Too often when we observe peak performers we are so impressed by their accomplishments that we attribute their performance to special innate abilities and talents. For many years psychological researchers thought this way too. But today many psychologists have a different view. They hold that peak performance is very little or not at all attributable to innate abilities and talents. They hold the view that, while not everyone can become a Michael Jordan, Johnny Depp, or Mariah Carey, nearly everyone can improve their performance substantially – many can perform at peak levels – if they understand and follow the actions that lead to peak performance.

Four Steps of Peak Performance


There are several sets of findings in psychology that, when taken together, provide guidelines to understand peak performance and the mental skills needed for success and how to describe, measure, and teach these mental skills of peak performance. These actions can be summarized into four steps which are (1) task and cognitive analysis, (2) measurement and on-going feedback, (3) goal setting, and (4) coaching and practice.

1. Task and cognitive analysis

Researchers have carefully observed, interviewed, and analyzed peak performers while they practice and perform at peak levels. The actions peak performers take, the knowledge and skills they possess, the thoughts and images they hold about themselves and the specific situations in which they perform, and the emotions they experience differ from those found among non-peak performers. In short, peak and non-peak performers differ with regard to their behaviors (knowledge and skills), images, thoughts, and emotions – their BITEs. These BITE differences between peak and non-peak performers reflect mental skills differences. The mental skills of success, once understood, form the basis for measurement, coaching, and teaching. The identification of the mental skills of success is accomplished through a process called task and cognitive analysis.