You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone better suited to the term 'high performance' than Ant Middleton.
A former Royal Marine and the host of the grueling SAS: Who Dares Wins program, Middleton epitomises pushing yourself to the limit and finding performance within ourselves from the deepest places.
To hear someone like that talk about driving ourselves to the next level is absolutely gripping. Whether you're involved in sport, business or even just trying to make improvements in your general life, this is a man worth listening to.
With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT have picked out three of the biggest takeaways we got from his discussion with Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes on The High Performance Podcast.
A Royal Marine's view of high performance
With so many different kinds of guests, one of the most fascinating things to listen to is their individual definition of high performance. A totally personal view shaped off whatever it is you're trying to be successful in, few can actually be as universal as Middleton's.
His, after all, is based on survival and reaching targets many of us will never understand. An animalistic sense of purpose, Middleton's view is as far-reaching as it is interesting.
"Self-belief," he said when asked to define the idea of high performance.
"It's key to everything in life I think.
"That comes with brutal honesty with oneself. You have to be honest with yourself.
"Self-belief only comes through knowing where your boundaries are, where your limitations are."
Keeping your own space
Middleton spoke of the intensity he works at. To do that, however, you need to set boundaries and have people in your life know that, when you're working, you cannot be distracted. How we balance that, of course, is different from household to household but the universal lesson is to ensure you're fully engaging with the work you have to do.
"When I'm at work, I'm at work.
"Unless my children are in hospital and there's something of an emergency, then don't bring any distractions.
"Let me focus 100% on my work because that way, I would achieve what I need to achieve.
"Also, when it does go wrong, I can't blame that one or two percent [of distractions]. I've only got one person to look at and that's myself.
"No excuses."
Elite mindsets are accessible
There is no secret to high performance in Middleton's eyes. Even if the term 'elite' is usually something used to separate those at the top from the rest of the public, having an elite mindset is something we all have the capability of possessing.
"It's an elite mindset, and, do you know what? I don't like to use that word 'elite'.
"Because that for me is just doing the basics to a high standard consistently."
That is a lesson. It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we do the basics of that process, we are setting ourselves up for an elite mindset, helping us on our journey to the world of high performance.
For more incredibly insightful interviews with elite sportsmen, women and entrepreneurs, make sure you subscribe to the High Performance Podcast on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-high-performance-podcast/id1500444735