The First High Performance Habit

Depending on your search habits, your advertisements may revolve around self-improvement, mentorship programs, and courses on how to break out of the rat race. My goals are success driven, so I see these types of ads all the time. One that I found novel based on my previous commercial watching experience, had the title "Is the Law of Attraction Nonsense?" All I could think was " Pfft, controversial click-bait." Nonetheless, I didn't skip the ad.

Now, the law of attraction is a concept that basically claims that you attract what you believe. I liken it to having a controlled perspective that makes you see what you need to see, to get to where you want to go. What I liked most about the ad was that it was misleading - it didn't answer the question at all. Summarized, the response was essentially, "I don't know if it's nonsense, but I know it's not sufficient". At that point, Brendon Burchard gained my respect. He didn't speak with authority on the subject to agree or discredit, he just acknowledged it. That's something I found pretty authentic, " I can't call it, but, here's what I do know." He goes on to describe that his book "High Performance Habits" in conjunction with the law of attraction will lead to success. I clicked on the link and got my free copy.

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle

Mic drop. The philosophy of Aristotle has been around for a minute but today I can say that he was spittin'. OK I'm sold. No one was born high achieving. High performers developed and maintained high achieving practices. I'm ready to learn what these are.

Enter The Six Habits

1. Seek Clarity

2. Generate Energy

3. Raise Necessity

4. Increase Productivity

5. Develop Influence

6. Demonstrate Courage

These sound impressive in the Table of Contents. They allude to knowledge to make it happen. These are the things the major players do to be major players. Alright. I put aside all preconceived notions and became a student. Each habit has its own introductory quote and anecdote of the author and one of his clients. I read along intently. The following is what I gathered from the first habit.

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Seek Clarity - The Future Four

It's a beautiful concept - " have clear intentions as to who you want to be and how you want to be with others." This chapter claims that in order to become a high performer, you need to visualize your ideal. I've heard this before and I've heard this everywhere. I guess it's true but I was expecting something more. Luckily, Burchard breaks it down into the facets that you need to preempt - self, social, skills, and service. My take on the portion of clarity of self is to ask yourself: who are you supposed to be? As opposed to a yearly, new year's resolution, Burchard advocates daily resolution to be who you feel you're supposed to be. Should you be more grateful? Should you be more active? Should you be more sociable? Whatever you feel you should be, aim to be today. If you are your habits, habitually push yourself to be what you aim to be. Whoa. My take on the portion of clarity in a social setting is: what is the best descriptor for me as a social character? It's not "care or don't care about what people think" it's more like: if I made an effort to earn a descriptor, what would it be? Am I thoughtful, am I giving, am I deserving of respect? The interesting thing about this part is that to earn any title you have to again, visualize doing what is necessary to earn it. Before an interaction stop and ask yourself: If I want to be seen as a [fill in the blank], what do I have to do to make others see me that way? This mindset allows you to purposely become who you want to be to others. My take on the portion of clarity of skills needed is: what are the talents I could develop that coincide with the version of myself I want to be. I can agree that clarity on this subject is CRITICAL. If you want to be a realtor, let's say, are you up on your public speaking skills or keen on overcoming objections? I think many people want to play certain positions but don't possess all the skills required for the role. It's almost like applying for a job. You can't realistically expect to land a management position without the prerequisites of team building, organization, and strategy. If that's the role you want, show up knowing what you need to know. My take on the portion of clarity of service is: what can I do to be remembered by? Did I do for another so that they were made better in some way? Did I make an impact or was I a forgettable happenstance of someone's mundane daily routine? Clarity of service is knowing what you want to give. These actions will eventually be the behavior ones who knew you, will remember you by. What would be nice to have said about you at your viewing when the day comes?

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Seek Clarity - Find the Feeling

This section on clarity I find superb. It discusses how one should find an emotion they want to feel. Burchard talks about the difference between feeling and emotion. By his standards, an emotion is a reactionary response to the external pressures of circumstance, while a feeling is a state defined by an individual.

Someone cuts you off, you get pissed. Feelings however, according to Bruchard, are a willful state of being. If you get cut off and mad, it's understandable but, if you stay mad it's inexcusable. Clarity also enlightens us to the definitions we give the emotions that erupt. Fear can become a trigger to awareness, envy might become a signal for self-reflection, and anger could stimulate the improvement of self-control. This chapter claims that high performers make themselves feel what they need and should feel. What I like most about this concept is that I haven't really thought about what I'm aiming to feel whenever I embark on a task. Still, I can believe that if I start working with the thought of being satisfied or proud of my work as I work, it may really end up being a genuine product of my work.

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Seek Clarity - Meaning

Raison d'etre, life's calling, life's purpose, why I wake up every morning - many ways to name our motivation for life. This is another banger in this chapter that defines success to every individual. Burchard and his research facilitate the understanding of this idea by using two equations the sum of which are Personal Satisfaction and Meaning.

"High Performance Habits" provides the following: Passion + Growth + Contribution = Personal Satisfaction

Enthusiasm + Connection + Satisfaction + Coherence = Meaning

Take that Algebra I.

Passion is a pursuit of a love that should invigorate instead of drain. Now, provided that you found a passion, ascending to different levels of mastery provides additional reward. Growth is an element of any craft that keeps you moving forward and expanding your abilities. As you look back it makes you humble and as you look forward it makes you hungry; but, what does your passion provide to others? If you can produce something that is fruitful to another, and you are able to make a contribution outside the realm of self, you feel a sense of relief for being able to give from your surplus, and you then feel personal satisfaction. Enthusiasm is easy enough to understand: similar to a passion, it something that gets you raring to go. I guess this would be something you would join a club for if possible. Public speaking, MMA, knitting, something you are happy to do without the ask. (Have you seen that kazoo club on Facebook?) The way I understand Burchard describes connection is like the act of overcoming resistance. I interpret it as forces colliding instead of flowing together. Oneness sounds nice but if there isn't a difference or influence, there isn't a relationship, but bland uniformity. Through the intertwining of differences we create bonds by complementing strengths and weaknesses. Coherence is described as something that aligns with the sense of self. It is working on and towards your beliefs. How long could a vegan work genuinely happy at a slaughterhouse? Without such an extreme example, you may agree that you feel better about working on something you can proudly endorse. The combination of these aspects result in meaning. My take from this bit is that once you have clarity of meaning, you know what and why you do what you do for yourself and others. Clarity of meaning will dictate your direction in terms of being able to provide more and have a greater footprint of service.

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Clarity on Clarity

All in all, it was a great start to developing habits to become a high performer. Any dabbler in self-help and motivation will have heard about the importance of picturing success. In my opinion, in this chapter, Brendon Burchard tells you how to picture by telling you what to focus your lens on.

On a personal note, I've heard that I need to control my emotions as I experience feelings at the edges of the spectrum. My biggest gain was realizing that I can steer the waves of emotion to my benefit instead of being taken by them. I want and will to feel confident and successful in my practice of the first of these six habits - seeking clarity.