High Performance Habits summary

When was the last time you asked yourself the big questions, such as, how do I want to be remembered? Or, what do I want to do with my life?

Many will only think about these questions on their birthday or New Year’s Eve. But high performers ask these questions all the time; it’s a habit the author calls seeking clarity, and it keeps them goal oriented.

If you were to list the habits you imagine a successful CEO might have, you might think of efficient scheduling and the ability to keep distractions to a minimum. But you might not think of exercise.

People often associate CEOs with mental fitness, but research shows that they’re also physically fit, and their energy levels tend to be similar to those of professional athletes. The author calls the second habit generating energy, and it’s key to maintaining a high performance level.

Let’s imagine two runners about to start a race, waiting for the starting pistol to go off. Both have a similar track record, and each has put in the same amount of training. But there’s one difference: one racer is thinking about the personal glory of winning, while the other is thinking, “I have to win this for my mother.”

Who’s going to win?

It’s terrible to always feel busy and run down, yet still not getting enough done. This is a clear sign that there’s an imbalance between the energy you’re spending and the results you’re seeing.

This brings us to the fourth habit of high performance: increasing productivity, which you can do by learning how to separate the important work from the unimportant work. This way, you only spend energy on the tasks that really matter.

There’s a popular notion that it’s “lonely at the top,” meaning that once you reach the highest rung of the professional ladder, there will be no one around with whom to share your achievement.

But this isn’t the case for high performers, as the research shows them to be quite capable of establishing meaningful and lasting connections with their peers.

Are you the kind of person who prefers to be left alone in their comfort zone? If so, how much pressure does it take for you to break out?

For high performers, risk-taking isn’t unusual at all. In fact, demonstrating courage is the sixth and final habit of high performers, and it goes hand-in-hand with gaining a positive perspective on challenging situations.