Table of Contents
1. DRIVE
The first quality all high performers have is an intense drive to do something.
Even before they became high performers, they always had that desire, that thirst to do something great.
It could be to be the best, to win, to outperform everybody, to achieve something extraordinary, etc.
I’m still not sure if drive is something we are born with, or if it’s something we develop later on, but I do think it’s a little bit of both.
I do think our life experience can make us be driven and spark that strong desire to do something.
For example, a painful childhood can make you want to create a better life for yourself.
Growing up poor can give you the drive to get rich.
A traumatic experience can make you want to excel to beat the circumstance.
But no matter where it comes from, high performers have drive.
They want to explore the edge of their capabilities, give their all, excel and leave a mark.
The level of drive will differ from person to person, but the dog is there – and it’s hungry.
When I speak with High Performers, they often tell me that they always wanted to do something, they just didn’t know what that was.
But eventually they decided to put that drive into something, be it sport, business, or work.
2. INSPIRATIONAL GOAL
The next quality that high performers have is they took the time to clarify with themselves where they’ll put that drive.
They thought about and finally chosen their one inspirational goal.
It could be winning the championship, building a successful business, finishing university, making it in life, achieving a certain lifestyle, etc.
When Mike Tyson was asked what he wants at the beginning of his career, he said: “to be the youngest heavyweight champion”, which he became at 21.
Diana Nyad’s inspirational goal was to be the first person to ever swim from Cuba to Florida – which she eventually did.
Your inspirational goal is something that inspires you when you think about it, that instantly gets you fired up and your juices flowing.
For example, an average sales person may be able to tell you the number of sales he wants to make this month.
But a high performing will tell you that his inspirational goal is to reach 1 million in revenue this year.
The inspirational goal is something that fills you up with excitement, pride, energy and confidence as soon as you think about it.
When I was building my coaching business, my inspirational goal was to be able to work from my laptop and travel the world.
The thought of being able to work and travel was just so new and exciting to me, that it kept me up at night while I was working on my programs.
I’ve never seen anyone do it by that time, and I found the challenge in being the first to ever do it.
In addition to that, we were in the middle of a recession, so while everybody were shrinking and hiding, I wanted to be among the few that actually built a business.
And I did.
So think about what would your inspirational goal be?
If you have goals, think if you can spice them up and make them more inspirational?
Here are some suggestions:
> Break the world record for…
> Be the youngest/first to…
> Succeed at X even though everyone said it wasn’t possible.
> At my age, do…
> In times when everybody/nobody is……………………… , I am…………………… .
Find an inspirational goal that’s going to make you want to jump out of bed and perform at your best.
3. STRUCTURED MOVEMENT
The next quality is structured movement.
Here’s the thing: high performers thought about what’s going to take for them to reach their inspirational goal, and got to work.
But unlike most of us, they understand that to get anywhere, they can’t depend on their mood and sporadic action.
They understand that they need a sustained period of action.
That is why they have a structure of movement, a structure of regularly taking action.
And they stick to it religiously.
If it’s a high performing sales person, and they said they will call prospects every day at 9 am, at exactly 9 am they start calling prospects.
If it’s a high performing athlete, when the time comes for practice, they practice.
They do this to teach their mind to perform on command, no matter what their mood is at that moment.
Mike Tyson used to get up at 4 am to go for a run – not because he was in the mood for it, but because it was time to do so.
Whatever their thing is, they have repetitive, structured action that they stick to.
Think about your actions – are they structured, or do you get to it when you feel like it?
Is your day organized in such a way that you absolutely need to hit your actions, or is it dependent on your mood?
How can you structure your actions more?
4. FOCUS & FLOW
Another quality high performers have is they don’t let themselves get sidetracked or distracted from their goal.
They keep their focus and guard their mind – they don’t fill it with unnecessary junk.
They filter all the information and only take in what will help them achieve their goal, and disregard everything else.
You’ll never see them gossiping, arguing about politics or let their mind wander about random things.
If you ask them what they’re thinking about, it will either be “nothing” or it’s going to be something connected with achieving their goal.
If you watch the late Ayrton Sena or Kobe Bryant, notice how they get into deep focus before their performance.
When you fully concentrate on something, your whole being connects and thats when a higher level of performance is possible.
Whether it’s creative ideas, inspiration, or that 2% edge at the end to finish the job, when you fully focus, you’re able to draw that out from yourself.
So ask yourself, how are you distracting yourself from your goals?
What information do you let slip through the cracks of your mind?
I used to visit a particular online news portal every day. It was almost addictive. Until one day I realized how much focus it was costing me.
Every time I visited it and read some news, I felt worse. I felt like I had less control of my life, felt more negative and like my life energy was leaving my body.
I decided to block the site, and over the next couple of days felt that my energy and focus were coming back.
So what are your main distractors and energy drainers?
Do you keep getting into certain conversations? Or maybe you have certain websites, social media accounts that you keep checking and distracting yourself?
Consider deleting them from your phone and taking your power back.
5. PUSHING THE EDGE
One foundational quality I noticed was that high performing people always push their edge and try to discover their new limits.
While most are satisfied with where they are, high performers are constant explorers, trying to see how far they can go.
While most people can’t wait to get into their comfort zone, when high performers feel they are getting too comfortable, they push that edge just a little bit.
In order to grow and expand, your CHALLENGE level needs to keep increasing to match your new SKILL level.
If not, you will get bored and won’t grow anymore.
So if before you could barely perform at level 5, and now that became easy, it’s time to crank it up to level 6.
High performers keep pushing that limit.
They never linger on their past successes, but keep raising the bar for themselves to see what else they can do.
Think about your current level – is your challenge level ABOVE or BELOW your skill level?
Are you so comfortable in your life to the point you feel bored?
Ask yourself, how can you push that edge? What can you do to challenge yourself?
If you’re so challenged that you feel overwhelmed – ask yourself how can you introduce some mid-to-lower goals to get yourself moving?
Remember, your skill level and challenge level need to match in such a way, that you feel challenged yet still capable of performing.
6. GENERATING ENERGY
One of the most amazing quality I’ve seen in High Performers is their ability to generate energy from all kinds of places.
And I don’t just mean physical energy, but the energy and motivation that brings the fire in them to excel.
Often, they find that energy in unconventional places.
While most of us try to get motivated solely through positivity, High Performers can find that energy in the darkest places of their soul.
They’ll use their past memories, pain, drama, anger, whatever it takes to get themselves to move.
Michael Jordan once told a story of how a certain player insulted him before a game, which sparked Jordan to play one of the best games ever.
The trick with that story?
It was completely made up.
Jordan came up with that story in his mind to get himself motivated.
You have to find what brings out the best of you.
For some people, having others doubt them sparks a fire in them to prove them wrong and perform at their best.
For others, having people motivate them and believe in them is what does the trick.
High Performers have figured out what makes them tick, and use that to generate that motivation and energy.
Think about what makes you tick? What sparks the fire under your belly to go and rock?
What makes you want to outwork and outperform everybody on your playing field?
Think about how can you energize yourself not only through the positives, but draw motivation from the darks parts of yourself as well?
7. THEY ATTACK THEIR WEAKNESS
And finally, one of the key things I’ve seen High Performers do is they don’t sleep on their weaknesses.
If they sense they have a fear of something, or are blocked by something, they immediately attack it.
While most of us will try to avoid our weaknesses, or even try to compensate for them through something external, high performers won’t play that game.
They’ll confront whatever weakness they feel they have head on.
And many of them will even use it as something to draw strength from by making it their mission to defeat it.
I mentioned facing generating energy in the previous point – well high performers will use their weakness as something to generate energy from.
For example, if they fear failing, they’ll use that fear to work harder, longer, and put up their best performance.
Let’s say you have a fear of public speaking. Instead of running away from it, you can use that fear as a source of energy.
You could play with your mind and pretend the fear of public speaking is a boogeyman in the basement, teasing you and wanting you to hide, which you decide to stand up to and show who’s really in charge.
Make a list of your fears and doubts, and flip them on it’s head.
Instead of something you run from, make it so that these fears are now running from you.
Pretend they are the most wanted and you’re the bounty hunter collecting your reward.
Your “weakness list” now becomes your hit list.
Some people ask me, how can they find their passion or clarity on what to do. And sometimes I just tell them:
If you can’t find that spark or passion to do something, make an inventory of all the weaknesses you think you have right now, and turn them into your to-do list.
Go on a mission to hit all the items on the list, and notice the passion igniting.
Maybe you’re lazy. Ok, how are you going to attack this quality?
Maybe you’ll start waking up at 5 am and go for a jog, keeping that laziness in your mind as the person you need to beat.
Maybe you’re afraid of rejection. Ok, how can you now get rejected on purpose for 100 times?
You’re only as good as your weakest link.
When I was in sales, even though my presentation skills were better than the most, I still struggled because I couldn’t call clients and set up appointments.
But once I recognized that as my weakest link in my growth, I attacked it like a mofo by calling 50 people each day, including cold calling people straight from the phone book.
Attack your weaknesses.
Don’t let them linger and eat away from your growth and performance.
Let's Recap
- High performers are driven. They have a strong desire to excel, to be great, to do something.
- They have an inspirational goal they’re pursuing.
- They are structured in their movement. They don’t let their actions be dependent of their mood.
- High performers are focused. They don’t waste time gossiping or thinking about random things. They keep their eye on the prize.
- They constantly push their edge and don’t let themselves get caught in their comfort zone.
- High performers have the ability to generate energy and get themselves motivated. They don’t only use positives, but reach into the dark to find the strength.
- And finally, they attack their weaknesses. They don’t let their weaknesses linger but use them even as a source of energy and strength.
What do you think?
Did you find yourself in any of these qualities? Do some qualities stand out more than others? Do you feel pulled towards some and feel it would be awesome to develop them in yourself?
Le me know in the comments below.