Two Secrets to Higher Achievement

Julia is a new senior manager with a loving family and close friends. When she began working with me as her coaching client, she told me she feels happy and fulfilled with most of her life.  Of course, I asked about the “most” part. Julia told me about an area of her life where she gets easily frustrated, and even though she is a high achiever, she feels (as she put it) like a “fraud” at times.

Denise is an average performer. No one complains about her work because she is dependable and does good work. However, her manager knows she's capable of doing great work. Denise also knows she's capable of more and wants to "get to that next level" of performance—but she doesn't know what to do next. 

Tom is considered by his co-workers and family to be an under-achiever. It’s not that he doesn’t have talent—he just never seems to be able to tap into it. Tom claims he could do great things (and he could), but it just seems to be all talk and no action. He wants to do better, he promises to do better, but so far he's disappointed everyone, including himself.

Wherever you fit on the spectrum, here are two "secrets" to achieving more success and happiness.

Ease up on yourself

Regardless of what kind of achiever we are, when we’re not making the progress on something important to us, it’s easy to criticize ourselves. Or we push ourselves harder. Both high achievers and under achievers can easily fall into these traps. However, we can’t criticize ourselves into being more “successful," and pushing yourself harder can backfire on you. You might think otherwise (many do), but often whatever success you have will be offset by the inner conflict you create for yourself. 

“Going off your diet” doesn’t mean you need to berate yourself with guilt and shame. More than likely, it’s proof you need something you don’t have enough of yet, which brings us to the second secret to achieving "impossible" goals.

Get more support

One of my clients was a former Special Forces member; an Army Ranger. I learned from him that even the toughest of the tough know how vital it is to have the support of a team. If you’re a high achiever feeling drained instead of energized, perhaps the missing element is more support. If you’re an under achiever or an average achiever, what could you do if you had the support you needed? 

Whether you're an under achiever, average achiever or high achiever, more positive support will give you more fuel to run on. Reaching our "impossible" goals requires collaborating with those around us. Human beings are wired to connect with others, and when we try to do everything by ourselves we limit who we can become and what we can achieve. If you want to achieve more, perhaps the missing element is getting the support you need.

- Alan Allard, Executive Coach