High Performance Habits Book Summary

Introduction

This book will explain the six habits that many successful and high performing people have in common and how to implement them into our life. These habits have been developed as the result of twenty years of research from the author. It will also give advice on how to progress and grow faster in life and how to sustains success once you have achieved it . Success is not achieved by a type of person but instead by those who perform specific habits. This book shares these habits.

What Is a High Performer?

In the book, a high performer is defined as a person who creates well-being for himself and external success over the long term. High performers have multiple skillets that are related to their career which helps them to consistently exceed the standard expectations and results.

High performers are continuously learning, improving themselves and taking on new and harder challenges. High performers also maintain positive and healthy relationships and prioritizes serving others through out their career. A high performer always tries to be their best self. 

Habit 1: Seek Clarity

This habit is about figuring out who you want to become, how you want to feel, what you want to achieve and what will bring you the greatest fulfillment in life. Clarity is found by asking questions and exploring new things. Since most people change with time, it’s important to continuously seek clarity and ask these kinds of questions. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• What kind of person do I want to become?
• How do I want other people to describe me?
• How should I treat others?
• What are my goals?
• What is the plan to achieve my goals?
• What are the things I can focus on that will bring me the most fulfilment?

High performers know very well who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are and what they need to focus on. They also think a lot about who they want to become and the steps they need to take to become that.

Envision the Future Four

The four areas to seek clarity in are self, social, skills and service.

• Self – Imagine how your ideal future self is and spend at least 60 minutes per day on activates that moves you closer to becoming this person.
• Social – The two things to do are: be clear on how you want to treat others and you want others to describe you. Think about the mood you want to be in, how you want to interact with others and your energy level. For example: when meeting up with my friends I want to be happy, kind and honest or when I’m with my partner I want to be caring and honest.
• Skills – Figure out what skills you want to learn that will help you the most both in your career and personal life. You will keep being mediocre if you are not clear about what skills you need to learn to get to the next level. When learning something new it is recommended to specialize in a couple of things instead of knowing a little bit about everything. Two questions to ask yourself are:
  • Will I regret it if I don’t learn this?
  • What skills will give me the most value?
• Service – Be clear on how you want to serve other and what contribution you want to bring to the world. Focus more on service then self. Instead of asking “what do I want now?”, ask “what do those I serve want now?”.

Determine the Feeling You Are After

Be clear of the feeling you want to have in a situation and the feeling you want to have after. It is very possible to override your current feelings with how you want to feel, maybe not entirely but at least to some degree. For example if you are very angry and imagine how it feels to be happy, you are going to be less angry. It will take some practice but the important part is that you are aware of your feelings and know that it is possible to override them with how you want to feel. The questions to ask are:

• What feeling do I want to bring to this situation?
• Is the current feeling I have going to help me?
• What feeling do I want to get from this situation?

Define What’s Meaningful

High performers knows what brings them meaning and fulfilment in their lives. They spend more of their time doing things that they find meaningful which brings them overall more happiness and well-being. Meaningful work is a combination of these five things:

• How much you enjoy the tasks and work you do.
• How enthusiastic you are about your work.
• How much you are learning and growing from your work.
• How the work is aligned with your personal values.
• How fulfilled you are with the result of the work and the contribution it has on others.

Habit 2: Generate Energy

This habit is about creating and maintaining energy, focus, positive emotions and well-being so that you can perform better. Energy is created and generated by ourselves and is affected by how we take care of our mental and physicals health.

Release Tension, Set Intention

Many people lose a lot of energy and focus between daily transitions. A transition in our day is when we move from one activity or situation to another. This can for example be when we finish checking emails and then go to a meeting, being on your way home and then arriving home or watching TV and then start to work. A time between activates is often a space of freedom. This time space is usually wasted and this book recommends a method on how to better use this time which will make us better in the next activity we transition to.

1. Close your eyes for a one to two minutes.
2. Repeat the word release in your mind over and over. As you do this, release the tension thorough out your body, like shoulders, neck and back, and mind. The purpose of this is to release all things from your previous activity so you can go in fresh for the next one.
3. When you have released some tension, the next step is to SET INTENTION. Think about what you want to feel and achieve in the next activity. Some questions to ask yourself are:
   • What energy and feelings do I want to bring in to this next activity?
   • How can I enjoy this next activity?
   • How can I do my best in this next activity?

Bring the Joy

If there is one new intention you want to start bringing to different activities and situations it should be to bring more joy. Joy won’t just make you happier and create more positive emotions, but it will also make you perform better. This basically means that when for example, going to work or arriving home, you should try to be in a positive and happy state. Positive emotions are essential for high performance.

Joy is very closely related to gratitude and here are a couple of ways to generate more gratitude or positive emotions:

• Be optimistic and anticipate positive outcomes from your actions.
• Be grateful when good things happen you, even the smallest things.
• Every time you enter a new room tell yourself “I will find the good in this room. I’m entering this room a happy man ready to serve”.
• How would my best self handle this situation?
• Before meeting friends, partner or other people: “How can I bring more joy to these people?”.

Optimize Health

Very straight forward. Try to eat healthy, exercise and get enough (7h-8h) sleep. Some reasons for this are that you will feel better, become more efficient and have more energy. Your brain will function better, memory will improve and you will be able to learn things easier. Stress will also be reduced.

Habit 3: Raise Necessity

This habit is about always having a why and a reason to perform your best. Necessity is what makes high performance and succeeding in life a must instead of just a preference. When you feel necessity, you will just get things done rather then hoping and wishing to get things done. Necessity is related to motivation and they are built on four factors: identity, obsession, duty and urgency.

Identity

Our identity is how we define ourselves, such us our habits, personality and characteristics. We are more motivated and do a better job when we do things that are aligned with our identity. Make it your identity that you are a person who gets things done, does them with excellence and always tries their best. It is recommended to often monitor (write things down) and check in on yourself if you are living up to your personal standards and identity. The reason for this is because it gives you a better idea if you are heading in the right direction and making progress.

The goal for of all underperformers must be to set higher standards, self-monitor more frequently and learn to become comfortable with taking a hard look at their own performance.

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of what that field or activity is.”

Obsession

The obsession should be to understand and master at least one topic or area. High performers are curious people who continually keep learning new things. It requires time and effort, probably more then you think, to become really good at something. If you haven’t found something yet it is recommended to keep exploring new things until you find something that is interesting, fulfilling and aligned with your identity. When you find something, it’s important to take action and go deep on it. It’s better to specialize in one are then know a little about many things.

Duty

High performers feel the necessity to perform well because it’s their duty and obligation to do so. They can do it someone other then themselves that is counting on them, they see it as their responsibility or they are doing it to fulfill a promise. Underperformers often complain more about their responsibilities and tasks at work. High performers are instead grateful for the opportunity to serve and complain much less. Instead of saying “I have to do it”, say “I get to do it”.

Urgency

Nothing motivates action more then a deadline so its recommended to add more deadlines into our lives. A real deadline is a date or time that matters and there are negative consequences if it’s not met and positive outcomes if it’s met. Deadlines help us focus on what is important and ignore what is not. Research show that underperformers get pulled into fake urgencies and focus a lot more on things that are not important.

Know Who Needs Your A Game

The advice here is to create a “desk trigger” for yourself. Whenever you get to your desk ask yourself “Who needs me the most on my A game right now?”. The reason for this question is we perform better when we involve someone else and it also reminds us of how we are at our best. Being on your A game means that your are trying your best with full focus on the task in front of you.

Affirm the Why

High performers are clear about their goals, what they want and why they are doing it. They also don’t keep their goals to themselves but instead tells others about them. The reason for this is because this puts their trust and reputation at stake which forces them to take action.

Level Up Your Squad

You become like the people you spend time with. For this reason, it is recommended to spend more time with positive and successful people and less with negative people. Look for people who challenge, inspire and are better then you. But you should not focus on ending your bad relationships (they might turn their life around), instead you should focus on building new and better ones.

Habit 4: Increase Productivity

This habit is about becoming more productive. Productive people are happier, more successful, more confident and progress faster in their career. This is done by setting goals and maintaining energy and focus. People who have clear and challenging goals always outperform those who don’t. You also need to focus on the skills and tasks that are relevant and interesting to you. You will be very miserable and sad if you don’t like most of the things you do.

Multitasking does not work. The reason for this is because we can’t focus fully on the task in front of us because part of our brain is still thinking about the other tasks.

Create a Better Work-Life Balance

Many people today feel they don’t have a good work-life balance and feel very tired and have little energy left after work. The mistake they make and the reason why they feel like this because they think in terms of hours. They think for life to be balanced, they need to spend equal time on work and “life”. To fix this, it is recommended to instead of hours, measure in terms of happiness and progress in life.

The way to do this is to rate your happiness on a scale to 1 – 10 in the 10 areas of life. These 10 areas are: health, family, friends, intimate relationship, work/career, finances, adventure, hobby, spirituality and emotion. If you don’t measure these areas, then you can’t really know if your life is balanced. Then work on the areas that get a low rating. Your life will feel balanced if you have a good rating in all areas. This is just a check-in but can be very useful since most people have never done it.

So the real reason for bad balance in life is not because of total hours at work but the way you feel and your overall energy. You will always feel out of balance if you don’t enjoy your work or you don’t find it meaningful, challenging or that you are learning.

Taking breaks are important if you want to become a high performer or avoid burnout. Taking breaks lead to higher productivity and more positive emotions. It is recommended to leave your desk and take a 5 minute break every 45-60 minutes. During the break you can for example use the “release” method mentioned earlier, the “desk-trigger” or some physical activity.

Increase the Outputs That Matter

You need to first figure out and identify the outputs that matter. This can for example be total new clients, total phone calls and total new blog posts. This is important because otherwise you can work a lot and be busy but have nothing to show for. You want the work you do to move you forward in your career. It is recommended to spend at least 60% of your time working on what’s important and the remaining 40% on other tasks, such as email and meetings. You also need to figure out the things to stop doing so you can focus more on the important outputs.

Chart Your Five Moves

This is about creating a plan and a schedule and then following it. Having a plan and a schedule is very important because it gives your day a structure and also increase your chance of completing your tasks. First define what your goal is then ask yourself the question: “If there were only five moves to make that goal happen, what would they be?”. Think of each move as a project and break them down into deliverables, deadlines and activates. Then add them to your schedule. You will live a life of reaction and distraction if you don’t have a plan and a schedule.

Get Insanely Good at Key Skills

If you want to succeed you need to become more competent. You need to master the skills that are needed to win in your field of interests. A skill here means having knowledge and capabilities to create value. This can for example be communication, sales, coding and video production. Learning important skills takes time and hard work. Because of this, determine the five major skills you need and develop them over the next three years.

One principle is that everything is trainable. Any skill can be learned if you put time into it. You need to have a growth mindset which is the belief that you can improve if you put in effort. When most people say “I can’t” it means that they are not willing to put in the time to learn it. According to the book, the best way to get good at a new skill is though a ten step process called “progressive mastery” shown below.

1. Determine a skill you want to master.
2. Set specific goals and deadlines. Create a plan and map out how the learning process can look like and the different areas you need to learn.
3. Attach high levels of emotion and make it a priority to learning this skill.
4. Identify the factors that are critical to success and then focus on these factors.
5. Define what success and failure looks like to you.
6. Schedule challenging practices developed by experts. So its also recommended to find a mentor.
7. Measure your progress and get outside feedback.
8. Socialize by practicing or competing with others.
9. Continue to set higher level of goals as you make progress.
10. Teach others what you are learning. You will learn even more when you teach it to others.

Habit 5: Develop Influence

Having influence is described as the ability to shape other people’s beliefs and behaviors as you desire. It means you can get people to believe in you and your ideas and follow you. The difference between influence and manipulation is that both people benefit from influence while mostly only one person benefit with manipulation.

Three Easy Ways to Get More Influence

The first way is to just ask for what you want. Many people are afraid to ask because they fear being judged. This does mostly not not happen because people are too busy thinking about themselves. Most people are actually happy to help you. People like you more after they have helped you. The more you ask and share your ideas, the more other people will become familiar with this.

The second way is to give more. Giving to others will increase your chance of getting what you want in all areas of life. In organizations, the best thing you can give is trust, autonomy and decision-making.

The third way is to show more sincere appreciation and give more genuine praise when people do something good. The reason for this is because many people feel very undervalued and unappreciated. You should also support and cheer others in achieving their goals.

People who influence others have three things in common. First, they shape and change how others think. Second, they challenge others to be their best and improve. Third, they serve as role models through their actions.

Teach People How to Think

This is something almost everyone does already. This is for example when we say things like: “think of it this way…”, “what do you think about…” and “what would happen if we tried…”. The advice is that we should be deliberate and pay more attention when we do it. We are trying to guide their thinking and in doing so gaining influence.

If someone does not want to do something the first step is to change their thinking about it. This can be done by sharing how you think about it. For example if a kid does not want to do their homework then tell them why homework is important, ask them why they think its important and share what you used to think about homework.

Challenge People to Grow

High performers challenge other people to become better and improve themselves. When doing this, you need to be respectful and your intention should be to help them. The main three areas to challenge someone are character, connection and contribution.

• Character – This is about making people think about their actions. For example give feedback on their character such as honesty, responsibility, hard work, kindness and self-control. Questions to ask can be “did you feel like you gave it your are?”, “is this the kind of person you are?” and “does this last thing you did describe your character and values well?”.
• Connection – This is about behaviors with other people. Call out and don’t accept bad behavior. Look to create an environment where people are kind and help each other.
• Contribution – This is about encouraging people to add and create more value. The focus when challenging is not on the work they are doing now but what they can create in the future. So they can have a better future for themselves.

Role Model the Way

Demonstrate the behaviors you want to see and demonstrate the actions you want others to do. If you want others to change, then you must also be willing to change. You need to be open minded because chances are that you are wrong. Ask yourself the the questions:

• Who are the people that has influenced me the most?
• How did I get influenced by my role models or other people?
• How can I be a good role model and what would that look like?

Habit 6: Demonstrate Courage

The general definition of courage is taking action when there is risk and fear involved. Courage is a skill and just like any skill we get more comfortable and better at it the more we do it. That’s why it’s important to start living more courageously now and take more action even when there is fear and risk.

Courage means different for everyone so it’s important to define what being courageous means to you and then start living that way. It will be the courageous things we do that will influence and change us and our life the most. These are also the things we will look back on and be proud of.

Honor the Struggle

To become really good at something or create something valuable it’s going to require hard work, discipline, patience, time and struggle. Struggle is part of the journey so we should honor it, anticipate it and welcome it. We can’t have progress without struggle. We also need to believe in ourselves and trust that things will turn out well for us in the future.

You will be surprised by how much you have completed if you work at something for a month and then look back.

Find Someone to Fight For

We will do more for others than for ourselves. We will get more courageous and motivated when we have someone else to fight.

Beware the Three Traps of Success

The three most common things that cause failure and unhappiness after we have succeeded are superiority, dissatisfaction and neglect.

Superiority

You should not think that you are special, better then other people and that you have nothing new to learn or improve. Don’t look down and judge others who make mistakes or are worse than you. Remind yourself that the reason you are better is because you got more opportunities, experience and information. The solution is to be humble.

Dissatisfaction

The problem here is not being happy with the success you have and always looking for more. The people who are never satisfied are never at peace. The solution is to be grateful for what you have, understand that you can be happy when you are working towards your goal and know when enough is enough. You will be happier when you are satisfied which will allow you to perform better. Other people will also enjoy being around you more.

Neglect

When we focus too much on one area, for example work, it’s easy to forget the other areas of our life that are important. Obsession in one area will damage all other areas. When this happens there will always be warning signs so it’s important to pay attention to them and take these more seriously. The 10 areas are: health, family, friends, intimate relationship, work/career, finances, adventure, hobby, spirituality and emotion.

This can also lead to over commitment where you take on too many things and fail. It’s recommended to focus a few things and go deep on them.

The #1 Thing

The most important characteristic of high performers is confidence. People who are confident have greater clarity, energy, productivity, influence, necessity, courage and overall happiness in life.

The first way to get more confident is by thinking thoughts and do more things that make you confident. For example think that you can learn anything as long as you put time into it and believe that you can learn what is needed to handle problems in the future. Also avoid thinking thoughts that reduce confidence, such as negative self talk.

The second way to get more confident is to get more competent. Competence is gained by getting more knowledge, skill and experience. The “competence-confidence loop” is that you first get more competence which gives you more confidence. Because of the new confidence you challenge yourself and learn new things which gives you more competence, which again gives you more confidence and so on.