Labels. We all use them. Whether we like it or not we view ourselves through filters. Are you a type A or Type B personality? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Are you an INFJ or an ESTP? How do those labels impact you? The great news is…it doesn’t matter!!! When it comes to being a high performer, all you have to believe is that you can learn how to become one. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. Type A or B. Or, an introvert or extrovert. Anyone can be a high performer if you choose to be. Brendan Buchard is one of my favorite personal development coaches/authors. In his book High-Performance Habits, he outlines six habits that will change your life and business. I want to touch on them today. Over the past fourteen years, I’ve worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs who had different personalities and work styles. And, I can promise you, if you are intentional about implementing these habits into your daily routines, you will experience higher levels of success in your personal and professional life! Let’s check them out…

HPH#1 – Seek Clarity

One of the major causes of failure in a business is a lack of clarity. Not knowing exactly who you serve or what problem you solve can sink your boat. The idea that you will magically attract your ideal client is a bunch of bunk if you don’t know precisely who that person is. Clarity comes from a thoughtful and mindful exercise of defining meaningful characteristics about your avatar and intimately knowing their biggest pain points. Generating clarity is the ONLY way you can determine your unique solution. I would suggest that before you can undertake to define your avatar that you start with yourself. Being clear on who you are will give you the platform to dig deeper into the impact you want to make with your potential customers. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• “Who am I?”

• “What are my strengths and weaknesses?”

• “What do I value the most in life?”

• “What are my future aspirations

• “What goals am I pursuing to fulfill these aspirations?

• “If I could describe my ideal self in the future, the person I am trying to become, how would I describe that self?”

• “What values drive you?”

• "What do I want to be known for?"

We make daily decisions based on our values. Take some time this week to create a three-word affirmation checkpoint statement. Mine are… Inspire. Educate. Empower. At the end of each day, I ask myself, “Did I inspire someone today? Did I educate someone today? Did I empower someone today?” Those questions will help you measure your daily impact. If you can’t answer a resounding “YES” to each question you’re out of alignment with your mission and your messaging will cause confusion to your audience.

HPH#2 – Generate Energy

Momentum doesn’t happen by itself. We have to create it by taking action. Energy works the same way. We have to create it. The more energy you create, the higher the likelihood you will achieve high levels of success. One of the best ways to generate energy is to work out. Sitting at your computer and being stagnant will zap your energy and creativity. When you exercise you create energy that builds momentum into your day. You can carry that energy forward with you into your daily activities. Being intentional about how you manage your energy is as important as the activities you fill your day with. You want to be able to operate at the highest level needed for the activities you’re engaging in. Brendon refers to it as managing your transitions, I call it chunking my time. This is my absolute favorite habit because it helps me operate in my zone of genius for longer periods of time. This is a habit I have intuitively used for more than 35 years. If you think about every movement during your day as a transition, you begin to see how your brain engages and disengages from your tasks. How can you minimize your transitions or schedule your energy to fit the activities that make up your day to maximize productivity? Ask yourself the following questions:

• “What energy do I want to bring into this next activity?”

• “How can I do this next activity with more excellence?”

• “How can I enjoy the process?”

If you can intentionally pause between activities and set an intention for an outcome, you will become more mindful and actually produce better results. Give it a try!

HPH#3 – Raise Necessity

We have activities in our lives that are negotiable and non-negotiable. Make excellence a non-negotiable outcome in your life and business. Setting a standard of excellence creates excitement and passion about what you’re doing. When you have an emotional drive to propel yourself toward your goal, quitting is no longer an option. When doing tasks at a mediocre level is no longer an option, your inner drive keeps you on course. Knowing who you are now is important, but not as important as who you want to become. Your goals need to be in alignment with your future self, therefore, you need to have a sense of clarity about the goals you are setting. People who set highly defined goals that are difficult to achieve will always outperform people who have vague and uninspired goals. Set challenging deadlines with milestones to measure your progress. Most people will procrastinate until there is a hard deadline to fuel their sense of urgency. Don’t allow yourself to fall into complacency by putting off taking daily action to make your big dreams a reality.

If you’re an athlete, you know the importance of bringing your “A” game to each practice. Jerry Rice is a perfect example of raising the standard and practicing excellence so when it mattered most, muscle memory kicked in and he became one of the best NFL receivers of all time. Take a moment to reflect and ask yourself:

• What is my ‘A’ game?

• Did I bring it today?

• What would my ‘A’ game look like in the next hour or so?”

Do you have an accountability partner? People who are accountable to an external source often perform at higher levels than people who don’t.

HPH#4 – Increase Productivity

This is where the rubber meets the road. This habit forces you to separate the wheat from the chaff. Your success depends on your ability to focus on the tasks that are important. This is the habit that requires eliminating “busy” work and learning to take actions that support your mission and generate revenue. Peter Drucker says, “The purpose of a business is to produce customers.” If your business isn’t producing a steady stream of income, you need to shift your focus. Brendan Buchard calls this “prioritizing work about prolific quality outputs.” In simple terms, this means figuring out what you’re supposed to produce and laying out the priorities for how to create it. When you cut out the extraneous tasks that have filled your time up until now, you should be able to break your goals into five major moves. Simplifying processes will increase productivity and make your goals easier to reach.

HPH#5 – Develop Influence

Influence is the ability to persuade and shape other people’s beliefs and behaviors. Influence allows you to resolve conflicts more quickly, advocate for others, champion projections you care about, and most importantly…make more sales!

This habit is about pushing through fears and asking for what you really want! This can be a tough one. In school we were taught, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” That’s a hard belief to shift! Fears of rejection, judgment, or failure can hold us back and prevent us from showing up and asking for what we want or need in terms of support.

If you want to build influence, ask people to join you in your activities. People tend to say “yes” 3x more often than we think they will, so push through those fears and “ASK.”

HPH#6 – Demonstrate Courage

Many of us think only HEROs have courage. That’s why it’s important to see yourself as the HERO in your story! HEROs are just ordinary people like you and me who achieve extraordinary results!

But, the truth of the matter is, courage is a skill and it can be learned. Just like any skill, the more you practice it, the more natural it will become. Most fears that hold us back only reside between our ears. So, it’s important to evaluate your fear and determine if it is a viable threat, or if it is imagined.

When you look ten years down the road, ask your future self (who is wiser, stronger, more resilient, more capable, and more successful than you are today) what courageous action would she advise you to take to change your life or business?

Take a moment to pause and consider how your life would change if you took those actions. What’s holding you back? The future you long for is 100% available to you. You just have to take action.

I love sports, especially track and field. When you look at elite athletes, the thing that sets them apart is their focus and determination. Their desire to reach their goal is unwavering. They are willing to make sacrifices to become the best in the world.

What are you willing to give up so you can level up?