An In-the-Moment Key to Performance: R.R.P.

When Charlie Tilson stepped into the batter’s box in a Chicago White Sox uniform for the first time, the potential distractions were endless. His first Major League at-bat, playing for his hometown team. Thousands of fans in the Comiskey stands. He was ready.

His physical talent was obvious. His performance mindset included a desire to be “dangerous in the box.” This confidence had been developed over time, and expressed in high pressure moments by simply relaxing, focusing, and expressing a strong fluid swing. “You can’t hit when you’re tight,” he notes. And Charlie wasn’t. In his first Major League at-bat, he connected, found a gap in the outfield, and sped safely to first base.

The key to performance is – brace yourself – performing. A crazy idea, I know. The key is to take whatever skills you possess and let them shine. In stories of high performance, there are moments of heroism, but they are few and far between. Olympic and professional champions are all talented – the major task is to put that talent on display. They identify an aim, train the ability to accomplish it, then, when called upon to perform, put that ability on display. Easier said than done.

In moments that matter, people are especially subject to stress. That’s obvious. It might be an important business meeting or a free throw with the game on the line. The CEO running a meeting knows that they can hold a conversation. The basketball player knows they can make a shot. But the stress of the moment can create pressures that might limit the presentation of those abilities.

In these moments, some lean in, tighten up, and try to force execution. It feels intuitive, but effort by itself is a blunt instrument. “You can’t hit when you’re tight.” Others simply react. That is, when the stress increases, they are pushed to their default settings. There, they might be defensive, attacking, withdrawn… any number of strategies that stem from the familiar fight-flight conversation. It’s why the disgruntled basketball player kicks a chair, or the frustrated CEO throws his stapler into the wall.

As stress increases, the less-elegant behaviors of our nature might present. That is, until we get them under control. Time after time, it becomes

clear that the task of the performer is to get steady. When I’m heading into a challenging conversation, I might scribble “RRP” in the corner of my notebook. This simple acronym brings an important strategy into consciousness.

R.R.P.

The Regulate–Refocus–Perform (RRP) approach offers a simple but precise sequence and aligns with existing performance models. The Yerkes–Dodson Law describes an inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance, where moderate levels of physiological and psychological activation tend to produce optimal outcomes. Too little arousal leads to under-engagement, while excessive arousal disrupts attention and coordination, often resulting in performance breakdown. Within the CARE model, behavior is not a starting point but an emergent property shaped by deeper layers of physiology, mindset, and skill. It notes that mindsets and physiological drives often underlie performance. Similarly, Jonathan Haidt’s elephant-and-rider metaphor highlights that conscious intention operates atop a far more powerful system of automatic processes. The rider can set direction, but the elephant determines whether movement is smooth, chaotic, or stalled altogether.

The High Order Performance framework is intended to set the stage for these moments, as it progresses from foundational physiology (eat, move, sleep) before moving into language, communication, relationships, and then toward mindset and approaches to performance. The physical, embodied self should be prioritized.

But in the moment of performance, you no longer have the option of taking a nap or getting a nutritious meal. So the in-the-moment approach has to shift. The RRP loop translates these ideas into a practical sequence: regulate the system, refocus attention, and perform.

Regulate: Steady the System

Every performance begins with physiology. Before attention can stabilize or skill can be expressed, the nervous system must be in a state capable of supporting those functions. Regulation refers to the process of stabilizing physiological and emotional conditions so that higher-order cognition can operate effectively.

The relationship between stress and cognition is well established. Eelevated stress responses alter neural functioning in ways that impair working memory, attention, and decision-making. Under excessive load, the brain reallocates resources toward survival-relevant processes, leaving fewer resources available for complex, goal-directed behavior. In practical terms, this means that individuals may still possess the necessary skill, but the system required to access that skill is compromised.

Emotion regulation research reinforces this point. The ability to modulate emotional responses is closely tied to cognitive flexibility and task performance. Individuals who can effectively regulate their internal state are better able to maintain attention, adapt to changing demands, and execute complex behaviors.

At the physiological level, autonomic balance plays a central role. In a meta-analysis linking heart rate variability (HRV) with brain function, researchers found that higher vagal tone is associated with improved emotional regulation and executive functioning. This suggests that regulation is not merely a psychological concept but a measurable biological condition that influences performance capacity.

In applied settings, regulation is often simple, but has to be intentional. Try a controlled breathing pattern before a critical moment, a brief pause during a difficult conversation, or a short reset between tasks can shift the system from reactive to responsive. If you really need to regulate, take a quick walk to the bathroom. Don’t be afraid of the pause. Recognizing the need to regulate is not soft, it’s skillful... If the system is dysregulated, performance is constrained. Simple as that.

Refocus: Directing Attention

Once the system is stabilized, attention becomes the next critical variable. Refocusing involves aligning cognitive resources with the task, filtering out irrelevant stimuli, and directing attention toward cues that support effective action.

Attention is finite, and its allocation determines what information is processed and acted upon. Anxious, unfocused scanning disrupts performance by shifting attention away from task-relevant information toward threat-related or distracting stimuli. People often acknowledge that they “know what to do,” yet fail to do it under pressure because their attention has been captured by the wrong inputs. They clam up on a sales call, and lose their train of thought.

Refocusing restores alignment between intention and attention. It narrows the field of awareness to what matters most in the moment.

Research on expertise further clarifies this process, noting that expert performers are distinguished not only by accumulated skill but by their ability to selectively attend to critical features of a task. Through deliberate practice, they develop attentional patterns that prioritize relevant cues and suppress noise. In this sense, expertise is as much about seeing the right things as it is about doing the right things.

In practice, refocusing takes the form of simple, actionable cues. A coach can identify a single technical focus before an at-bat. A COO might identify the key variable driving a decision. These cues act as anchors, reducing cognitive clutter and guiding behavior. Ask the question “does my behavior match my goal?” and adjust as needed.

Importantly, refocusing also reconnects conscious intention with automatic processes. Once the system is regulated, directing attention appropriately allows well-learned skills to operate with minimal interference. The rider and the elephant begin to move in the same direction.

Perform: Let Ability Present

Regulate, refocus, then perform. At this stage, individuals engage the task directly. Shoot the free throw. Swing the bat. Make the sales pitch. Remember that within the RRP approach, performance is not the creation of ability. It is the expression of ability that has already been developed.

Expertise emerges from sustained, deliberate effort aimed at refining specific components of performance. By the time an individual enters a high-stakes moment, the relevant abilities are already in place...

The challenge, then, is recognizing that the need for heroism is infrequent. You don’t need another RedBull. Just go. You’re ready.

Breakdowns in performance often occur when one is not regulated and focused, in a task-specific manner. Dysregulated physiology can interfere with motor coordination and cognitive processing. Misaligned attention can divert focus away from critical cues. In both cases, the underlying skill remains intact, but its expression is blocked.

The key is to let your best self present. That’s it. That’s performance. High performance does not require super-humanness. It requires a full demonstration of you.

Moving Forward

The strength of the RRP framework is its practicality. It follows the natural sequence through which human systems operates, and can be applied across domains. Develop enough awareness to call up the acronym: RRP.

An athlete preparing for a critical attempt may begin with a breathing sequence to stabilize arousal (regulate), focus on a single technical cue (refocus), and then execute the movement (perform). That’s how Charlie Tilson does it, now that he’s coaching young athletes to reach their potential. Similarly, a leader entering a high-stakes conversation can pause to regulate emotional reactivity, clarify the core objective of the interaction, and then engage.

When individuals learn to regulate their internal state and refocus their attention, performance often becomes less effortful and more consistent. Talent is expressed as we create a steady space for it to appear.