10 Steps You Can Take To Become A High Performance Person

Have you thought about what it really takes to become a high-performance person? Have you ever wondered what makes top industry leaders in the world today so great? And how they can operate at levels the rest of society can’t even understand? 

What makes them so different?

The truth is they’re actually not that different than anyone else. They’re ordinary people that have developed the skills of a high-performer to produce extraordinary results. 

You probably know the people I’m talking about. Yes; I’m talking about people like Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, and Tony Robbins among many others. 

Unlike the rest of society, they have a very different way of looking at the world. They think about what kind of impact they want to have and how they can add more value.

With that mentality, they’re able to plant the seeds necessary to grow into the high-performers they are today. 

You see, most people are not conditioned to become top high-performers. They’re conditioned to live a life of mediocrity and settle for less. 

At some point in your life, you’ve probably heard people telling you, “Oh just go to school, get a high-paying job, get married, have kids, and then enjoy life.”

Notice how that scenario is very focused on your own self-interests. It’s all about me, me, me, me.

High-performance leaders do the exact opposite. They don’t think so much about their own self-interests but about what they can do to help other people, which requires them to upgrade themselves. 

So what foundation do you need to have in place to set yourself up for success? Here are 10 steps you can take to become a high-performance person. 

1. A High-Performance Person Always Asks Powerful Questions

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time studying top business leaders. And I noticed that unlike the rest of society, they like to ask powerful, thought-provoking questions. 

By asking questions, you’re forced to think about your own self-awareness. And how your thoughts, emotions, and actions align or don’t align with your values. 

"If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I'm about to do today?" - Steve Jobs

What’s interesting is that most people have very low levels of self-awareness. Why? Because they don’t think.

They’re those people that complain and whine about why they’re not successful and why they don’t have this or that. 

You’ll notice at first, they might be overly optimistic about the things they want to pursue.

And you might hear them say, “Oh, I’m going to start this business and by the end of the year, I’m going to make $100,000.” But then when it doesn’t work out the way they want it to, they just complain. 

High-performers think differently. They are what I like to call “realistic optimists.” They understand how to think accurately. 

It means they can look at a situation just the way it is. Not worse than it is. And not better than it is. But just as it is. Exactly how it appears. 

And to do that, I always like to ask myself three powerful questions: 

• What could go wrong?
• What don’t I know?
• What don’t I see?

By asking myself these questions, I’m more aware of my downsides and I can effectively plan for it. So if something were to go wrong, I’ll know exactly how to handle it and my chances of success will be a lot higher.

2. High-Performers Think Ahead 

Usually around December, before the beginning of the new year, people are super busy shopping and going on their annual vacations with their family. And they don’t start planning for the new year until January. 

I notice time and time again that this method is very counterproductive. When you start planning in January, wouldn’t you agree that it takes a bit of time to get back in the zone? 

After vacation, most people need that buffer time to prepare and get back to work. For some, it takes a few days and for others maybe even a few weeks. 

They only start going back to their normal schedule and build momentum in February. Notice how they’ve just wasted a large chunk of their time. And yet, every year, they seem to repeat the same thing over and over again without realizing how much time they’re wasting. 

High-performance people don’t do that. Instead, they focus on how they can get ahead of schedule. So when everyone else is busy during the holidays, you want to already be planning for the new year and building up your momentum early. 

Let me give you an example. Personally, what I like to do is go on vacation, usually around October, when everyone else is working. And then, I do my planning and preparation for the new year when everyone else is busy going on vacation in December. 

With this method, I’m already ahead of schedule so I don’t need to waste time planning in January. I can just launch on day one and already be building that momentum. You see, when you approach your planning this way there is no time wasted. 

3. High-Performers Protect Their Time

If you want to become a high-performer, one of the most important things you need to do is protect your time. Eliminate all interruptions and distractions in your life. 

As you probably know, people are surrounded by so many distractions every single day. It could be unnecessary phone calls, instant messages, email notifications, social media posts, and more. 

But how can you perform at your best at any given time of the day if you’re interrupted with these distractions all the time?

Today, there are still entrepreneurs and CEOs out there that believe in an “open-door policy” which means their door is always open for people to come to see them anytime. It’s a concept I understand but will never be able to do myself. Why?

Because it tells me one simple thing about all those entrepreneurs and CEOs. It tells me that they don’t value and respect their time. 

It means they’re getting interrupted multiple times every single day. And every time they get interrupted, it takes a certain amount of mental bandwidth to get back on track.

In fact, according to a study done by Gloria Mack, she found that 82 percent of all interrupted work is resumed on the same day but it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task.

So if you don’t know how to control distractions, the amount of time you waste accumulates very fast. Now, how do solve this problem? It’s very simple. 

When you’re working, unplug all communications. What I like to do is create an environment where people cannot reach me. And I’ll use that time to do my thinking, planning, and strategizing.

That’s the key. If people cannot find you, they cannot interrupt you. 

4. High-Performers Don’t Procrastinate

When it comes to high-performance, procrastination is almost always a topic of interest. Because like all the external distractions you get in your environment, you also have a bunch of internal distractions. And these are what I like to call your “inner demons.” 

They are the typical inner conflicts you have playing in your mind before doing a certain task. For example, let’s say I asked you to jog for half a mile. You might have these inner conflicts running through your mind:

“Ok, but first let me make sure I’m wearing the right shoe.”

“No, I need to make sure I’m not jogging too fast or it’ll feel like I’m running.”

“Wait, I can’t do this. What if I start landing on the balls of my feet and my calves get bigger?”

Does this sound familiar? You haven’t started jogging yet and already you’re having these conversations in your head.

These are the inner demons that fuel your procrastination. They are the reason a lot of people don’t get stuff done because they have too many of these inner conflicts going on in their heads. 

Everyone has them but some have more than others. I notice that many high-performance people have very little of these inner demons. And the key is not to feed them. 

If you give them power and nutrition, wouldn’t it make sense that you’ll have more of them? Likewise, if you don’t give them power, then the chances they will get in the way of your productivity will be very low. 

Learn How To Think Like A Squirrel

Your next question might be, “Ok, well, how do you control it and prevent them from getting in the way?”

Whenever you’re working on something and you catch yourself coming up inner conflicts, immediately take action and do the work.

Every time they come up, take immediate action. Because the longer you wait, the more power you give to them, which will lead to procrastination. Remember actions drive out thoughts.

John Eliot sums this up really well. He is the author of the book, Overachievement: The New Science Of Working Less To Accomplish More and he studies a lot of high-performers in society like athletes, executives, and politicians. And he talks about what makes them high-performers. 

He says they think like a squirrel. So imagine a squirrel on a tree branch getting ready to jump onto another tree branch.

If the squirrel operated like a human where their logical brain gets in the way of their natural instincts, what do you think would happen? 

Yes; they would probably die. If they hesitate before jumping they could easily lose their balance and fall off the tree. But that’s not the case here because they have a “trusting mindset.”

And that’s how high-performers operate. They trust in their abilities and just take action without the clutter of internal conflicts. 

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