Jack Shirazi finds five lessons from life that hold just as well when transferred to the world of performance

1. Identifying and fixing performance issues requires you to ask the same big questions as you do in life:

• Why am I here?
• What am I doing?
• How did I get here?
• Where do I want to be?
• How do I get there?

2. Problems:

• There are some problems you can fix.
• There are some problems you can't fix.
• Concentrate on fixing the ones you can, and avoiding or living with the ones you can't.

3. Trying to figure something out?

• Most of the time what you are looking for is right in front of you.
• Step back and look at things from a different angle, a change of perspective can bring that elusive thing into sharp focus.

4. You can't get everything right.

But (performance) planning means that you can get more right than if you just blunder on regardless. Remember, when things are happening thick and fast:

• Stop;
• Take a deep breath;
• Think about the bigger picture;
• Prioritise what is important, and what is just "nice to have";
• Don't sweat the small things.

5. When comparing lists (and most things) for equality remember that:

• as with life, failure tends to occur much more quickly than success.

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