High Performance Habits

Book review on Brendon Burchards latest book

This is one of the more interesting books that I have red for a little while. In his latest writing Brendon Burchard talks  about high performance habits and “how extraordinary people come that way”. This obviously sparked my interest as I’m a big fan of deliberate habits that get us results.

These are not just basic morning routines, how to make sure you will eat healthy or exercise more. These are deliberate high-performance habits that when implemented act as powerful tools towards long term success!

The whole book and the habits are based on his over 10year study of top 15% of the high performers from over 190 countries!

Other important note is that these habits are not necessarily easy or always comfortable. They are not always fun either since if they were, everyone would be successful, rich and famous.

These high-performance habits require that you DO.THE.WORK. and take consistent action.

The first three are personal habits where as the last three are social habits.

Seek Clarity

 

“If you don’t know where you are going, every road will get you there” or as Brendon puts it “the best time to have a map is before you enter the woods”.

Clarity comes from continually asking yourself questions and further refining your perspective on life. High performers continually ask themselves who they want to be, how to become that and how they want to feel? And then they start acting like that person, today!

Developing the right skills and mapping your PFI’s (Primary Field of Interest) is a big part of clarity.

Let’s say your PFI is making tree houses, then first you have to become clear for yourself of the key skills needed to build those epic tree houses. Second, you make developing those skills your absolute highest priority!

Decades of research show that having a specific and difficult goal increases performance.

Major take away about the emotional part of clarity for me was this:

“high performers are generating the feelings they want more often than taking the emotions that land on them”

High performers define what’s meaningful to them. They often ask themselves why they are doing what they are doing as well as look in the end of their life to check back on how they want to be remembered!

Generate Energy

 

It turns out that the top-level CEO’s must care for their energy as much NFL quarterbacks do! It requires a lot of Mental, Emotional and Physical energy to be able to play at the top of your game. The game being business, sports or something else that is important to you.

Energy is significantly related to productivity. We cannot manage time, but we can manage the amount of energy we start our day with!

When it comes to day to day energy, one of the key elements is to be able to master your task transitions during the day.

Hyper useful tool for this is called: RELEASE TENSION – SET INTENTION.

• For 1-2 minutes with your eyes closed repeat the word RELEASE in your mind or out loud. Go over the whole body, part by part demanding to release the tension in each area.
• Then for another 60 sec. or so you SET INTENTION for the next activity or task you are about to take on.

Brendon also emphasizes the importance of Joy and play. When you bring more fun into your daily actions it will surely boost your energy levels and performance.

And lastly the obvious one is to optimize health. Nutrition, Sleep and Exercise are always the big three!

We found out that the best time to exercise is first thing in the morning before work. For many this means that you probably have to start going to bed earlier to be able to wake up earlier.

Raise Necessity

 

One of the most powerful drivers of human motivation and excellence: Performance necessity. Where the necessity plays its role is when you are required to take action. For high performers this urge to perform comes from deeper inside of their inner world.

When the necessity is high, so is consistency towards action.

Obvious necessary step for all high performers is goal setting. People who set goals and regularly self-monitor are almost two and half times more likely to attain them.

Decades of research have shown that people who set difficult and challenging goals outperform people who set vague and non-challenging goals!

High performers make their dream a necessity, they show Grit, Passion and perseverance!

Powerful question that raise necessity instantly is: “Who needs me on my A-Game the most right now?”

Affirm your WHY! High performers are confident about their WHY and are open to how the journey plays itself out.

Lastly about the Necessity is to level up your squad! If you have a friend who is happy, your chances of becoming happier just went up by 25%!

Surround yourself with people who raise your standards is a must! Seek mentors, coaching or just hang out with people who challenge you and push your performance higher!

On my personal experience this one habit, seeking positive uplifting peers and environments have raised my game possibly more than anything else! And is something that I need to be aware of constantly.

Increase Productivity

 

The fundamentals of becoming more productive are setting goals and maintaining energy and focus.

Distraction lowers our productivity by 20% and it’s worse when working on challenging tasks – distraction can slow our thinking by almost half.

Take brakes every 45min-60min. This is another must for the mind and body connection to work at its optimal performance levels!

PQO (prolific quality output)

“Figuring out what you are supposed to produce, and learning the priorities in the creation, quality and frequency of that output, is one of the greatest breakthroughs you can have in your career “

This is super simple, yet hyper affective! Concentrate more on the tasks that actually move the needle, at least 60% of your daily actions should be PQO activities!

Chart your 5 Moves, if there were only five major moves to make your goals happen, what would they be? Then brake them down into deliverables, deadlines and action steps into your calendar.

Increase your knowledge and ability on Key skills that are needed. Get insanely good at them, Go for progressive mastery.

Life is short, determine what output really matter to you at this stage of your life, chart your five moves to accomplish your big dreams and go make it happen while getting epic good at what you do.

Develop Influence

 

To gain influence is to ask from people what you want, show them what you have and who you are. Just ask! People tend to say yes three times as often as we think they would!

Show people on how to think! This will influence another perspective when you avoid telling what to think or force your ideas. Instead, show a different perspective.

Challenge people to grow. High performers push people to grow and they don’t apologize for it. What would my life look like, if I gave it all I got?

Role Model the way. As simple as it sounds, “Walk your talk”, being a role model is just that! Stand behind your words with confident actions that will influence your tribe the best way possible.

Demonstrate Courage

 

Courageous acts that you are proud at the end of your life are those that you faced uncertainty and real risk. We are capable of remarkable things that you could never foretell and will never discover without taking action! Don’t complain – Act!

Honor the Struggle – It is a part of the game. there’s really no way around this point, even if at times we like to believe otherwise. High performers honor the struggle and turn it into growth opportunities!

If, we keep telling people what’s easy, why would they ever think to do what’s hard? High performance requires real intention and the mastering of complex habits!

Research has shown that those with a fixed mindset are five times more likely to avoid challenges than those with a growth mindset!

Consider the problem rather than avoid it. Judgement and friction is a sign that you are on your own right path and aiming for great things!

Find someone to fight for. Perhaps someone around you needs you to show up for them.

Beware of the traps

Above the six key performance habits are the ones that move the performance needle the most. In this book Brendon also offers three traps to be aware of for high performers. According to his research and experience, the real difficulties and traps are often internal.

They are Superiority, Dissatisfaction and Neglect.

The roots of Superiority always begin to grow in the soil of separateness and certainty. Being able to receive feedback and grow are the antidotes for this!

Dissatisfaction; those who are never satisfied are never at peace.

Satisfaction must accompany striving for optimal performance!

Neglect happens often when passion or busyness blinds you from what’s actually important. It’s not what you do that unseats you from high performance, but what you don’t do!

Slow down, be more strategic and say no more often!

#1 thing 

When it comes to high performance the number one thing that correlates with the high performance the most is Confidence.

Brendon Burchard offers 3 C’s to train your confidence which are: develop Competence, be Congruent and enjoyment of Connecting with others.

The more you go, the more you know. High performers confidence comes from the belief in their own power of learning.

“High performers are learners, and their belief that they can learn what is necessary to win in the future gives them as much confidence as their current skill set”

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There are a lot people that want to take the easy road to the top. What this book offers are 6 key habits that can get you there, easily – Absolutely not!

In personal development ease is not the objective, Growth is.

I love being able to download someone’s lifework in a matter of days. That is the power of learning! I highly recommend reading this book and/ or listening the audio book!