissonance, comparative research method, data smog, new info rate. Isolated vector illustrations on cgalkboard

One of the biggies that keeps us from focus and from that flow state is distraction management. The average performer averages eight to 10 hours of work a day but actually only gets about two to three hours of deep, dedicated work because they are distracted about 35 times a day. Learning to manage distractions is crucial to getting into your flow state.

Another one from a human peak performance perspective, is the idea that we don't listen to our biology. We don't listen to our own systems, and we don't get out of our own way. Listen to Chris talk about getting out of our own way, listening to our biology and distraction management.

As Agency Owners we are essentially selling our ideas, our knowledge, our ability to create things out of nothing to connect far flung ideas into something new and novel that's gonna help them sell a product.Creativity is that thing that we're craving. Creativity works in space. It works when there's space and time to think. When we have that cognitive space, and cognitive loads reduced, we can tap into that creativity more easily. When you're just sitting thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, doing hustling, grinding, pounding away every day. That kind of modality is literally and scientifically the complete opposite to what we want to do to let creativity flourish.

With big agencies you see the burnout rates being 70-80 percent -that's three quarters of your staff are burning out. That is a significant number and needs to be addressed. Chris teaches you how to avoid that burnout and the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. A 45 to 90 minute cycle, if you can take a break every 45 minutes, as your energy is declining, take a bit of a break, do a quick meditation, go for a walk, and then come when you come back, your energy is naturally going to pick again.

Shameless Plug - 5X, 8X 10X gain in performance!!

5X, 8X 10X gain in performance!!

It's this weird dichotomy changing from hustling, and grinding, and just doing and doing and doing and being busy feeling like you're being really productive and effective - But if you actually look at it, there's a massive drop off in actual performance, when you're kind of in this gray zone of just pushing through. if you're always in that stress state, your system just doesn't have time just to relax, and put and move into that parasympathetic system where it's rest and digest and relax and flush out all the cortisol and all the stress hormones, you've got to let that stuff resolve and that's taking a walk, that's having a quick break, that's going and getting a massage, just doing some breath work, it's doing a quick meditation in between meetings, it's just letting the simple the nervous system calm downIt's about listening to your biology and then letting your biology work for you rather than against you. Great method.

This is a phenomenal podcast for all agency owners ! A must watch or listen to.