Here's What Differentiates High Achievers from Average Performers
“Practice makes perfect.” This cliche line has been taught by schools that produce factory workers, for decades. It’s a joke.
You don’t have to be average.
Average often means unhappy. Nobody wants to admit that. It’s taboo. You’ll get shit thrown at your face if you say that in public. Screw it.
There’s no need to be average, because for the same amount of effort, you can easily become a high performer. Now, I’m not some schmuck that pulled that idea out of nowhere. I’ve spent years studying high performers and got to meet many of them.
How?
I wrote on a blog about success so it forced me to search for high performers as cringey as that blog now is to me.
By publishing on LinkedIn every day, I met a young man who owns a live events business. He manages high performers like Gary Vee and Tony Robbins. He liked my content and brought me into his world.
There’s no need to be average. Study these ideas from high performers to live a life you’ll look back and be proud of.
Practice Open-Mindedness
The pandemic has been an intelligence test.
Those who are stuck in their ways refuse to listen to new information. They say things like “We’ve had the flu for centuries. We just need to deal with it.” Or they refuse to hear new information when changes in vaccines are released or new strains emerge.
A lack of open-mindedness is killing a lot of Americans every day. Many still think what we’re living through will simply go away. That’s wishful thinking. There are periods in history when immense change happens.
My grandparents participated in World War 2. My grandpa on one side farmed potatoes for the soldiers, and my grandpa on the other side went to New Guinea as a soldier and then became a nurse in the war when he got injured.
Imagine going from a normal job in an office to a war. Imagine going from growing food for everyday people to harvesting food to keep soldiers fed who defend their country from invasion. Imagine both my grandmas trying to take care of their children while they face the prospect of their husbands never returning.
The only reason my grandparents survived to tell the tale is they adopted open-mindedness. They accepted change and then embraced it, which makes them high achievers for surviving one of the most difficult times in human history.
Use mental models like a genius
To understand the world we have mental models. For example, you have a mental model of how social media works. You apply that model when you publish and engage with content.
A mental model is represented by a formula, diagram, theory, or set of steps.
Average people have mental models but they unconsciously use them. High achievers have mental models that they consciously choose and refine over time.
Mental models are powerful because they can be applied to multiple situations. Elements of your mental model for politics can be applied to how you make dating decisions as an example.
Once you understand what your mental models are you can embrace them. Innovators like Elon Musk often use “first principles thinking” as a tool that helps them achieve high performance in business.
Create your own mental models. Borrow mental models from high achievers. Fuse the two together.
Quiet people change the world because they hear things others don’t
Listen more than you speak to become a high achiever. Get out of your mind and into the minds of others. Greatness often involves solving a problem for others. How can you understand a problem if you haven’t gone deep with the people who face it?
You can’t.
Problems on the surface look solvable. Once you go all-in on a problem you realize the source of the issue is different. What you think and what is reality start to drift further apart. Listen to what is not being said. Ask questions from various angles. Use the same questions with different framing to see if the answers change.
Those who can sit quietly in a room and shut up, go on to do great things. They see parts of the world that noise disguises.
Play offense not defense
Many people wait for opportunities. I once read a story about a farmer with two sons. He had to decide which son to give the farm to when he died.
One son was lazy and expected to get the farm with little work. The other son was asked to do a tiny task by his father. Through the process of completing the task he went above and beyond. The son showed initiative, curiosity, passion, the ability to ask questions, and confidence to pitch ideas. His father gave him the farm as a result.
You’ve seen this idea in the workplace I’m sure. Those who complain and want a salary increase for doing the same amount of work go nowhere.
Then there are the high achievers who do the hard work and seek out new ideas. If they don’t eventually get rewarded then they’re silent. They simply find a new job where their value is recognized, but they don’t complain. Ever.
Taking initiative makes you a high performer in the long run because it demonstrates that you’re proactive, while simultaneously showing you're not entitled.
Play offense. Get out there and make things happen without being told.
Learn about the transformative power of deliberate practice
Deliberate practice is the uncomfortable, purposeful type of practice where you stretch your abilities. You’re not just running through what you already know. You’re challenging yourself to expand what you can do – Amir Afianian
“Practice makes perfect.” This cliche line has been taught by schools that produce factory workers, for decades.
It’s a joke.
Practice is stupid if you do the same thing over and over.
Why?
You get bored.
Many of you have heard of flow states. Flow states are what high performers use to produce work in record time through deep focus. A flow state can make eight hours feel like one hour. I’m sure you’ve experienced it.
There’s one part about flow states many people don’t know that I learned the hard way.
Flow states require you to challenge yourself. The practice has to be slightly harder than the last time. That 1% adjustment of difficulty allows the brain to challenge itself and avoid boredom.
Todd Brison is my hubby … my business partner hubby. His quote explains it nicely:
Do something to the best of your ability.
Then do a little bit more.You won’t feel average anymore when you keep adjusting the difficulty level. Do it enough times and you’ll soon become a master that makes high performance in your area of interest look mind-blowing.
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Mind blowing!!!!
Seriously