4 Tricks to Developing a Top Performer's Mindset

Unless you’re in a stage where you’re content to just sail through life, you’re probably striving to become a top performer. Covering the basics is just the start. You also have to develop a mindset that encourages you to grow, learn, and become the best possible version of yourself.  

That may sound overwhelming, but if you use these four tricks, you’ll achieve a top performer’s mindset much more quickly than you expect.

1. Confidence with a willingness to learn is key. 

There’s nothing wrong with confidence. Cockiness, on the other hand, isn’t something I’d recommend. Confidence can be an amazing asset for developing a growth-oriented mindset. After all, being confident helps make you more resilient and motivated. It also silences your inner critic, the one who annoyingly hints you can’t do something. With confidence, you can use that anxiety and stress to become more productive.

Additionally, confidence can provide a stronger sense of self. This means we not only know what we excel at, but we’re also aware of our weaknesses. This drives us to constantly learn and grow so we can become better, stronger, and faster.   

For example, if you solicit feedback from your business partners or employees, and they suggest you improve your communication with them, you wouldn’t hesitate to take a course online or start reading a book like Brené Brown’s “Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.”

2. Get comfortable giving others credit.

It’s easy to feel bad when someone else gets credit. You want to raise your hand and say, “Excuse me! I did that.” However, it’s much more valuable to have a mindset where you look for opportunities to build people up. In the long run, people value and want to be around someone who builds others up — and who’s comfortable sharing the spotlight. It makes them feel valued and supported.

Additionally, Sachin H. Jain, CEO of CareMore Health, wrote in Harvard Business Review what may occur when credit is given rightly — or wrongly. "If a company reliably assigns credit to deserving individuals and teams, the resulting belief that the system is fair and will honestly reward contributions will encourage employees to give their utmost," says Jain. "On the other hand, if credit is regularly misassigned, a sort of organizational cancer emerges, and individuals and teams won't feel the drive to deliver their best because they won't trust anyone will recognize it if they do."

One of the most effective ways I’ve been able to do this is by occasionally sending individual team members at Calendar a short email thanking them for their hard work — whether it’s completing an assignment before the deadline or working late to repair a piece of code. I also take a moment to answer questions they have.

Because these interactions typically take place via email or Slack, they don’t take longer than five or 10 minutes. That means it’s not a serious time commitment on my end, but it’s been one of the best ways to build a healthy and productive culture.

3. Make time to do the things you enjoy.

For those who truly want to cultivate a strong, positive mindset, you need to do things you enjoy or gain value from. That includes reading, meditating, exercising, working with a coach, or just having fun. Even leaning back in your chair and doing nothing but thinking can be beneficial.

Here’s the thing: Not everyone believes they have the time or luxury to just think or exercise. I’m in no way implying you’re making excuses. As a business owner and father, I know how easy it is for the day to slip away from you or to get bogged down by fires to be put out. At the same time, you can make some minor adjustments so you have the time to develop a stronger mindset.

Track your time for a week or so. Are there moments throughout the day when you could listen to a podcast, such as during your morning commute or while waiting in your dentist’s office? How much time are you wasting on social media or other unproductive activities? Is it possible to wake up even 30 minutes earlier to exercise?

Secondly, look for ways to reduce the time you spend on recurring tasks. For example, Calendar is a scheduling tool that uses machine learning to learn more about your daily activities, contacts, and meetings. It then makes smart suggestions on how you should plan your day. Of course, there are tools to help you automate everything from your email to your social media posts to your invoicing. Think about what could be delegated or outsourced.

Finally, set hard boundaries. If you leave the office at 5 p.m., you’re done for the day. You can use your evenings to become a better person. The same is true for your weekends. Remember, you don’t have to be on the clock 24/7/365. You need time to work on you. You’re the most valuable asset you have.

4. Be prepared to fail, but don’t dwell on it.

Failure and setbacks are inevitable. That doesn’t mean you should fail on purpose. As someone who’s experienced a business failure, I know it’s not the best feeling in the world. At the same time, it’s one of the best ways to learn and grow.

Failure gives you the opportunity to learn from mistakes so you won’t repeat them. It also can drive you to strengthen your skills so you’ll succeed next time. In fact, the failure of my first business venture made me an incredibly fierce competitor.

However, you don’t want to dwell too much on the past. It’s understandable to mourn for a couple of days, but you need to get over your loss as soon as you can. It’s still unfortunate, but the only thing more unfortunate is failing to take the lesson and make something of it.

Developing and enhancing your mindset doesn’t happen overnight. It takes self-discipline. But once you put in the time and effort, your possibilities will feel endless.

John Rampton is an entrepreneur, investor, and startup enthusiast. He is founder of the calendar productivity tool Calendar. You can sign up for early access to Calendar here!

This article is exclusive to LinkedIn.