What did Sir John Whitmore mean with Interference?

Sir John Whitmore in his groundbreaking book “Coaching for Performance” said Performance = Potential – Interference.

Coaches are always trying to bring out the potential, but often do not succeed in removing enough interference to significantly increase performance. In fact, the degree to which they succeed with this really is the degree to which they can be said to be great coaches!

What is the interference? It is a combination of subconscious suppressed emotions and limiting beliefs (the subconscious blueprint), alongside busyness, stress, lack of access to their right brain function, lack of clarity of mind, and often a deeply held fundamental self-doubt and limited mind-set.

Simply pushing through to attain goals will not cut it. The interference must be systematically removed. And this takes time and strong commitment.

The firs and perhaps most important step is to return to oneself – that is to return to the here and now, be aware of the body, feelings and emotions and be willing to feel them. Almost immediately, an unravelling begins to take place, and within a short period of time people often say they feel more grounds, calmer and have greater clarity. This is the starting point to remove interference/

You might also enjoy

Is It Time To Reset How You Are Living?

Many busy professionals I meet are excellent at keeping life moving forward.

They have mastered working harder, juggling priorities, getting results.

But sooner or later, many reach a quieter moment where they sense that the way they are living is no longer fully aligned with who they are becoming.

They may feel restless, flat, or tired of their own patterns.

They are not in crisis. But they are aware that something deeper wants to change.

This is the moment where a reset is needed.