There is a ceiling on performance that has nothing to do with ambition.
You can be disciplined, strategic, successful and intelligent- and still feel like you are operating far below your capacity.
Some examples that high-performers often face:
- Afternoon brain fog that makes complex thinking slower than it should be.
- Energy dips that change how you show up in meetings.
- Painful periods that quietly reduce your bandwidth for a week every month.
- Sleep that looks adequate on paper but leaves you less sharp than you know you can be.
Many women will go through life without questioning these symptoms. They work around them, plan around them, and power through them. The ability to show up and operate at a high level despite disrupted sleep, painful cycles, or persistent fatigue is evidence of resilience and is something that makes women incredible leaders. Unfortunately, operating under prolonged physical strain eventually limits how high and how consistently you can perform.
Raising the Ceiling
The advantage for high-performing women is not working harder, which often leads to burnout and worsening symptoms. Instead, focus on stabilising the systems that determine mental sharpness, energy consistency, and stress resilience.
Sleep is one of the fastest ways to improve cognitive performance. It is not only about duration, but about timing and depth. After one night of poor sleep, decision-making slows and energy becomes less stable the following day. Blood sugar levels can even reach pre-diabetic ranges. Invest in formualting an evening routine that helps you wind down and acheive deep, restful sleep- your success may depend on it.
Stabilzing energy is another key to achieving consistent results and maintaining longterm success. If your focus drops mid-afternoon, if meetings feel heavier later in the day, or if your tolerance for stress narrows when you’re tired, that often reflects how efficiently your body is processing and distributing energy.
When blood sugar fluctuates, cognitive sharpness fluctuates with it. Diets high in saturated fat and low in fibre are associated with reduced insulin sensitivity, which makes energy regulation less efficient. Improving insulin sensitivity often translates into steadier cognition and fewer late-day performance dips.
Hormonal fluctuations influence cognition, sleep, and stress tolerance more than most women realise. For some, the week before a period brings reduced clarity or lower resilience. During perimenopause, changes in oestrogen signalling can affect sleep depth, memory recall, and mood stability.
The estrobolome (the collection of gut bacteria involved in oestrogen metabolism) influences how efficiently oestrogen is processed and cleared. When oestrogen is recirculated rather than eliminated from the boyd as it should be, symptoms often intensify: heavier cycles, more pronounced PMS, disrupted sleep, increased fluid retention, or worsening skin.
Targeting this specific bacteria can be a game changer for women, by addressing hormone regulation at the source, and improving how oestrogen is processed rather than simply reacting to symptoms.
If You Want a Structured Strategy to Raise Your Performance Ceiling
This work moves beyond surface-level results, and dives into the systems that determine how consistently you think, lead, and perform.
Inside my Private Advisory, we run a chronotype-based sleep assessment to align your work demands, workouts, and meal times with your natural rhythm. We use lab testing to assess gut bacteria involved in oestrogen metabolism, including the estrobolome, and evaluate the metabolic drivers behind energy dips and hormonal disruption.
We pinpoint what is causing your energy crashes, brain fog, any unwanted changes in weight of body composition, and cycle-related performance drops.
Explore the Private Advisory to determine if it’s the right fit for you.
Looking to Elevate Performance Across Your Team?
If you are responsible for team performance, this work addresses the physiological factors that influence decision-making speed, cognitive clarity, and resilience under pressure. Sleep quality, energy regulation, and hormone stability directly affect output consistency and long-term performance.
Explore corporate advisory options.
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