As a child psychiatrist, I’m asked every day to help a struggling young person do better. For example, I recently saw a boy I’ll call Tommy, who was floundering in sixth grade in spite of increasingly vehement exhortations from his teachers and parents to try harder. I could see how downcast he was, so I immediately turned to a process I’ve developed for kids like him. It began with figuring out what he liked to do (build things and play guitar) and what he was good at (math, science, music, and hands-on projects) and urging him to do those things more often. I also arranged for him to be switched out of a class where there was a clear conflict with the teacher and into one where he felt more at ease, and I advised the adults in his life to make sure he was imaginatively engaged in the classroom, not just sitting there, bored. I told them to challenge Tommy but not in a punishing way; the message should be “I’m asking more from you because I know you have it in you.” Within weeks, he was working harder and was even eager to go to school. He started to receive positive feedback, which fueled his desire to work harder still.
Managing Yourself: What Brain Science Tells Us About How to Excel
Reprint: R1012L
Millions of people are struggling at work. Some are in the wrong jobs. Others feel no connection to their colleagues or engagement with their tasks. The result is rampant dissatisfaction and underachievement.
Hallowell, a child psychiatrist specializing in learning differences, describes the Cycle of Excellence, a plan for helping people achieve peak performance. It consists of five steps:
Select a job that reflects what you like to do and what you do best and that adds value to the organization. Research has shown that good job fit reduces stress and increases satisfaction and performance.
Connect with the people around you. Robust relationships in the workplace galvanize people and build their engagement with their jobs. Small talk may seem trivial, but it pays big dividends.
Play on the job. It sounds like an oxymoron, but people do their best—and are most satisfied—when they’re imaginatively involved with their work. And when you’re hard at play, you’re building your brain.
Grapple and Grow—that is, work hard to achieve a difficult task. The stress you may feel as you engage with a tough assignment and connect with others to complete it is not the toxic kind.
Shine in the acknowledgment of your achievements. Praise releases chemicals that make us feel good, and it fills our uniquely human need to be of value, to matter. If you aren’t getting it, ask for it. The need for recognition is fundamental to optimal human performance.
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