What does it mean to do a great job and continue to do so over a long period of time? You commit fully to a project, start well and are seeing good results, super. You fall into a good working rhythm but overtime some natural complacency creeps in and results start to slip. You're not all where you expected or wanted to be anymore. At times it's hard for us to see the wood from the trees so need a helping hand to step back and understand what we are doing and are we still heading in the right direction? If you usually confer with a partner in action to soundboard then you have a better chance finding your rhythm again. But if not, I’ve created what I think are 8 very helpful questions and related sub questions to ask yourself, or if you are a manager to ask your team or if you're a leader to ask your organization. 

1. How many goals and tasks do I have on my plate and in motion right now? 

   • How many of these tasks are important and not urgent compared to busy type work? (Note the former is where you need to be working)

   • What’s my complete rate like for the important and not urgent work, its planning and delivery?

2. What is the first thing I do every day when I start work or login to my computer? 

   • Is it a deliberate action focus review on the most important work needed to be done toady aligned to my overall vision, roadmap or top level goals? 

   • Or is it random or serendipitous like opening email in anticipation of something interesting and working on what you might find that looks interesting or shouts at you the most? 

3. What is the biggest challenge right now for me in my project or job? 

   • How well am I working on breaking this challenge down and managing it? 

   • How am I feeling about this challenge and what thoughts do the feelings bring up for me?

   • How well does my team prioritize working/unblocking their biggest challenges? 

4. What routines have I deliberately put in place to promote excellence for myself or my Team? 

   • Do I know the routines that facilitate good habits so I produce good work? 

   • Do I know the habits that block me and put my performance off track? 

   • Do I know the habits that block my team or organization with performance and delivery? 

5. Do I know how and where I do my best work?

   • Do I purposely carve out time in the day to be in that place or mindset where I work best? 

   • As a manager do I know each of my Teams best way of working and do I help them protect and nurture that? 

6. What am I deliberately learning now for my future or my team's future work?

   • What systems natural or otherwise do I have that enable learning and being curious?

7. Am I talking to my partner in action? 

   • Do I have a person I can share and soundboard my thoughts and plans to? A colleague, manager, friend etc.? Someone that is positive, motivates me and that I can trust? 

   • If not, how will I find that person?

   • Do I regularly meet up with that person? 

8. Is my biological engine running smoothly? 

   • Am I fit mentally and physically to do my best every day? 

   • Am I living an EASSED life? Exercise, Attitude, Sleep, Sate da Soul, Eat and Drive (purpose/passion) 

   • Is there anything I am not facing up to right now in this area that is blocking me? 

These 8 questions help gaining a holistic view of how you, a team or organisation is performing against areas needed for high and sustainable performance. I think it's important to take time out to ask these questions regularly and honestly of yourself and with your team. I mean a real honest conversation to see where you measure up or as a group how you fair. Then agree to come up with a plan to address any slumps and as a team help each other have positive outcomes to the questions. Imagine if as a team the answers were positive most of the time and you had regular health checks to monitor? What sort of output and tower of excellence could you build together? And most importantly, we’re not machines so we will have ups and downs, so acknowledge that and don’t be too hard on yourself. Look on the process of asking the 8 questions as a positive thing and something to look forward to because it promotes self-awareness/team awareness, it helps understanding, what needs to be changed and helps you willingly take accountability for the changes so you step to greater performance.