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Habit #1: Have a crystal-clear vision and keep it alive

Vision brings purpose and meaning into your life. This is why all high achievers are great visionaries. Some dream big, others have modest dreams but their clear vision is always their primary motivator.




Vision gives direction to your life and motivates you to rally your efforts and energies towards that final goal or destination. Having a clear vision keeps you fired up, optimistic, and determined to overcome any obstacle that comes between you and your dream.

Amazingly, this passion and drive extend to all that you do, even if it's not related to your vision. In other words, by clearly defining your vision and keeping it top of mind, you're sowing the first seeds of high achievement!

How do you clearly define your vision? First, you need to put it in writing to bring it to life and make it more tangible for your brain to process. Simply write one or two brief sentences describing your biggest dream.

"My dream is to grow my local business into a global brand…"

"My dream is to retire early and run my own farm…"

My vision is to become the leading expert in my field…"

"My vision is to raise wonderful, successful. happy kids…"

These are a few examples of how to record your vision. It doesn't have to be grand or huge. Your vision reflects your personal passion, the thing that makes your life meaningful and keeps you going.

Daily practice: Once you've identified your vision, you need to keep it alive. 

Here are two ways to do that:

1. Do one thing every day that brings you closer to realizing your vision. In a nutshell, keep your vision alive and present, even if you're unable to pursue it full-time in your current job or situation. Read a chapter of a book, listen to a podcast, learn a new skill, or hone a current one… just take one action related to your vision every single day.

2. Visualize your dream for 5 minutes each day by closing your eyes and imagining that you've already achieved it. Create vivid mental scenarios of what your life will be like and allow the positive emotions to fill you with joy and hope.

Habit #2: Become a problem-solver and troubleshooter

If you want to see a super achiever in action, tell them that something can't be done. That's all they need to hear in order to jump in with both feet and find a way to get it done!

As discussed earlier, a high achiever thrives on challenge and problem-solving is high on their list. They also view it (very wisely) as an opportunity for growth and learning.

Now, most of us don't welcome problems with open arms or actively seek them out. How often have you heaved a sigh of relief when somebody else was tasked with tackling a wrench in the plumbing? When you become a high achiever, you'll not only volunteer but feel insulted if you’re turned down!

Daily practice: This habit is easy to develop - just actively seek out problems and find effective ways to resolve them! Don’t worry, it gets easier (and fun) with practice. Here are some useful tips to help you get started:

- Consider multiple solutions then narrow them down to the best one.

- Do online research.

- Ask an expert for advice.

- Find out why the problem happened. This could give you clues as to what needs to be done to resolve it.

- Draw on prior experiences where you faced a similar issue and recall how it was resolved.

- Think out of the box. Sometimes, the wildest solution could be the one that works.

- Stick to your guns! Persistence is a key characteristic of a super achiever. Keep trying until you achieve sweet success!


Foster this habit even further by looking for more innovative ways to get things done efficiently. Explore new software and apps that may help you to better delegate, manage teams or organize your time.

Habit #3: Accept full responsibility for your actions

Super achievers are notable for their strong personal discipline. This includes their willingness to take full responsibility for their actions. Taking responsibility basically means holding yourself accountable for the outcomes you initiate, both the good and the bad.

You take full credit for your personal success and rely on yourself to achieve it. Likewise, you take responsibility for your mistakes and rely only on yourself to resolve them.

Daily practice: Learn to take responsibility by adhering to the following practices:

- Keep your commitments and promises. This is key for gaining the trust and respect of others but more importantly, fostering your own self-respect and integrity.

- Don’t blame others or make excuses. This is just a waste of time and won't resolve an issue or fix a problem. Even if others are to blame, if the negative outcome affects your success, consider yourself responsible and set things right.

- Take responsibility for your words. Be sincere and honest at all times. Take responsibility for your thoughts and feelings as well. Express your emotions in healthy, inoffensive ways and try to keep your thought positive.

- Don’t take things personally. You have a vision to pursue and your greatness to attain. Don't mire yourself in trivial quarrels and feuds. Don’t bear grudges and just let these negativities evaporate. And remember – in most cases, it’s not personal at all.

- Celebrate your wins. Never forget to take responsibility for your brilliant successes, as well. Celebrate them to the fullest and give yourself a big pat on the back. After all, you're responsible for them!

Habit #4: Reconcile with your past

Ruminating about past mistakes, failures, and negative experiences is one of the key obstacles to achieving greatness. For some people, it's a key obstacle to any real success or advancement.

Dwelling on the past is when you regularly revisit negative situations and experiences that happened in your life. You run these scenarios in your head, fueling emotions of guilt, shame, bitterness, and resentment. These emotions sap self-worth, optimism, and motivation like nothing else.

As you can guess, a high achiever never looks back but always forward. They're totally reconciled with themselves and with their past. That's what you need to do as well.

Daily practice: If your past is haunting you, you need to reconcile with it. Here are several options you can practice daily to ensure that the past stays in the past where it belongs!

Distract yourself immediately when you find your mind drifting back in time. Prepare a list of short activities that you can engage in to distract yourself and boost your mood. This could include listening to music or meditating for 10 minutes, going for a short run, calling up a friend to chat, etc. Make sure to choose activities that uplift and relax you.

- Practice mindfulness exercises. Mindfulness is a powerful tool that trains your mind to stay present in the here and now. Mindfulness exercises are simple and enjoyable. They'll gradually wire your brain to dwell less on the past and remain focused on the present. A quick Google search will come up with a large variety of mindfulness exercises to choose from.

- Forgive yourself. Take a few moments for honest self-reflection. Acknowledge how your negative emotions are preventing you from living life to the fullest. Acknowledge your mistakes and failures and understand that you've learned from them and that they've made you stronger. Finally, make the heartfelt commitment to release those emotions and forgive yourself.

- Apply the same method to forgive others as well. Bearing grudges isn’t going to change what happened. Releasing and forgiving others will liberate you from some very crippling emotions.

- Create positive memories. Creating a store of happy memories enables you to dispel those negative ones when your mind does drift to the past. Find opportunities for romantic outings with your partner, and memorable trips with your family. Plan interesting and unique events with your friends and colleagues. Now, the next time you dwell on the past, go to those memories and allow them to fill your heart with joy.

- Choose to control what you can. You can't control the past or redo it. The same goes for the future. But you can choose to control what you have in the present to shape a great future. Ask yourself each day: what can I control today that will bring me one step closer to my vision? Then take action!

Habit #5: Stay alert for opportunities

Your career or life situation may be perfectly aligned with your vision. You're happy in your job or marriage, or perfectly satisfied with your present circumstances as they are. You want to work with what you have to shine and bring out the high achiever in you.

On the other hand, you may not be satisfied with where you are now because you feel stifled and realize that you'll never soar to greatness in your present situation.

In both cases, you need to stay alert for opportunities. In the first scenario, your search will be for opportunities that supercharge your success and achievement even more. In the second, you need to seek opportunities to change your status quo and align yourself with your purpose.

Daily practice: Stay alert for opportunities every day by putting the following into practice. And remember, even a tiny opportunity seized can lead to great things.

- Foster great relationships. Make sure you create and foster honest and open relationships with everyone in your life. Always try to give more than you receive. Your reward will be unlimited support and encouragement, as well as some surprising opportunities.

- Network. Create a network of like-minded high achievers and work to continuously expand it. Sometimes, it is about who you know – in a good way, of course. Always give great value to your network peers. Go above and beyond when it comes to providing support, information, and contacts. You'll be rewarded ten-fold as these people eagerly try to reciprocate your help and sincerity.

- Never stop learning. High achievers are continuously learning and growing. Make it a habit to learn new skills, languages or earn degrees and qualifications. They don’t need to be related to your career or field. In fact, the more diverse your self-improvement is, the more unexpected opportunities may come your way.

Habit #6: Develop invincible persistence

As a high achiever, you need to adopt the mantra 'failure is not an option'. This mindset breeds remarkable persistence. That's why high achievers are able to quickly bounce back from setbacks stronger than ever. That's also why they never give up.

This quality is more commonly known as 'grit’, a powerful combination of mental toughness, perseverance, resilience, and patience. Naturally, every high achiever possesses the quality of grit.

Daily practice: You can develop invincible persistence by tackling tough tasks and big projects as follows:

- Be inspired by people with grit. Steve Jobs, Stephen Hawking, and Oprah Winfrey are just a few examples of people who persevered against incredible odds. Read their stories and be inspired by their superhuman persistence - and their amazing achievements. Read about these people from time to time to maintain your own motivation and conviction that anything can be achieved.

- Raise your expectations. When faced with a challenging task, always expect it to be super hard. This will mentally prepare you to put in the time, effort, and patience as well as to expect challenges along the way. This may not always be the case. In fact, you may breeze through with outstanding results. But raising the bar equips you with mental toughness in case things don’t run smoothly.

- Give yourself enough time. In addition to raising the bar, don’t limit yourself with a tight timeframe (not always possible but whenever you can!). Plan well, think things through and give the task the time it deserves to become a success.

- Know your 'why'. Find a way to relate the task at hand to your vision. Ask yourself why you're doing this. Is it to enable you to switch to a career more aligned with your vision? Is it to earn enough to start making your vision a reality? Having a strong 'why' will give you the persistence to overcome any hurdle and to never give up.

Habit #7: Be a pro at decision-making

High achievers never suffer from decision fatigue. This is one of the big gains you can expect when you become a high achiever yourself. Decision fatigue means the perpetual inability to make timely and purposeful decisions. It's one of the most frustrating and stressful challenges you face on a day-to-day basis. It’s also a huge productivity and achievement-killer.

High achievers are pros at timely and effective decision-making. It's one of the core factors that enable them to keep the ball rolling, seize opportunities, outpace the competition, and skyrocket from one success to another.

Daily practice: Kick your habit of indecision with the following steps:

- Start small. Train yourself to make one or two quick decisions every day, ideally in less than a minute. This could be deciding what to wear to work, choosing between two food brands at the supermarket, or deciding what to order for lunch. Quickly weigh up the options and make a choice. This will speed up your thought process and decrease endless hesitation.

- Don't overload yourself with information. You don't need to pore over endless figures, statistics, or reports. Sometimes, information overload can lead to confusion and more hesitation. Decide beforehand what basic information you need to make the decision. For example, when buying a home appliance, you would need to have basic information such as pricing, functions, warranty, and customer reviews.

- Have a plan B. Control risk factors by always having a plan of action in case the decision doesn't achieve the intended outcome. Having a plan B decreases your fear of taking risks but also ensures that negative outcomes can be quickly and efficiently resolved.

- Trust your intuition. Sometimes, your gut feeling is so strong that you know your subconscious mind is trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it! If your gut feeling is sending you a barrage of red flags, you may need to rethink a decision or seek more information. If you get an extremely positive and uplifting feeling about something, go for it! This doesn't always happen with every decision you make but when it does, pay attention to your intuition.

Habit #8: Don't shy away from taking risks

The fear of taking risks is possibly the main reason that holds people back from becoming high achievers. High achievers don't exactly welcome risk with open arms, nor do they take hasty action despite their adventurous spirit. They understand that there's a risk factor in virtually anything and refuse to let that hold them back. They also understand that big achievements sometimes require taking big risks. You can also empower yourself to be mentally prepared to take risks and overcome your fear.

Daily practice:

- Plan well. Consider all the various outcomes of a decision or action and plan well once you opt for it. Do your due diligence, gather the information you need, and consult qualified sources. Then, go ahead knowing you've done your best.

- Have a risk management plan. Assess the risks and create a risk management plan to quickly get back on track and minimize loss.

- Identify the 'why'. This is another case when knowing your 'why' is a powerful tool that gives you the courage to act. The more your 'why' is aligned to your vision and purpose, the more willing you'll be to give it your best despite the risks.

- Reframe your fear. The best way to overcome a fear is to reframe or into something positive. When you're assessing risks, consider them as possible advantages. Rather than leading to a setback, or loss, consider the unseen opportunities that this could bring.

Habit #9: Prioritize priorities

We all have priorities that we either tackle with daily to-do lists as well as weekly or monthly schedules. The problem is that once we set those priorities, we think they're carved in stone. High achievers are keen on getting their priorities straight. The difference is that they're prepared for unexpected changes that could either change the order of priorities or require new ones altogether. Sometimes, the lowest priority on the list may become the highest.

Daily practice: Stay on top of your priorities to stay on track with your success journey by practicing the following:

- Set short-term and long-term priorities. Separate your priorities into daily, weekly, and monthly ones. This makes it easier to revisit and reassess them as needed.

- Assess regularly. Revisit your priorities lists regularly to see if anything has changed. For example, review your daily priorities each morning to make sure you've scheduled tasks accordingly and whether a changed deadline requires putting one priority before the other. Do the same with your weekly and monthly goals, making modifications if needed.

- Be flexible. Develop the mindset of flexibility when it comes to scheduling and setting priorities. Many of us subconsciously think that a schedule needs to be stuck to no matter what. But things are constantly changing and unexpected situations arise almost every day. A flexible mindset will ensure a less stressful day and train you to quickly adapt to changes.

Habit #10: Stay super healthy

The mindset of high achievers makes them naturally health conscious. They maintain their physical health by eating a nutritious diet and regular exercise. They make sure they get enough sleep and diligently de-stress. They also believe in the importance of strong mental health through relaxation and entertainment.

Great physical and mental health is essential for maintaining clarity, focus, and high energy levels - as well as boosting all the other qualities of high achievement.

Daily practice: In addition to having a good health routine in place, here are a few suggestions for daily habits that'll keep you in peak health:

- Start your day with water. Drink two big glasses of water as soon as you get up in the morning. If you've never tried it before, you'll be amazed at the difference in your energy level. These two glasses of water will give your body an instant charge-up that keeps you energized and focused. It will prevent energy crashes and mental fog as well.

- Take frequent breaks. Keep your posture healthy and refresh your brain by taking frequent breaks to stretch your legs and de-stress. A great idea is to take a 5-minute walk or run in place for a few minutes.

- Take a nap. Studies show that a deep 10-15-minute nap in the afternoon can be as refreshing as a full night's sleep. If you're feeling drained and have the luxury to do so, try this quick pick-me-up.

- Have a fruit smoothie. When that craving for sugar hits you, have a smoothie containing an assortment of your favorite fruits. It'll satisfy your sweet tooth and give you a super energy boost as well.

- Stay active. Apart from your routine exercise program, find ways to stay active during the day. Walk rather than drive when you can, take the stairs or walk to a local park during lunch breaks.

Conclusion

Turning practice into habits

For these 10 practices to become life-changing, you need to grow them into full-fledged habits. The only way to do that is with consistent practice. Practicing them on and off is not going to develop the mindset of a super achiever. But consistent daily practice will rewire your brain to slowly ingrain them in you.

You can start small with one or two that you practice daily until you find them coming naturally to you. Then you can add two more and so on until all these practices become powerful habits – and part of your new life as a high achiever. Finally, now that you've read this book, ask yourself again, what does a super-achiever have that you don't? Your answer should be a resounding 'absolutely nothing'!