Plan with purpose. Perform without limits.
Many people plateau, and it is not through lack of effort. Progress comes from understanding how you think, plan and operate. This is the system that finds the underdeveloped part, then builds it.
The Performance Record.
The five conditions, running as a system that works with you. It is in development now, and it opens to a small founding cohort first.
It builds your documents with you
You talk through where you are and what you are working towards. The system turns that conversation into your plan, and fills in the documents you will actually use — your charter, your week, your preparation and review.
It measures your development
Reflection takes a minute: you say how the week went, in your own words. Over the weeks the system reads the change in how you describe decisions, preparation and setbacks — so your development is measured rather than guessed at.
The record belongs to you
What you build, and the change the system measures, compile into one performance record that you own. You decide who sees it: share it with a manager, add it to your professional development log, or keep it to yourself.
Be in the first group.
The Performance Record opens to a small first group whose feedback will shape it. Leave your email address and you will hear first when places open.
It runs the same system the manifesto describes — five conditions, seven principles, one critical path. Read the manifesto
Three patterns. Is one of them yours?
You make plans. They don’t work.
You plan with intent and set out what you will do. Before long you are back with the daily demands. A plan holds when it is built around how you work day to day, not around how you wish you worked.
You set goals. They don’t stick.
You commit to the goal and you mean it. Somewhere along the way it loses meaning and gets dropped. A goal holds when it is anchored to who you are and what you value.
You work hard without results.
You are putting the work in, but the return is not matching it. Often one condition, whether your environment, your information, or how you apply what you know, is doing the most to hold the rest back.
Performance is built. There is no quick fix.
The best thinking on performance runs decades deep, but it sits in scattered pieces. Performance Thoughts brings it together into one system: five conditions to put in place, and seven principles for how you operate within them, developed over time.
Five conditions
Understanding, environment, information, application and consistency. These are the conditions that have to be in place, and most plateaus trace back to one of them being underdeveloped.
Seven principles
Seven qualities that shape how you operate within those conditions day to day, from purpose and high standards to attention to detail and review.
One critical path
The route that turns a goal into the next decision in front of you, so progress becomes something you can act on this week.
Why hard work stops producing results
The most common place performance stalls, and what is usually capping the return on your effort. A strong first read into the whole system, drawn from the research and from years in elite sport.
“The high performance planning system helps me become aware of myself, my drivers, my strengths and weaknesses, and helps me track and stay accountable on the areas I can improve.”
“Would highly recommend. Very useful for structuring and analysing my performance.”
The tools. One direction.
Each one does a specific job inside the system. Start small with the £1.20 Charter, or take the whole system in one place.
Notion Performance Planner
Most planning systems cover one piece — usually goals — and miss the rest. This brings the whole system together in one Notion workspace: identity, goals, the critical path, routine and review, working as one.
Personal Performance Charter
Most goals fail because they aren’t connected to who the person setting them actually is. The Charter captures your values, strengths and identity on one page.
The Consistency Tracker
Consistency is the pattern of decisions you make over time. This tracks four weeks of that pattern, with a weekly review and a next-step worksheet that connect the behaviour to the goal it serves.
Performance Mindset Toolkit
When pressure rises, performance often drops — not from a lack of skill, but because the underlying psychological qualities were never built. This builds them.
Performance Goal Setting Planner
Most goals are written as outcomes only — no link to values, no performance benchmarks, no process. This connects all three.
Performance Routine Toolkit
Two things separate consistent performers from everyone else: deliberate preparation and review you act on. This builds both into your week.
Weekly Planner & Monthly Schedule
Most weekly planners run on time management and ignore the variable that actually decides whether the week holds: the decisions you repeat.
The Performance Workbook
Most frameworks live across multiple tools — one for goals, another for reflection, another for routine. The Workbook brings them into one 40-page system.
Performance Action Planner
Most planning apps track you, monetise your data, or charge a subscription. This is the complete five-part framework as an interactive tool that runs on your device. Works offline. No subscription.
The 7-Action PDF. Free.
Seven actions you can apply this week, each one explained with a concrete step to put it into practice. Drawn from performance-psychology research and years working in elite sport. Plus one practical idea each month, on the first Monday.
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No. 00 — FREE PDF
Questions, answered.
What is the Performance Record?
A development system now being built: a needs-analysis conversation, a programme drawn from it, short reflections, and measured development compiled into a record you own. It opens to a small founding cohort first — you can join the waitlist.
Do I need Notion?
Only for the Notion Performance Planner. The Charter, Workbook, planners and toolkits are printable PDFs you can use on paper or any device, and the Action Planner runs in your browser.
Is there a subscription?
No. Everything is a one-off purchase. The Action Planner runs on your own device with no subscription, no login and no tracking.
What do I actually get?
An instant digital download through Etsy — printable PDFs or a Notion template, depending on the product. Nothing is posted to you.
Who is behind it?
Lee Drew, MSc — a former England junior national coach, head of World Squash officiating and PSA Tour commentator. Everything here comes from both the research and years working with performers at the top level.
Where should I start?
The £1.20 Charter is the easiest first step. If you are not sure which area to work on, take the two-minute diagnostic and it will point you to the right one.
Start small. Build from there.
The Charter is £1.20 — your values, strengths and identity on one page — and everything in the system builds from it. Or take the two-minute diagnostic and let it point you to the right first step.