One of the strongest predictors of the outcome of any intervention is early diagnosis.
This is certainly true of proper diagnosable illnesses like cancer, but were you aware that in the realm of high performance there are specific signs that can flag an impending nosedive in your productivity and vitality?
This is not new.
Elite trainers are constantly on the lookout for any minute changes heralding an impending loss of performance in the athletes they coach.
For example:
- a higher resting heart rate
- a cold that is taking too long to shake off
- an injury that is taking too long to heal
- the mildest loss of stamina
are all big warning signs in an industry where every 1% improvement can mean the difference between gold and silver.
Optimise now to prevent a significant deficit later
In my realm of work, optimising a leader’s nervous system when undergoing a short period of acute stress is always going to be quicker and easier than someone presenting with a long-term history of significant chronic anxiety.
Recently one of my clients, who is usually a great sleeper, started to wake up at night. This was due to increased responsibilities at work and at home.
Thanks to genetic and biological testing, I knew that their DNA Stress Signature™ is CEO and that presently they were overproducing dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline, as this genetic type tends to an extremely active prefrontal cortex, and they are very vulnerable to high-pressure environments.
By prescribing specific vitamin injections and a night-time formula to help speed up the breakdown of stress chemicals at a very granular, biochemical level, this person was able to resolve their sleep issue quickly.
The ten warning signs of impending poor performance
Unfortunately, as we move further and further away from a true connection to self and more and more into the realm of emotional band-aiding, we run the danger of ignoring important signs.
I want to share with you ten ways in which your body is ringing an alarm bell that it’s time to take action in order to prevent a significant downfall:
1. Waking up feeling tired after a good night’s sleep
I’m talking about an ongoing feeling of being tired upon waking after having at least 7 hours of sleep. This should always be investigated. One in 3 clients I test suffers from undiagnosed sleep apnoea. This is one of the most under-diagnosed performance impairments in slim, middle-aged women.
2. Feeling tired straight after meals
If this is a thing for you, it is highly likely you’re carrying some excess weight around your abdomen and you’re experiencing insulin resistance. As your body struggles to transport glucose into your cells for making energy after meals, you end up with high blood glucose levels and low intracellular glucose, so you get tired, and crave sugar at the end of the meal. Shooting Star™ energy types are at particular risk of this.
3. Hair loss for women
Hair that comes off in significant amounts as you brush or you have a shower is often a sign of iron deficiency and general depletion.
4. Digestive problem that started after a bout of gastro
There is a common condition called post-gastro irritable bowel syndrome. It can create ongoing malabsorption issues, leaving your body to deal with significant malnutrition which is going to affect your focus, energy and immune function.
5. Loss of libido for women
If you’re in a happy, fulfilling relationship, a loss of libido can be a sign that your testosterone levels have bottomed out. I see this a lot in middle aged women who report having no libido, struggle to lose weight, lose their sense of purpose, lose their short-term memory and feel demotivated.
6. Skin tags
Another significant sign of insulin resistance. See sign No2.
7. Ongoing irritability in men
One of the most common signs of depression in middle-aged men as well as a common sign of testosterone deficiency.
8. High energy in the evenings
Usually a sign of significant hormonal disregulation. For the vast majority of people, cortisol should be high on waking and low in the evenings. This evening energy pattern is often a sign of chronic stress having affected the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This is a very common pattern in the Electric Star™ energy type, who are prone to burnout.
9. Dry skin
Often caused by a decrease in thyroid function. This can have a significant effect on your energy, mood and ability to focus among other things.
10. Sweats that come on in the afternoon
Unless you’re a peri-menopausal woman (and by they way, in this day and age there is absolutely no need to go through menopause with significant symptoms) this is often an important sign of deep fatigue.