There is a simple life formula that has been around for many years that I must say I subscribe to wholeheartedly:

P = PI – Yield = Potential – Interference

There you have it: life should now be simple for you, business will be a huge success, and all relationships will be a breeze. Not really … but it can have a huge impact on you by breaking it down into its three component parts.

Performance – This is what you judge and what you judge against, from service to your community and the sick to the worst criminals on death row. Only we can judge our performance and success in comparison to material or spiritual achievements. That does not mean that we are not regularly measuring incorrect performance, but that is an entirely different matter.

Potential – This word has so many challenges associated with it, if you were like me, your school report constantly said ‘I could do better’ or ‘if you put 10% of the effort into your work that you do on the rugby field, you could do it be a genius ‘. Our full potential is something that most of the time is seen by others and not by ourselves, and when we see it, we tend to dismiss it or not believe it.

Interference: this is simply everything that happens inside our minds that contaminates the potential that we have. Everything I just described about my school report was interference in one way or another, we self-sabotaged ourselves and we prevented ourselves from being the best we can be most of the time.

So what does this have to do with being in a bubble? In recent times I have been on two business trips, one to an association convention, the other for a week of intensive learning towards my Advanced Accreditation in Executive Coaching. Both times I was mentally and physically detached from everything that happened in my normal world.

Time zones impeded ease of communication with family and clients alike, the intensity of what I was attending prevented me from accessing email and social media (with ease), which in turn meant there was nothing I could do off the daily schedules that got me. in. I was in a Mikey bubble, away from everything else.

During that time my mind was so sharp, so on, and so alert to everything that was going on around me, absorbing and appreciating the learning lessons both personally and professionally. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we all need to run away to the mountains and sing “Kumbaya”, but that would work for some of you.

What I’m saying is that we have to find the environment where we can really shut down all the interference that happens around us every day and focus on allowing our full potential to shine through. It does none of us any favors to reach 50% or 72% of our total potential, the only person who loses here is you. So what gets in the way of you getting into your performance bubble most of the time? It’s the same for all of us: we can’t be in the bubble constantly, but we can certainly go more often.