High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way

by Brendon Burchard

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.

Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Achievers fight long and hard to succeed, propelling themselves forward by grit and hustle. And then, at some point they could never have anticipated, they plateau, lose passion, or burn out.

the world cares less about your strengths and personality than about your service and meaningful contributions to others.

Isn’t it true that there are billions of hard workers on the bottom of the pile? Don’t you know plenty of passionate people in your hometown who have plateaued? Haven’t you met plenty of people who know their strengths but still struggle with clarity, don’t have a clue what to do when a new project starts, and keep getting surpassed by people with lesser strengths?

What helps when you want to become world-class, to lead, to create lasting impact beyond yourself? How can you generate the confidence you need to reach the next level of success? How can you joyfully sustain success over the long term? How can you inspire and empower others to do the same?

With the right habits, anyone can dramatically increase results and become a high performer in almost any field of endeavor.

You have a lot of things you can do. So the central question shifts from “How do I achieve more?” to “How would I like to live?” This book is an escape plan from the soul-killing singular pursuit of external success for no other reason than achievement for achievement’s sake. It’s about realigning your thoughts and behaviors so that you can experience growth, well-being, and fulfillment as you strive.

The person who is certain is most closed to learning, most vulnerable to dogma, and most likely to be blindsided and overtaken by innovators.

meeting this definition of “succeeding beyond standard norms consistently over the long term” requires habits that protect your well-being, maintain positive relationships, and ensure that you serve others as you climb. You simply can’t beat the norms if you’ve driven yourself into the ground.

High performance, as I define it and as the data confirms, is not about getting ahead at all costs. It’s about forming habits that help you both excel in and enrich the full spectrum of your life.

many people are unhappy achievers. They get a lot done but don’t feel fulfilled.

High performers have mastered the art of influencing others in such a way that others feel respected, valued, and appreciated—and more likely to become high performers themselves.

They don’t just develop skill; they develop people.

When you knock on the door of opportunity, do not be surprised that it is Work who answers.

Real success—holistic, long-term success—doesn’t come from doing what’s natural, certain, convenient, or automatic. Often, the journey to greatness begins the moment our preferences for comfort and certainty are overruled by a greater purpose that requires challenge and contribution.

In becoming successful, hard work, passion, practice, resilience, and people skills are often more important than IQ, raw talent, or where you’re from.

High performers ask these types of questions not only at the beginning of an endeavor but consistently throughout. They don’t just “get clarity” once and develop a mission statement that lasts the test of time; they consistently seek clarity again and again as times change and as they take on new projects or enter new social situations. This kind of routine self-monitoring is one of the hallmarks of their success.

It’s about always knowing your why and stoking that fire all the time so you feel the needed drive or pressure to get at it.

Unless you consciously develop a positive support network, major achievements over the long haul are all but impossible.

When people talk about how they feel in high performance, they report feeling full engagement, joy, and confidence (in that order). This means they tend to be fully immersed in what they are doing, they enjoy what they’re doing, and they have confidence in their ability to figure things out.

Uncertain what they really want, achievers often choose just to keep at it. But at some point, if they don’t get very clear about who they are and what they want at this stage of their life, things start to unravel.

started just going through the motions. The excitement, joy, and confidence are gone, and with them goes the performance.

The essential habit of seeking clarity helps high performers keep engaged, growing, and fulfilled over the long haul.

Our research shows that compared with their peers, high performers have more clarity on who they are, what they want, how to get it, and what they find meaningful and fulfilling. We’ve found that if you can increase someone’s clarity, you up their overall high performance score.

You generate clarity by asking questions, researching, trying new things, sorting through life’s opportunities, and sniffing out what’s right for you.

Clarity is the child of careful thought and mindful experimentation. It comes from asking yourself questions continually and further refining your perspective on life.

Clarity on who you are is associated with overall self-esteem.

the highest performers had a great ability to focus on the future and divine how they would achieve excellence.

what makes the difference is that high performers imagine a positive version of themselves in the future, and then they actively engage in trying to be that. This part about actively engaging is important. They aren’t waiting to demonstrate a characteristic next week or next month. They are living into their best self now.

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.

When asked to choose words that describe their best interactions with others, high performers most often responded with words such as thoughtful, appreciative, respectful, open, honest, empathetic, loving, caring, kind, present, and fair. When asked to choose three words that best define how they would like to be treated by others, high performers most valued being respected and appreciated.

anticipate positive social interactions and they strive consciously and consistently to create them.

Challenge yourself to be that person now. This will bring life back into your relationships.

Look to the future. Identify key skills. Obsessively develop those skills.

No goals, no growth. No clarity, no change.

Underperformers, especially, are neglectful of the kinds of feelings they are experiencing or want to experience in life. They bumble into situations and allow those situations to define how they feel. This explains why they have low self-awareness and weak self-control.

Think of an emotion as mostly a reaction, and feeling is an interpretation.

My automatic emotions don’t have to be in charge. My feelings are my own.

Emotions come and go. They’re mostly immediate, instinctive, and physical. But feelings last, and they’re often a result of rumination, which you have control over. Anger can be the emotion that comes up, but bitterness—a lasting feeling—doesn’t have to be your lifelong sentence.

It’s when we stop being conscious of our feelings that we get in trouble. Then the negativity of the world can start stirring negative emotions, which, if we don’t control the meaning of, can evoke long-term negative feelings, which in turn set the stage for a horrible life.

In your everyday life, start asking, “What do I want to feel today? How could I define the meaning of the day so that I feel what I want to?”

“Unhappiness is not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it.” —Don Herold

enthusiasm independently predicted life satisfaction, positive emotions, fewer negative emotions, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, self-acceptance, purpose in life, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, and achievement.

When I use the word energy in this book, then, keep in mind it means the full spectrum of mental, emotional, and physical vibrancy.

So low energy not only hurts your ability to reach high performance overall, it pervades all aspects of your life. You feel less happy. You don’t take on the big challenges. You feel as if everyone is passing you by. Your confidence tanks. You eat worse. You get fatter. You struggle to get people to believe in you, buy from you, follow you, support you.

Bottom line: The more energy someone has, the more likely they are to be happy and climb to the top of their primary field of interest.

only you are in charge of your enduring emotional experience.

You’re in charge of how you feel. That’s perhaps one of the greatest human gifts.

Every high performer I’ve ever interviewed speaks about how they take control of their thoughts and bend them toward positive states of mind. They don’t wait for joy to land on them; they bring it.