The X-Spot: Performance and Your Family

Going the Distance

When I was young, my dad loved to hike and explore the woods and he invited me to go with him. As a youngster, I always started hiking with enthusiasm, but I didn’t always want to go the distance with him.

Even though I had told my dad that I really wanted to go and I was willing to walk all by myself like a “big girl,” after a few minutes of walking, I would start whining and say “Daddy, would you carry me?” Dad was a pretty smart cookie and would say, “Sure, I’ll carry you if you need me to, but do you think you could make it to that big tree up there?” I’d say “Yes, I think I can make it.” As I got close to the tree I’d actually run a little. And then I’d ask him again, “Can you carry me now?” And he would answer me again and tell me he would carry me if I needed him to, but then he’d say something like, “Do you think you can make it to that big rock up there where that woman is standing?” Again, I’d say “Yeah…I think I can,” and off I’d go! My dad’s method usually resulted in him not having to carry me at all, regardless of the length of the hike.

While he was probably trying to preserve his back, he was actually teaching me that I could do just about anything….if I thought I could.

He didn’t know it, but Dad was helping my brain use what is known by neuroscientists as the “X-Spot” to keep me motivated and moving toward my goal.

Find the X-Spot.

Shawn Achor, an author and lecturer at Harvard University, describes how our brain accelerates us toward our goals. When our brain perceives that we’ve made progress on our goal, and that the finish line is close, it actually releases endorphins that provide renewed energy and strength, to not only keep us going, but also to help us accelerate our performance.

You can see a remarkable example of this if you watch a marathon, which is a 26.2 mile run. The X-Spot moment happens at the 26.1 mile marker, where the athletes round the last corner and see the finish line for the first time. At this moment, their brain releases powerful neurochemicals into their bloodstream, which enables the exhausted runners to actually increase their speed and sprint toward the finish line.

The endorphin release is so strong, that some runners just can’t handle it. The X-Spot is also the most likely place for a heart attack, which is why Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, who is one of the world’s most well-known running experts, positions medical crews at this exact spot. In 2011 alone, his team successfully resuscitated ten runners at the X-Spot…just one tenth of a mile from the end of the Philadelphia Marathon!

The takeaway for us isn’t about stopping heart attacks; it’s about accelerating performance.

Move the target closer.

According to Shawn Achor, there are several tangible ways to help your brain release these “acceleration” chemicals, simply by moving your target closer:

1. Give yourself a perceived head start.
2. Mark points of progress.
3. Create championship moments.
4. Focus on the prize not the problem.

Using the X-Spot with Your Family

Summer is the perfect time to help your kids learn how to accelerate toward their goals instead of fizzling out because they are tired, or bored.

A friend of mine shared an example of how their family used these simple success accelerants to help them achieve a summer goal of going to Disney World for a week.

Ellen told her children that the family would need $1,500 within 4 weeks in order to make the vacation happen and everyone needed to participate in raising the money. That seemed like an impossible goal to the younger children. So to help each person perceive the goal was achievable and help them continue to make progress without losing steam, she used the four success accelerators to move the target closer.

Give yourself a perceived head start

She gave her family a perceived head start by making a simple graph on the refrigerator with a horizontal line with $0 at the bottom and $1,500 at the top and $100 increments along the way. Before she posted it, she colored in the first $500. which she told them was money she’d already set aside for a vacation. Seeing one third of the vertical bar already colored in, helped them believe that progress was being made.

Mark points of progress.

Each time another $100 was added to the vacation fund, the family celebrated with a pizza party or a trip to the ice cream shop. And then, when they made it to the halfway mark, they all went shopping for new bathing suits to wear at the park. When they reached the $1,000 mark, they purchased their park tickets online.

Create championship moments.

Ellen reminded each person that they had each successfully accomplished hard goals in the past, like designing a winning science project, learning to play the violin, and building a tree fort in the back yard. By reminding them of their past wins, she  was priming their brains to believe that success was possible. When your brain perceives success, it believes your behavior matters. The fastest way to accomplish a goal is to look back at previous successes.

Focus on the prize not the problem.  

Instead of entertaining complaints of how difficult the goal was, they had weekly brainstorming sessions about how they could meet their goal.  The more progress they made, the more creative they became. At about the halfway mark, the youngest child even said, “If we stop buying pizza and ice cream to celebrate, we could put that money into the vacation fund!” Our brain steers toward what we focus on. When we focus on the prize instead of the problem, our brains can create new paths to get us to our goal! It can even motivate a 9-year-old to give up pizza and ice cream!

Finding the X-Spot Increases Energy, Focus, and Confidence

We all want our kids to know that they can be winners in life, to know that they can succeed at accomplishing their goals. But to do that, we have to help them stay in the game until their brain perceives that they can win. By helping your kids find their X-Spot, you can actually help them increase their energy, focus, and drive at any time during their goal, not just at the end!

Find the X-Spot This Summer!

This summer is a great time for you to help your kids move their targets closer. And to be honest, I need this just as much as an adult as my kids ever did! Imagine where we can all be this fall if we start finding our X-Spot TODAY? What if we all use this summer as a magnificent experiment in using our brains to move our targets closer and getting us where we want to go? That sounds like an epic summer adventure!