Coaching practices for Performance Standard
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Performance Standard, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I keep getting frustrated that people aren’t hitting the bar
- I’ve worked so hard to make my team comfortable that I’ve gone soft on the bar, and now they’re relaxed and underperforming
- I’m always measuring myself against whoever’s ahead of me, and it’s crushing
- When I tell my coach a session "felt hard" they can’t tell if it was the weight or just me being tired, and we keep talking past each other
- My program says lift a fixed percentage, but my strength swings day to day
Practices that may help
- Agree in advance on what good performance looks like
Performance conversations go badly because the standard was never made explicit — the reprimand is the first time it is stated.
The One Minute Manager: Three Practices That Still Work - Pre-Performance Routines, Made Practical
Pre-performance routines are standardized behavioral and mental sequences performed before a performance that direct attention, manage arousal, and activate well-rehearsed movement patterns. Sport psychology research (particularly Stuart Cotterill’s work) and multiple meta-analyses find they reliably improve consistency and reduce performance variability across athletic and skill-based tasks. - Hold high standards inside high safety
Safety without standards is comfort; standards without safety is fear. You need both axes high.
Psychological Safety, Made Practical - Process Goals, Made Practical
Process goals focus on the specific behaviors and techniques under the performer’s direct control (how you execute) rather than on outcomes (whether you win). Sport psychology research consistently finds that process goals maintain attention on controllable actions, reduce anxiety, and improve performance consistency — especially under pressure — while pure outcome goals can undermine both. - Track performance goals against your own baseline, not others
Measure your progress against your personal standard, not against the competitor or the leaderboard.
Process vs. Outcome Goals in Sport and Performance - The Ideal Performance State, Made Practical
The Ideal Performance State (IPS) is Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s term for the specific combination of physical, mental, and emotional activation at which a performer reliably produces peak output. The IPS is individual-specific — what energizes one performer paralyzes another — and is accessed through deliberate energy management rather than through hoping to "get in the zone." - Use RPE as a communication language with coaches and training partners
A shared RPE vocabulary turns subjective experience into objective programming data that a coach can act on.
The RPE Scale - Use RPE to set strength training load instead of fixed percentages
An RPE 8 on a squat means two reps left in the tank — this calibrates load to your actual state on that day.
The RPE Scale - Design process goals that are specific, observable, and within your control
Process goals must be both actionable (you can do them) and observable (you can confirm you did them).
Process vs. Outcome Goals in Sport and Performance - Outperform expectations in every context
Becoming the person who consistently delivers beyond what’s expected is a discipline practice, not just a performance tactic.
The Accountability Mirror: David Goggins’s Radical Honesty Practice
Related concerns
- Performance Standard Clarity
Performance conversations go badly because the standard was never made explicit — the reprimand is the first time it is stated.
Agree in advance on what good performance looks like
- Expectations Vs Standards
Performance conversations go badly because the standard was never made explicit — the reprimand is the first time it is stated.
- Observable Goals Sport
Process goals must be both actionable (you can do them) and observable (you can confirm you did them).
Design process goals that are specific, observable, and within your control
- Outcome Goals Sport Psychology
Outcome goals (winning, achieving a score) set direction but are only partially within a performer’s control. Process goals (executing specific actions or maintaining specific focus) are fully controllable and directly drive the behaviors that produce outcomes. Sport psychology research indicates that process and performance goals produce better results under pressure than outcome goals alone — because they direct attention to what can actually be influenced in the moment.
- Peak Performance Conditions
Identify the exact mental, emotional, and physical conditions under which you perform at your best.
Map your personal Ideal Performance State
- Performance As Information
The Ideal Performance State (IPS) is Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s term for the specific combination of physical, mental, and emotional activation at which a performer reliably produces peak output. The IPS is individual-specific — what energizes one performer paralyzes another — and is accessed through deliberate energy management rather than through hoping to "get in the zone."
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