I’ve spent quite some time studying high performing people – the ones who are able to go after something and actually make it happen.
Out of my observation, I was able to notice there were about 10 things they were doing on a consistent basis, and in this article, I want to share them with you.
So let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
HABIT 1: CLEARING OUT YOUR HEADSPACE
The first habit involves regularly clearing your headspace. If your mind is cluttered and disorganized, it becomes challenging to make clear decisions.
So it is essential to keep your mind clear, and come up with your own ways to do that. You can stop doing things when they don’t feel productive anymore, or eliminate friction and conflict from your day, or decide to do some exercise.
Whatever you do, get into a habit of clearing your mental headspace.
HABIT 2: ANALYZING YOUR ACTIONS
We can often catch ourselves doing something just for doing it, never stopping to think if if that’s really the most effective action we can take.
So it’s crucial to regularly assess our actions and consider whether they align with our goals, or if there are more effective alternatives available.
HABIT 3: FOCUS-TATING
We all know meditation – you sit in a quiet room and attempt to clear your mind.
Focus-tating is similar, and it’s something I came up with one day after meditating.
I realized that if I focus my mind on what I want to do that day, and spend couple of minutes just focus-tating, my day would be much better.
I would get much more done, I would be more productive, focused and ultimately more successful.
So consider spending 2-3 min in the morning, before you begin your day, just focus-tating, closing your eyes and focusing on the key things you want to do and get done that day.
HABIT 4: WEEDING OUT THE MENTAL WEAKNESSES
The fourth habit is noticing and then weeding out the mental interference as it comes up.
Things like self-doubt, insecurity, what-if’s, overthinking, negativity, etc.
When you don’t weed out the garden, the weeds start to take over. Similarly, if you let negative thinking into your mind, it’s going to take over.
High performers stay conscious of their thinking – and don’t tolerate any weak thinking with themselves. As they sense it, they are already on top of it.
So consider spending some time with yourself and weeding out the mind on a regular basis.
HABIT 5: CONFRONTING YOUR FEARS
If you let fears live, they tend to multiply. For that reason, whenever you sense yourself being limited by some sort of a fear, you want to confront it and deal with it.
If you don’t, that fear will grow and will give birth to another fear, at some other area of your life.
So develop a habit of confronting your fears, instead of running away from and avoiding them.
HABIT 6: PRIMING
If we happen to watch some really negative news early in the morning, we will most likely be more on edge and argumentative during the day. This is something Malcolm Gladwell discussed in his book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”.
Along the lines of focus-tating, we also want to be mindful as to what we expose our minds in those first moments or hours after waking up.
Start your day by keeping a gratitude journal and reviewing your goals. Create a vision board and spend a few minutes reflecting on it. Listen to positive and inspirational content to prime yourself for the day ahead.
Prime yourself for the day.
HABIT 7: GENERATING ENERGY
High performers are attuned to their energy levels and take immediate action when they sense a drop. They engage in activities like going to the gym, going for a run, staying hydrated, or taking a nap to replenish their energy and avoid feeling drained.
Besides momentary energy, there’s a lifelong vitality – your zest for life, if you will. This energy is found in every life situation.
For instance, if someone cuts you off in traffic, there’s free energy right there – you just need to know how to redirect it. That anger you feel can easily be redirected to motivation to excel that day.
In my personal experience, I use my lowest points to write – when bad things happen, I feel a jolt of energy in my body, and I use it to make something positive out of it.
Shift your perspective on energy. It’s not just something you have or not; it’s fluid and woven into every experience.
Use each moment as an opportunity to generate more energy.
HABIT 8: STAYING ON TOP OF THINGS
Here’s an interesting habit – making sure you are on top of everything. Dirty laundry, car getting serviced, relationship issues, bills to be paid, a weakness you’ve been ignoring, some part of business not working, gaining a few pounds and not working out, etc.
The opposite of staying on top of things is neglecting things. It’s easy to neglect things, but those slowly accumulate and seep through other areas of your life.
If you let go and neglect one thing, that easily becomes two things, and three and eventually becomes a habit that is draining your energy and slowing down your performance.
Make a purge of everything going on in your life, and address it. Don’t let anything slip through the cracks anymore.
HABIT 9: PUSHING YOUR LIMITS
We all have an idea of who we are, and what we can do, and while that can serve us in many situations, it can also act as a limitation in another.
If someone is the best plumber, and they know it, that can serve them when it comes to plumbing. But take that same person and apply them to a business, and they may keep loyal to that identity: “I’m just a plumber”.
By the age of 7 we form the foundation of our identity, and then we work with that our entire life. Most people go through life never challenging that identity. Is that really ALL I am or can be? Can I be anything more?
Notice when you get to the edge of your comfort zone, and you feel like you’re not “yourself” anymore. Now, push it just a little bit further.
Then push it some more.
Keep pushing and expanding the limits of what you think you are and what you can do.
You may discover something very interesting.
HABIT 10: CONSTANTLY SEARCHING FOR THE SLIGHT EDGE
And finally, high performers are constantly searching for that thing that will give that that slight edge. Over their competition, over others, but mostly – over themselves.
They are constantly after that new book, that new study, that new way of doing things and they go after it.
If a world-class athlete can shave off a couple of mili-seconds or even nano-seconds off their time, they’ll grab it and run with it.