What do we know about the people who succeed beyond standard measures consistently over the long term?
High Performers are more successful than their peers, yet they are less stressed.
The myth that we have to grin and bear more burdens and anxiety as we become more successful simply isn’t true (as long as we have the right life habits). You can live an extraordinary life that is far different from the battle that most people endure as they fight for survival or experience achievement only by bluster or burnout. This isn’t to say high performers don’t ever feel stress—they do—but they cope better, stay more resilient, and experience less severe performance dips related to fatigue, distraction, and overwhelm.
High performers love challenges and are more confident that they will achieve their goals despite adversity.
Too many people avoid any sense of hardship in their lives. They fear they can’t handle it or that they’ll be judged or rejected. But high performers are different. It’s not that they lack any self-doubt at all. It’s that they look forward to trying new things and they believe in their abilities to figure things out. They don’t shrink from challenge and that not only helps them progress in life but it inspires those around them.
High performers are healthier than their peers.
They eat better. They work out more. The top 5 percent of high performers are 40 percent more likely to exercise three times per week. Everyone wants health, but they may think they have to trade it for success. They’re wrong. In survey after survey, we find high performers to be more energized—mentally, emotionally, and physically—than their peers.
High performers are happy.
We all want to be happy. But many people are unhappy achievers. They get a lot done but don’t feel fulfilled. Not so for high performers. It turns out that every single habit of high performance we’ve discovered, even if practiced without the others, increases overall life happiness. Taken together, the six habits you’ll learn here won’t just get you to excellence, they’ll make you happier—and the data proves it. The positive emotions of engagement, joy, and confidence that define the high performer’s emotional state can be yours.
High performers are admired.
Their peers look up to them, even though the high performers are outperforming them. Why? Because to become a high performer, ego takes a backseat to service. High performers have mastered the art of influencing others in such a way that others feel respected, valued, and appreciated—and more likely to become high performers themselves.
High performers get better grades and reach higher positions of success.
High performance is statistically correlated with GPA. In one study of two hundred collegiate athletes, we found that the higher their score on the High Performance Indicator—an assessment tool for measuring high performance potential—the higher their GPA. High performers are also more likely to be CEOs and senior executives. Why? Because their habits help them lead others and climb organization charts.
High performers work passionately regardless of traditional rewards.
High performance does not correlate with compensation. This means that what you get paid doesn’t affect your odds or your ability to perform at a high level. High performers work hard not because of money but because of something called necessity, which you will soon learn about. They are not in it for the trophies or accolades or bonuses; they’re in it for the meaning. That’s why, in surveys, high performers almost always indicate that they feel well rewarded regardless of income level. They also rarely feel their work is “thankless” or that others don’t appreciate how hard they work. It’s not because their work is unique or always their dream job. Instead, it’s that they approach their work in a more purposeful manner, which helps them feel more engaged, competent, and satisfied.
High performers are assertive (for the right reasons).
They jump into experiences and express themselves, not to “conquer” or even to compete. They are assertive because of a habit of courage in sharing new ideas, engaging in complex conversations, expressing their real thoughts and dreams, and standing up for themselves. The data also show that they speak up for others and champion other people’s ideas more often. That is to say, they’re perfectly queued to be direct and inclusive leaders.
High performers see and serve beyond their strengths.
There’s a myth that our innate “strengths” are what we all should be focusing on. But the time for navel-gazing is long since over. We must see beyond what comes naturally to us, and develop into what we must be in order to grow, serve, and lead. High performers get that. They’re less into “finding their strengths” and more into “adaptive service”—exploring what needs fixing and growing into the person who can fix it. The question they ask is less often “Who am I and what am I good at?” and more often “What is required to be of service here, and how can I grow into that or lead others to deliver that?” High performers do not report working on their strengths any more than other people do, so that focus isn’t what gives them the edge.
High performers are uniquely productive—they’ve mastered prolific quality output.
No matter the field, they produce more quality output that matters in their field. It’s not that they get more done, per se; lots of their peers might do more tasks. It’s that high performers get more things done that are highly valued in their primary field of interest. They remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. That focus and effort to create only output that will be meaningful helps them excel.
High performers are adaptive servant leaders.
What separates my work on high performance from the hype around world-class experts is that I’m not seeking out lone experts or individual outliers. High performers don’t think, live, or practice in a vacuum. They’re influencing people and adding tremendous value to those around them, not just trying to win spelling bees or chess matches. They tend to be leaders who can adapt to challenging circumstances and guide others to their own successes and contributions. In this capacity, high performers can go from project to project and succeed, over and over. It’s as if you could put them in any context, any team, any company, any industry, and they would win—not because they’re geniuses or lone wolves, but because they positively influence others to rise. They don’t just develop skill; they develop people.
I’m aware that reading a list like this can make a high performer sound like an infallible wonder-worker. But that’s not it at all. The list above is a good general description of high performers, but of course, there is plenty of room for individual differences and variability. Some high performers, for example, may not be as healthy as others even though they generate more productive output. Some may be happy and healthy but are not as admired. In other words, these descriptions are not 100 percent accurate for 100 percent of individuals. But the odds are that over time, their habits detailed in this book lead to the listed benefits, and to extraordinary lives.
If any of the descriptions above don’t sound like you yet, don’t worry—high performers aren’t “born that way.” Having trained over one million people on this topic, I can share that there are no superhumans in the mix. High performers are not fundamentally different from you or anyone else because of some special talent, signature strength, genetic miracle, or fixed personality makeup. High performance isn’t a natural strength; it’s the result of a specific set of deliberate habits. You can learn these habits and reach high performance in nearly any endeavor you choose. And we can measure it and prove it.
* Source: High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard