“They’re consistently exceeding the standard expectations and results.” says Brendon Burchard, referring to high performers.
You might be saying, “But I am not a high performer. This article is not for me.”
You are like me. But read on. You might be able to get something that will change the trajectory of how you perform at work, in your business, in life. I still hold on to the truth that you and I are beings of excellence. The question is, “Are we tapping on that being of excellence or not?”
Last Sunday, we attempted to answer the question, “What drives excellence?” In other words, what drives high performers. If you missed that, feel free to visit our website and read the first part of this series as we explore and understand Brendon Burchard’s phenomenal book High Performance Habits – How Extraordinary People Become That Way.
Mr. Burchard says, “High performance refers to succeeding beyond standard norms, consistently over the long term.”
So that’s what they are: They are succeeding – they are achieving their goals – beyond the usual or beyond what their peers or counterparts do; and they do it consistently over the long term – not just once or twice when they feel like doing so; it is also not just at the start, middle or ending, it is consistent over the long term.
What’s beautiful in this definition and in how the quest of high performance is put is that it supports balance in life. It emphasizes succeeding consistently in the long run. It does not promote peak performance in one single area (e.g. career) only, and leaving out the other areas of life. Sooner or later, the success in that one area will fade because the other areas (like faith, finance and relationships) may have been sacrificed simply for the peak performance in one.
This also illustrates that peak performance is not equal to high performance. The lack of balance and support will cause that peak performance to plummet in time. On the other hand, if you want high performance, you must develop “habits that protect your well-being, maintain positive relationships, and ensure that you serve others as you climb.”
He reveals, “As it turns out, high performers’ sustained success is due in large part to their healthy approach to living… It’s about creating a high performance life, in which you experience an ongoing feeling of full engagement, joy, and confidence that comes from being your best self.” It is then about excelling and enriching the full spectrum of your life!
To better understand this concept, let us look into the persons of high performers. Here is what Burchard and his team discovered:
- High performers are more successful than their peers, yet they are less stressed.
- High performers love challenges and are more confident that they will achieve their goals despite adversity.
- High performers are healthier than their peers.
- High performers are happy.
- High performers are admired.
- High performers get better grades and reach higher positions of success.
- High performers work passionately regardless of traditional rewards.
- High performers are assertive (for the right reasons).
- High performers see and serve beyond their strengths.
- High performers are uniquely productive – they’ve mastered prolific quality output.
- High performers are adaptive servant leaders.
As you are reading the list above, you might be thinking that high performers are superhumans and definitely you are not a superhuman – so why bother? Well, the list above is a general description of high performers (as a group), but of course, individual high performers have differences, some are better than the other in various areas. But they continually work on their habits to level up.
One more thing, the list above is not born out of a natural strength, but rather a result of a specific set of deliberate habits which we will later discuss in this series. You may also join me in learning more about this by getting the book yourself. Simply google the title ‘High Performance Habits’ and you will be presented how you can buy your copy. I do not receive anything from promoting this. I am just excited of how we can better our performance at work and in life by learning more about this topic.
Next Sunday, we will begin to talk about the mindset that we need to have to prepare us put to practice the set of high performance habits we will soon be learning.
Let me warn you though that in our quest to learn more and become better, the journey ahead will be tough – it will require hard work. I cannot sugarcoat that.
I myself is falling short on that hard work required but I believe that if we can see beyond our weaknesses and present circumstances, then what we have been saying that ‘the best is yet to come’ will make manifest in our lives in due time.
Keep the faith, my friend!
(Chris Dao-anis, CPA, DTM – as an author, trainer and speaker – shares about leadership, high performance, communication, productivity and personal finance. For talks and trainings, email him at info@chrisdaoanis.com or visit his website www.chrisdaoanis.com.)
