Achieve Success with Habits

“The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” - John C. Maxwell

How to Achieve Long-Term Success with High Performance Habits

As a leadership coach, I love December. It’s the perfect time to reflect on the past year and plan for the next one, especially when the world is celebrating the holiday season. However, as 2023 is coming to an end, I’m not only thinking about my goals for 2024, but also about my habits.

Some people set their goals in January and work on them until February. While goals are very important, I have learned that habits are even more powerful. Every year, I create a vision board to visualize my dreams and aspirations, and then I associate habits to each of them. This way, I can make small, consistent, and lasting changes in my life.

In this blog post, I want to share with you some of the insights and tools that I have learned from one of the best books on habits: High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. I also want to share with you how I apply these habits in my daily life and how I help other leaders do the same.

What are High Performance Habits?

“Be more intentional about who you want to become. Have vision beyond your current circumstances. Imagine your best future self and start acting like that person today.” - Brendon Burchard

High Performance Habits is a book that reveals the secrets of achieving long-term success in life and work. The book is based on a comprehensive study of high performers, who are people who consistently excel beyond standard norms. The book teaches you how to create and break habits using a simple framework called the Four Laws of Behavior Change. The book also shows you how to make small, incremental changes in your daily routines that can lead to remarkable results over time. The book is a result of extensive original research and a decade of experience as the world’s highest-paid performance coach.

The book identifies six habits that are common among high performers, who are defined as people who consistently succeed beyond standard norms over the long term. These habits are:

• Seek clarity: Define your vision, purpose, and direction in life, and align your actions with your values and goals.
• Generate energy: Take care of your physical and mental well-being and cultivate a positive and resilient mindset.
• Raise necessity: Increase your motivation and commitment by connecting your work to a higher purpose and a sense of urgency.
• Increase productivity: Focus on the most important and impactful tasks and eliminate distractions and inefficiencies.
• Develop influence: Inspire and empower others to support your vision and goals and build trust and rapport with your network.
• Demonstrate courage: Take bold and consistent action, even when you face fear, doubt, or resistance.

The book also provides practical tools and exercises to help you implement these habits in your life, such as self-assessments, habit trackers, and habit contracts.

How I Use High Performance Habits in My Life

One of the concepts that I learned from the book is MEDS-RX. It stands for Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep, and RX (prescription). It means that you should meditate for at least 10 minutes a day, exercise for at least 20 minutes a day, eat a balanced and nutritious diet, sleep for at least 7 hours a night, and take any supplements or medications that your doctor prescribes.

I have been following this habit every day, and I have noticed a significant improvement in my physical and mental well-being, energy, and performance. I use a journal to track my MEDS-RX, and I review my progress and results regularly. I find this habit very helpful and rewarding.

Another habit that I practice daily is seeking clarity. I also ask myself some questions to clarify my intentions, such as:

• What are the three words that describe how I want to feel today?
• What are the three most important outcomes that I want to achieve today?
• What are the three actions that I need to take today to make those outcomes happen?
• What are the three people that I need to connect with today to support my goals?
• What are the three things that I need to avoid or eliminate today to stay focused and productive?

These questions help me to align my actions with my values and goals, and to prioritize the most impactful tasks. They also help me to stay motivated and committed throughout the day.

How I Help Other Leaders Develop High Performance Habits

I recently had the opportunity to share my insights on habits with a group of 30 women leaders from various organizations at the Lean In Event. I facilitated a session on active listening and working towards the future. The participants identified three key areas that they wanted to improve, and also the habits that they needed to develop to make them successful. It was a rewarding and inspiring experience for me and for them. ??

Final Thoughts

I have shared with you some of the insights and tools that I have learned from High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard, and how I apply them in my daily life and in my leadership coaching. I have also shown you how habits can help you achieve long-term success in life and work, and how you can use them to influence behavior change in yourself and others.

Habits are not only about what you do, but also about why you do it and how you do it. As a leader, you need to embed purpose into your work culture, and make sure that your actions are aligned with your vision and values. You also need to be intentional about creating and breaking habits and use the Four Laws of Behavior Change to make them obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.

Thank you for reading, and I wish you all the best in your leadership journey. ??

Reflective exercise for 2024

Now, I have a challenge for you: Pick one habit that you want to develop or break and use the tools and exercises from this blog post to make it happen. Share your progress and results with me and other readers in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you and support you in your habit journey. Let’s make 2024 the best year ever! ??

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If you want to learn more about High Performance Habits, you can read the full summary here, or get the book here. If you want to learn more about MEDS-RX, you can watch this video by Burchard, or read his book here.

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Let’s Connect and Collaborate:

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Until next year…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Warm Regards,

Preethi Guruswamy