5 Things High Achievers Don’t Do
Because they don’t lead to success.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle
High-performance habits have nothing to do with your background or IQ. High-performance habits also have nothing to do with your race, religion, or sex. Nor is high performance tied to the outcome. All of these things are less important that one thing — your habits.
Your habits are what matters when achieving a goal — long or short-term.
Do you want to lose weight? Get in the habit of exercising daily. Want to be a better writer? Write daily.
Form a habit.
Habits give you the framework to challenge yourself. This is why it is good to create patterns — habits that allow you to grow. Excellence, which is different from perfection — perfection does not exist — is an art won by training and habitualization.
High performance means training those habits to be fully engaged with your work, relationships, and creativity. This is why many high-performance entrepreneurs exercise daily and meditate. These two things add discipline to your mind and energy to your body.
The result: you’re more present through a mind-body connection, making it easier to achieve more of your goals throughout the day.
Half of the year is gone. We’re cruising into the second half of the year. And we’ve had to adjust and pivot along the way due to unforeseen circumstances.
High achievers are good at this.
We are good at pivoting when things aren’t working. Because we are good at changing directions when things don’t go as planned, it turns us into optimists. It is impossible to be successful if unforeseen events drag you down into pessimism.
Realism is required, but negativity rarely does any good when hardships happen.
5 Things High Achievers Don’t Do
1. They don’t double down on mistakes.
They understand that sometimes stopping the wrong thing is the highest act of courage.
A lot of people have busy work, but they aren’t doing their life’s work.
High achievers have a ton of energy which isn’t quickly drained because they are on the right path following their biggest dreams.
You know when you are working towards something, and it just doesn’t feel right, you are forcing it, or you simply are not happy going to work on it. You are drained at the end of the day, not the feeling of exhaustion from getting a lot accomplished, but exhausted from struggling in the wrong direction.
Stop doing it, or pivot.
Why work towards a goal you aren’t enjoying? I can’t stress this enough, following your dream can’t always be a grind.
You can’t reach a goal if you resent it.
If you are frustrated and angry all day while striving toward a goal that when you started sounded like a good idea, but now you hate, it will mess with your mind-body connection. And that is a signal you need to reassess your goal.
High achievers don’t stubbornly hold onto their baby when they need to pivot.
They aren’t attached to the dream or the business so thoroughly that they go down with the ship. They know how to pivot when things don’t go as planned.
So many businesses have had to pivot because of the coronavirus. The best example of a successful pivot is Nick Kokonas owner of Chicago’s award-winning Alinea and Roister restaurants, which were forced to close their doors to stop the spread of COVID-19 like most restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.
“Tock, his restaurant reservation platform, used by more than 3,000 restaurants, came to a virtual standstill. So Kokonas pivoted both businesses by turning his restaurants into carry-out venues and transforming Tock into Tock to Go, an ordering platform for restaurants that want to offer customers pick-up or delivery options.” — Fastcompany.com
Within weeks of closing, Alinea had a record-setting day, its highest revenue day since opening because Nick pivoted.
He let go of what was, quickly, and as early as late February, Kokonas changed his model when many in the U.S. hadn’t even heard of the virus yet. He didn’t wait or hope the disaster wouldn’t come to Chicago; he immediately went to work on plan B — a lesson to pay attention to what is happening in other countries and not live with blinders on, only being concerned with your corner on the world.
If you want to hear an in-depth and fascinating story of pivoting, listen to Kokonas on The Tim Ferriss Show, #429. It is an excellent story of perseverance, solid decision-making skills, and optimism.
Achievers know they can’t control the outcome, the outcome is what it is, they concentrate on making the best decision possible, that is all we can really control.
They aren’t attached to their original concept so much that they will allow it to sink them. They think of other alternatives to making money.
2. They don’t look to others to be the role model.
High achievers look to themselves and come to anything — a party or a negotiating table — with a role model mindset.
People at the top of their game are not just a role model in one area of their lives, they are a role model to everyone in their lives — their team, intimates, children.
They bring leadership skills with them and act with a role model mindset around every person they come into contact with. They are kind and thoughtful while leading. They know that you can be assertive while being compassionate.
One way to get into a role model mindset is to ask yourself, what three things can I change to be a better leader?
Someone needs to lead.
In all relationships, to be a better role model, you can set boundaries with friends and keep them. I have a daughter. What can I do to be a better role model for her? I can be more consistent with rules for her phone use and demonstrate positive phone use in front of her, never putting my phone on the dinner table or on the table when we are eating at a restaurant.
For my partner, I can be a better role model by spending less money and getting our finances in order.
When people see you behaving in one way, they are more likely to get on board with the change you are making when you first change yourself.
3. They don’t blow the long-term.
When they succeed in the short-term, they don’t blow it in the long-term.
Some people succeed in the short-term but blow it in the long-term.
High achievers understand your reputation proceeds you when you treat people well. They know the cultivation of positive relationships is the way to success. When an important relationship isn’t working or is negative in some aspects, they try to fix it first and confront the challenges positively.
They don’t try to be liked, they try to be the linchpin in their circle, in the room. They are the catalyst that gathers good people around them, they attract good people, and turn the volume down on toxic relationships, usually ending them altogether.
High performance in high achievers means full engagement with your work, your relationships, and your creativity.
They don’t put all of their efforts into just their work. Those who do are succeeding in one area but neglecting other crucial areas, like relationships.
A person who spends the first ten years building a business only to ignore his/her family, leading to disconnection and an affair, succeeds in the short-term and blows it in the long-term. Divorce is expensive. It doesn’t just take from you financially, but there is a high emotional price to pay. I’m not saying staying together is the best idea in every circumstance, there are upsides to divorce as well.
However, after spending all their time reaching a certain monetary goal, many people achieve it and then are miserable when they get what they want. They haven’t spent any time cultivating positive things in other areas of their lives.
This is not the kind of success high achievers aim for. They strive for excellence in all areas. High performance in high achievers means full engagement with your work, your relationships, and your creativity.
4. They don’t spend a lot of time on social media.
High achievers don’t spend a lot of time swiping or thumb scrolling on social media.
They understand that it deactivates the mind, taking one’s energy with it. The more you swipe, the more you disengage.
The smartphone is shutting down your brain.
Getting off the phone gives you energy.
You can’t change the world, create a million-dollar product or service at a six energy level, you have to be at a ten. You have to want the mental edge. Another reason why successful people exercise at least five days per week is to up their energy levels. There is no quicker way to do this than through exercise and eating well.
Their health is essential to them; they want to live a long time, but they want to feel good doing it.
5. They don’t only have doing goals.
High achievers have being goals; they are proud of who they are with the people in their lives and what they represent when they walk into a room.
Integrity is essential to them.
You don’t attract what you want, you attract who you are. — Dr. Wayne Dyer
Are you being in a way to attract what you deserve and what you desire?
One signal you are not being in a way that is in integrity with your values is if you’re having a hard time being present.
High achievers are present where their feet are. Rarely worried about the future or stuck in the past.
Their being is in the here and now to reach their big dreams — proud of who they are now.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
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