Identifying peak moments

I’ve long been a proponent of [designing experiences for peak moments](http://www.ryskamp.org/brain/?p=207)–after all, that’s what you’ll remember about them later.

But personally it makes sense to spend some time identifying what your own peak moments have been, in the hope of discovering how to experience more of them. The articles [Peak Moments](http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/peak-moments/) and [Peak Creative Moments](http://the99percent.com/tips/6951/peak-creative-moments) suggest 60-second exercises to do just that.

I found several unexpected and valuable traits of my peak moment experiences:

* They are with lots of other people–despite my tendency to work and play alone
* They result from lots of planning and preparation–despite my aversion to both
* Many were not pleasant in the moment (painful, stressful), but very rewarding afterward
* They all involved substantial risk, to my career or myself

Also reminds me of [Peter Drucker’s advice in Managing Oneself](http://www.sld.cu/galerias/pdf/sitios/revsalud/managing_oneself.pdf) that “the only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis.”