fbpx

High achievers have these 5 things in common

High achievers have these 5 things in common

[jc_buttons]

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have the gift of turning everything they touch into gold? They lead the best teams, they achieve exceptional results and get noticed and promoted more often. And to top it off … they seem have everything sorted in their life outside of work too.

Meanwhile others struggle along, getting frustrated by their failures and going nowhere fast.   

It turns out that high performers think and operate differently.

The good news is that by adopting some of the key characteristics of those high achieving superstars you too can more consistently achieve more of what you want from life and work.

5 Critical Characteristics of high achievers

  1.  They believe it is possible.There is a correlation between what we believe is possible and what our results are. If we think we can’t, we won’t. If we think we can then there is a fair chance we will. It is like our belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Believing in your ability to succeed drives action, generates a can do energy and defeats self doubt.  You are more likely to notice opportunities as they arise and go after them with a sense of confidence and certainty.

  1.  They resist the fear of failure. High achievers know that they are likely to encounter failures along the way. They don’t let the fear of failure hold them back from taking action. Just like the rest of us they experience fear. The difference is that they act in spite of it.

Many high profile successful people including Oprah, Arianna Huffington and Brene Brown have spoken about their failures as being learning lessons on their way to success.  They do not fear failure or internalize it; they don’t identify with it or say, “I am a failure.” Instead, they study and analyse their failures, and take what they can to learn from them.

  1.  They consciously create their future. They don’t leave their life or professional success and happiness up to chance. High achievers regularly carve out time throughout the year to get specific about what they want, and then to go about achieving those things.

So, start with the end in mind.  Get specific about what you want from your career and your life.  Visualise it.  Document it.  Talk about it.  Believe that it is on its way.  It’s now just a matter of time.

  1.  They stay focused on the goal. High achievers keep their eye on the prize. They know what they want, they know why they want it, and they go after it.

There is going to come a point in the pursuit of any big goal when you are going to want to quit and walk away.  Perhaps it gets hard, you hit up against a challenge or resistance or you lose motivation. 

You must remain connected to why this endeavour is important to you and focus on what is at stake. This will give you the push you need to keep going when things get tough.

  1.  They reject the comfort zone. High achievers know that progress and growth doesn’t come from within the comfort zone.

Think back across the career achievements you are most proud of.  It’s highly likely that these achievements are characterised by the fact that they were challenging and required you to stretch beyond what you thought you were capable of.

Growth happens outside your comfort zone.  You are capable of so much more than you think.  Be brave and take the step.  Trust that you will be about to handle the challenge.

Next steps…

By focusing on even one of these characteristics can create a massive shift in your results.  Which one will make the biggest  difference for you?

 
[jc_buttons]

LET'S CONNECT

Click below to…

Join “Leading Ladies” – a private FREE Facebook group of over 1600 other mid-career professional women to inspire and support
Join the newsletter list for weekly tips and strategies showing you how to ignite your career, lead your way and accelerate your success. 
Watch The Next Level Training to breakthrough to the next level of leadership, impact and recognition.  
Get my best tips on working smarter not harder 
Read my latest blog post.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact my team.

Similar Blog Posts

Gorgeous tired young office worker falling asleep at her desk while trying to work in modern office

Why Working Harder Isn’t Always the…

The mistake I see many mid-career professional women making is thinking that the way to be seen, heard, recognised and promoted is… to work harder and do more.

I really don’t know how that would be possible though, because most of the professional women I speak to are already working super hard.

Jane Benston

The Farm Girl Who Cares

Time for a truth bomb: You won’t get what you want. You get what you tolerate. Harsh, I know, but it’s so true.

Standards that aren’t aligned to your expectations of how you should be treated are a surefire way to limit your leadership potential and leave you working far too hard and in a way that depletes and drains you.

Jane Benston

Know you need to build better…

Time for a truth bomb: You won’t get what you want. You get what you tolerate. Harsh, I know, but it’s so true.

Standards that aren’t aligned to your expectations of how you should be treated are a surefire way to limit your leadership potential and leave you working far too hard and in a way that depletes and drains you.

Jane Benston

5 Critical Characteristics of High Achievers

5 Critical Characteristics of High Achievers

[jc_buttons]

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have the gift of turning everything they touch into gold? They lead the best teams, they achieve exceptional results and get noticed and promoted more often. And just to rub salt into the wound … they seem have everything sorted in their life outside of work too.

Meanwhile you struggle along, getting frustrated by the things you have tried and fail. Perhaps you get things started but you fail to get traction or real momentum, leaving you wondering what is it that you need to do differently.

It turns out that high performers think and operate differently. And the good news is that by adopting some of the key characteristics of those high achieving superstars we can more consistently achieve more of what we want from life and from our work.

5 Critical Characteristics of high achievers

1.  They believe it is possible. There is a correlation between what we believe is possible and what our results are. If we think we cant, we wont. If we think we can then there is a fare chance we will. It is like our belief becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Possibility thinking gives us the physical and mental energy that drives creativity, inspires action and defeats self doubt. We notice the opportunities that arise and we are more likely to go after them with a sense of confidence and self worth.

2.  They resist the fear of failure. High achievers know that they are likely to encounter failures along the way. Both Oprah and Arianna Huffington have spoken about their failures as being learning lessons on their way to success. They do not fear failure or internalize it; they don’t identify with it or say, “I am a failure.” Instead they study it, analyse it and take what they can to learn from it.

They also don’t let the fear of failure hold them back from taking action. Just like the rest of us they experience fear, the difference is that they take action in spite of it.

3.  They consciously create their future. They don’t leave their life, their career, their future success and happiness up to chance.

Is your career and life by design or default?

High achievers feel empowered to create and shape their outcomes. They regularly carve out time in their year to get specific about what they want, and then to go about achieve those things.

The more specific you become in what you want from your career and your life, the more chance you have of achieving it.

4.  They tap into their motivation. Unless you know why your want something and feel connected to what is most important to you then it is all too easy to be thrown off course. There is going to come a point in the pursuit of any big goal when you are going to want to quit and walk away.

We have all done it. We set out to get fit, go after a new work goal, achieve a financial target and we start with a flurry of optimism and hope only to find that after a few weeks or months that it all gets a bit hard and the pull of our old comfortable ways stop us in our tracks.

The key to success is consistency and persistence and tapping into your inner motivation. We must remain connected to why this endeavour is important and what is at stake. This will give you the push you need to keep going when things get tough.

5.  They reject the urge to procrastinate. The biggest hurdle of achievement is procrastination. It is easy to put things off. It is too easy to push the pause button and not start. But starting is the key.

You will never achieve anything of significance if you succumb to the urge to stay safe and to wait until you have rock solid certainty or for courage to show up.  And don’t worry about  knowing every step towards your magnificent outcome before you get started.

High achievers know the secrete to success is to start.

Chunk the big idea down into small bit size pieces and start with small easy steps to gain momentum. But the most important step is to start.

So as we race towards the end of the year, think about whether your work and life is as you want it to be…. Or not.

Carve out some time to reflect on which of these characteristics will make the biggest impact if you were to take them on as your own.   Create some specific goals and take the first action to get traction and momentum towards some new outcomes.

[jc_buttons]

LET'S CONNECT

Click below to…

Join “Leading Ladies” – a private FREE Facebook group of over 1600 other mid-career professional women to inspire and support
Join the newsletter list for weekly tips and strategies showing you how to ignite your career, lead your way and accelerate your success. 
Watch The Next Level Training to breakthrough to the next level of leadership, impact and recognition.  
Get my best tips on working smarter not harder 
Read my latest blog post.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact my team.

Similar Blog Posts

Gorgeous tired young office worker falling asleep at her desk while trying to work in modern office

Why Working Harder Isn’t Always the…

The mistake I see many mid-career professional women making is thinking that the way to be seen, heard, recognised and promoted is… to work harder and do more.

I really don’t know how that would be possible though, because most of the professional women I speak to are already working super hard.

Jane Benston

The Farm Girl Who Cares

Time for a truth bomb: You won’t get what you want. You get what you tolerate. Harsh, I know, but it’s so true.

Standards that aren’t aligned to your expectations of how you should be treated are a surefire way to limit your leadership potential and leave you working far too hard and in a way that depletes and drains you.

Jane Benston

Know you need to build better…

Time for a truth bomb: You won’t get what you want. You get what you tolerate. Harsh, I know, but it’s so true.

Standards that aren’t aligned to your expectations of how you should be treated are a surefire way to limit your leadership potential and leave you working far too hard and in a way that depletes and drains you.

Jane Benston