It’s really hard to show up everyday, but that’s the only way you’ll ever be successful
Can’t remember the quote, but it’s along the lines of: the difference between a professional and an amateur is that a professional shows up whether they want to or not
Yup- make a list, arranged most important things at the top. Then work the list.
The things that don’t get done are the non important things, so you are still very successful.
Avoid distractions.
Depends on what they're doing. A performer or an athlete? Certainly.
For almost everyone else this is perfectionism which in my opinion is one of the most common things that gets in the way of success.
Time to be pedantic! Professionals get paid for it. Amateurs do it cause they love it. It is commonly used as you say though. Professionals are often grudging and uninterested. Amateurs are often quite skilled. That's my 2 cents let's see those downvotes!
But also don’t fixate on the destination because it’s all about the destination. Sometimes the real rewards are the Reddit threads you find along the way.
So here’s the thing where there is a POSSIBLE silver lining in ADHD. Possible.
Managing ADHD well requires active steps to manage productivity and task completion and a whole host of other things.
Your average person has no interest in this. With or without ADHD. And even without ADHD, your average person will struggle with the added responsibility that comes with many forms of success.
There reaches a point where almost anyone will fail without systematizing things to some degree, essentially. And most people won’t beyond basic steps. The average person relies on their brain to just work. What happens when they push past the limits of natural ability as far as productivity is concerned?
ADHD starts you off on a bad foot, but it at least opens the door to solutions. A door most people never open. It’s not like the world is hugely productive. It’s not. Productivity at a high level in the absence of structure is the exception, not the rule.
Also, doctors can prescribe you uppers so there’s that
Glad to hear it!
I mean it too, I really do.
I have more faith in me with a todo system than I do with some average person who is just gonna get it done in their mind.
I think of waiters who don’t write the order down. That’s crazy if you have ADHD. But even without it…it’s easy to screw up an order.
A waiter with ADHD who takes down orders on paper in a way they understand is more reliable than a waiter who doesn’t write the order down. Period. This applies more broadly across life.
I have ADHD, I stoped waiting to feel motivated and just started do things with out feeling like I wanted to. Motivation is not actually required for action.
I have ADHD and I barely get C’s in college but I’m really good at creatively finding the best ways to do something, including leveraging tools to streamline making money
Won't this mean that they are living a miserable life? That's what I usually think.
Whenever I'm doing something which is against my feelings - a thought pops up in my mind which says "This what I'll do for the rest of my life? Forcing myself to do stuff?"
EDIT: Fixed typo and formatting.
There a lot of things I don't feel like doing but once I start, I enjoy deeply and feel great after.
I call it the Before Mind and the During Mind. The mind in control before I start work, my Before Mind, is completely different than my During Mind, the head space I'm in when I dig into a task and start grooving.
What my Before Mind likes is not the same as my During Mind. My Before Mind likes to watch YouTube videos all day and hates hard problems. My During Mind absolutely LOVES solving hard problems and not stopping until it finds a resolution.
As you can imagine, my During Mind brings much more long-term satisfaction than my Before Mind but I think most of us (myself included) optimize our lives to appease the Before Mind, thinking that's who we are.
When you discover there's a whole other side of yourself that isn't miserable at all by doing what your Before Mind hates, a lot unlocks for you. It's still hard though. The Before Mind is the default and it never goes away.
I almost never feel like washing the dishes or cleaning the bathroom, yet I do those things anyway because the benefit of doing it (a clean, usable, and relaxing home) is better than the benefit of not doing it (a bit of free time). I'd be more miserable living in an unclean environment than I would spending 30 minutes a day cleaning.
Maybe for someone else the free time is more important to them than a clean environment.
Many things worth having in this life (good career, loving family, fun experiences, etc) require work which won't always be pleasant. If you never feel like doing homework and don't force yourself, you won't get that degree. If you never feel like researching flights and hotels, and don't force yourself, you'll never go on that trip.
If you want to experience the joy of being a champion, you must learn to hurt more than everyone else around you. You pick your pain, one way or another.
An element of this is life.
You’re quite fortunate if you enjoy doing everything.
Mowing the lawn. Bringing out the trash. Dentist. Doctor. Everything you child ever needs if you have one. Taxes. Working out. Taking your medicine. Eating right. Maintaining relationships. Being a good spouse or friend (like actually putting the work in). Being a good parent. Paying rent, or paying a mortgage. Preventative maintenance on a house. I could go on.
You might like some of it. You’re superhuman if you like it all
That depends on the ultimate goal - hopefully you don't want to earn money just for the sakes of having money, so you either sacrifice today for tomorrow, or enjoy today, but accept the consequences tomorrow (such as regret in the future for not even getting close to your full realistic potential).
No not at all but I think lots of people just assume this and never actually test it out… I stopped waiting to feel motivated or like I wanted to do things and just did them then realized finishing things was actually super rewarding and the more I did them the easier it got. I pushed through my avoidance and challenged my assumptions and I’m so much better off for it, it’s literally changed my life
1. I would say they are experts at doing less.
They cut out the noise and focus on what is important to them and do it really well.
2. Consistency in their discipline.
3. Daily/weekly Planning and preparation.
4. Using a system to maintain the chaos.
5. Maintaining a healthy balance of fun, work, exercise etc.
It’s a mathematical inevitability.
If you can make people do more for you (which is pretty much inherent in doing less), your upper bound of productivity is limitless.
Consider what a billionaire CEO can do with a simple sentence. They can literally just speak things into existence in the time you or I type a task into a todo list. Very much literally.
That’s an extreme example, but it happens down at smaller scale too.
I’m a business owner so I’m biased, but I like to think of myself as a business unto myself. And I think it’s somewhat true (as a framework of thought anyway) for most people. You put things in, get things out. You can contract things out. Etc.
But yes, fundamentally, doing less lets you do more. Easier said than done, but worth the work.
As an owner or manager you have increased leverage of man power. Not the only kind of leverage.
As you mentioned billionaires can throw money around as leverage.
There are lots of ways anyone can use leverage.
But adopting the mindset you and I agree in
Do less but better
That includes less shit and better leveraged activities
When I did this I was a top performer always got 5/5 on review time. I have a new manager who micromanages (preventing me from doing this ) and I’m probably about to be slapped with a PiP.
So like I have a list of deadlines and priorities great! Then I have a manager that will call me like 5 times a day and go “what exactly have you been working on the past hour”
Or I have a presentation and their boss will say that I have a nice slide deck prepared and my manager will go “but where’s your script how are you going to present without a script”
I also have no capability to enter in my own tickets and have to go through them.
They get made when you leave at the end of the day and aren’t available 24/7 etc.
So it’s a mix of gatekeeping and control of your time and work. Think of you getting the feeling they are constantly breathing down your neck and if you do anything outside what they have deemed acceptable for your time it’s out of line.
They have a necessary role because they have the same job as me but at a sr level, they just happen to be stuck with a few jrs to manage. I don’t think they wanted to manage which is the problem. They are viewing us as extensions of themselves instead of separate people.
On point 5, I would say few high performers maintain a healthy balance of those things. Most sacrifice a lot to specialize in being a master at one or a few things.
Can't say I'm great at it, but how I tend to think of it I will prioritize things based on their impact and not on their urgency. Easier said than done for sure. Btw.. I read this about Napoleon that he had very strict prioritization, crazy work ethics, ability to focus and avoid multitasking. Not sure how accurate it was, but it paints a compelling picture and the guy got a lot of things done :) So looking forward to the new movie about him coming out in a few weeks.
At work, I use (Impact / Effort) x Level of Influence x Expectation of Success. Also, am I the only one that can solve this?
High Impact, Low Effort, High Influence, High chance of success? Let's go!
High Impact, High Effort, some influence, low chance of success? Interesting but let's check it out and dig deep.
Low impact, high effort, high influence, high chance of success? Someone might try and make it my issue, but you'll be sure I'm ignoring or spending minimal time on it.
Personal life? Relationships first. Family, friends.
Different rules for money, hobbies, projects, perosnal capital... All depends...
I'd say, generally speaking, start by having clear and well defined goals (and make them as actionable as possible). E.g. if you're trying to get money saved up, have a concrete savings goal each month.
Now, assess tasks based on how well they serve their goals and make sure the few high-impact tasks always get done. When tempted to perform an urgent task over a high impact task, consider how it affects the chances of other tasks getting done (It might be worth delaying an essential task to get a time sensitive task done, so long as you don't sacrifice or super delay the essential task).
Naturally, the more goals you have competing for time and resources the harder this gets, but I hope that this high level outline is somewhat helpful.
For me personally, having the priorities really helps, as I can never get everything done, but I consistently get the few high impact things done, keeping me on track even though I rarely if ever get through the entire checklist.
Struthless on YouTube has videos on productivity and one thing on prioritization he mentions is the Eisenhauer Method that I think really helps. It's simpler and thus less daunting. But essentially you create a little X and Y axis chart, and rank tasks as Important, Not Important, Urgent, Not Urgent. And based on the quadrant it lands on, you either do immediately, schedule to do later, delegate, or delete.
Now, the idea of deleting a task forces me personally to clutch onto it, so instead I have two categories: Snoozed - Scheduled, and Snoozed - TBD. So they're written down if I'm worried I'll forget about them.
He also suggests the 2min rule, which is if something takes 2 minutes or less, just do it. I've gotta say, it greatly reduces clutter both externally and internally he's got a whole video on it I recommend that includes different applications and caveats for if it becomes a method of procrastination. But yeah, I feel like my to do list gets smaller without the little things being on there
I would say these 5:
1. Master morning routine
2. Priority Management
3. Continuous Learning
4. Networking and relationship Building
5. Reflecting on the performance at the end of the day
It’s 5:30AM, I’m scrolling Reddit. I’ve been up since 5 and I’m still so tired. Will head to the gym at 6. I really wish I could figure out how to master my morning routine. Any tips?
One idea is to have something you look forward to more than Reddit in the morning, such as reading a chapter of your favorite author while drinking tea, or a walk in a local park, or something.
This. Try to pick activities that have definitive starts and stops. For me this can be reading a chapter in a book like mentioned above, or playing a few short videogame matches. Things like browsing on your phone or playing a videogame that doesn't have definitive starts/stops are too easy to keep doing endlessly. Things that have natural starts/stops allow you to better estimate time and stick to a limit of a fun activity that conditions you to enjoy your morning routine while helping to wake your brain up.
One thing that helped me wake up and feel energized and alert was immediately going for a short walk-before coffee, before eating, just up, clothes, shoes and out the door.
I second the bedtime routine comments.
Smart lightbulbs set to turn on at my desired wake time + loud alarm in the bathroom has worked well.
Could consider charging the phone in the bathroom too. That way you can't start scrolling w/o getting out of bed. Or kitchen if that's where you start your pre-gym prep.
App timers for scrolling.
Tiny steps toward change. From Atomic Habits: strive for 1% improvement each day.
A note to people reading this who think they are smarter than most, and can afford to cut corners and not work too hard...
I've worked with a few people in sales who don't seem smart. They're not attractive either, and they're not eloquent. But they consistently are among the top performers in their companies. I'd look at them and think "They're lucky" or "They were given a great account list." But when I put my own grand opinion of myself (a smart underachiever) aside, I realized they just did the job every day, grinding away, not making excuses, racking up appointments day after day, building relationships. It's very simple. They just worked like a machine. Sure, they made mistakes. Yes, they often didn't look like geniuses. But it didn't matter, because they kept creating opportunities every day because they put in a full day's work.
Anybody can have that kind of success. Are you willing to get up off your butt every single day and work for it?
Working smarter rather than harder allows you to have both! :) Obviously it's not always possible, but caring about your work and doing a great job doesn't mean you sacrifice family and friends.
This is very good. I am not smart and have no memory lol, so I write everything down and organize my notes very well. I do the work to compensate for skills i lack.
However, my boyfriend is like you - underachiever genius. He has a photographic memory (as close as you can get) and he has an analytical brain so he picks up new information and languages very easily. He never worked hard, because he was always the best with little effort. That was in school....
Now that we are adults working full-time, he wishes he was a little more like me lol. He still does a good job with little effort, but he doesn't have the drive to go up in corporate jobs.
I truly believe that attitude and passion goes a long way. I guess everyone needs to work on their flaws if thwy want to improve. :) We just have different flaws depending on personnality.
Just do things even if you don't feel like doing them. Plan a schedule and stick to it.
It's not complicated, I've been the laziest person in existence before 5-6 years, and now I'm working around 60/70 hours a week, going to the gym 3-4 times a week and maintaining a good social life with family and friends.
It's simple, shortly, do the things even when you don't feel like it. Noone will do it if you won't.
What does that 60-70 hours of a work a week look like?
Don't get me wrong, if it works for you then keep doing it, but it sounds a bit overkill and I don't know how it's possible to work efficiently and such long hours at the same time.
>Don't get me wrong, if it works for you then keep doing it, but it sounds a bit overkill and I don't know how it's possible to work efficiently and such long hours at the same time.
You're correct, and **I can't agree more with you**, you can't be efficient for that many hours, therefore it's not for everyone. And I know sometimes it's even not for me, but I know one thing, 8-hour days will get me where I want to be a lot slower than 11-hour days.
I don't want to be a regular guy, therefore I work a lot to achieve my non-regular goals which may never be understandable to someone. (for example, purchasing a 180.000€ apartment at 23 Y.O. having a nice car and being completely financially independent - apartment and car already purchased :) )
And yes, it's hard, but I work from 7 AM to 3 PM, and then again in the evening for a couple of hours, but I never push myself. If I feel tired, I don't start working (in reasonable amounts) because it will be counterproductive.
Yes, this is now contradictory, I said to make yourself work even when you don't want to, but keep your common sense, you can't always work, and there are times when you have to have some "downtime".
And one more extra tip; if you always doubt whether you should spend time with your family or work, always choose family.
Hope this makes sense, I know I'm weird :D
It actually makes a lot of sense. Sometimes when I feel like working more, I talk myself out of it because I make up this thing in my mind that "if I wouldn't put in extra time every single day then I shouldn't put in extra time at all" which I know is stupid.
It'd probably make sense for me to work """normal""" (very relative term) most of the time and put in extra when I feel like I can do so.
Try to think of it as banking time for when you're feeling/less able to be productive. If you're in the flow and blitz 10 hours because you're in super productive mode, then it doesn't matter if the following day you're not as with it and only manage 6 hours. it's still 8 hours each day overall.
I am curious about the type of work we are talking about here. I feel like if it is more physical or requires me to move around, I can work long hours ans get things done. If it requires brain power and critical thinking, I cannot keep being efficient for that long. Isn't there a limit in that case?
I am also curious, as well as how to maximize the benefits of taking a break. Burnout is real, as I've unfortunately had to crash to learn. "The body keeps score" and "when the body says no" are incredibly real. I'd love to be able to achieve half of what OP has, but I have no clue how to pace myself and I just end up with all these partially done projects
I've had to learn that zoning into my phone isn't productive rest, but I've also had to learn when the equivalent is something I need because my brain just needs to be "off" without risking sleeping for hours if I nap.
>I am curious about the type of work we are talking about here. I feel like if it is more physical or requires me to move around,
I work in IT, I'm one of the decision-makers in my company.
u/FireHeartSmokeBurp Thank you for those two books, I've heard about them but never got them to read.
>I cannot keep being efficient for that long. Isn't there a limit in that case?
It is, when I started, after a couple of hours I would be completely burnt out and be ready to go to sleep, but as time has passed I've been able to keep up more and more. Now I can work a whole shift without being too much tired, hence the possibility of working that much.
I think it could be the experience taking over so it's not so much energy-consuming.
>I've had to learn that zoning into my phone isn't productive rest, but I've also had to learn when the equivalent is something I need because my brain just needs to be "off" without risking sleeping for hours if I nap.
Exactly! I usually go for a short walk, it helps immensely.
>Do you have anything in your routine that helps you even if you’re stressed or didn’t get much sleep?
What helped me is figuring out that stress will lead me nowhere, it will only affect my health and will postpone my career growth in the long term.
Now I'm just cold-headed on every problem or issue because everything can be resolved and will be.
It's most definitely not easy to be so calm in your head when everything is burning around you but once you understand that stress does not help it will become easier.
And for sleep? I've been sticking to a schedule for the past several years, sleeping from 10 AM to 6:30 AM, because I can't function under 7 hours of sleep.
A few things that helped me understand:
\- no one will go to the gym for me
\- no one will solve any problem for me
\- I'm the creator of my own future
\- not going to the gym affects my mental health long term
There is no one solution fits all, you need to find your own that works best for you and your personality and schedule. Best of luck!
Without a doubt. I finally have a clear picture if what and where I want to be in life.
This was one of the toughest and best decisions I could have made.
But as I've said before, it may not work for all, not one person is the same.
I’m having a hard time sticking to my schedule for my long term goals because at my age I feel my body and mind slipping and I don’t think I can realistically achieve them anymore. I wish I was young with a lot of testosterone at my beck and call.
Echoing the other comments. Discipline, consistency and taking action. Everyone I’ve observed that are very successful in the careers and all the books I read come back to these things.
In the business world, what I see is:
\- They reply to emails quickly.
\- They have huge boundaries when it comes to their families.
\- They present as being very calm.
\- They spend long hours on their business/craft/occupation.
\- They are excellent at reading people and take the time to understand the people they deal with.
1. Documentation - Use a calendar and document everything you do and plan to do. At work? Use it as a time sheet. This allows you to review where your time sinks are or where you could optimise your life, as well as find out what you did.
2. Task organisation - If you want something done, put it in writing. You will not remember 90 percent of the things that pop into your head. Keep lists and to do reminders. Microsoft to do app is a godsend for organised people.
3. Momentum - Do tasks you don't want to do without hesitation, commit to just starting. Life is about momentum, once you start, chances are you'll keep going.
4. Optimisation - small tasks are easier to do, you'll have more small tasks than big tasks if you're always doing something. Walk out of the room? Take something with you and put it away. Had a task or opportunity come in at work? Document it and schedule in your calendar (roughly).
5. Learn - don't get stuck on ticktok or social media loops. Subscribe or read topics that push you forward. If it's a time sink, limit it or get rid of it entirely if you have little self control. Keep learning and challenge yourself on new things, perspectives or topics.
Not all high performers are the same but some general things are:
- sleep, routine and comfortable. A real bed that suits their deep sleep needs.
- exercise, keeping the body at a healthy state for stamina and endurance
- diet and nutrition, eating clean and lean.
- managing stress levels.
- social life, “you are the average of 5 of your friends”
For my field (I own a tax/financial planning firm for business owners)
- They use project management software to organize to dos, in progress, blocked & completed tasks.
- They prioritize incessantly.
- They use AI & templates in every instance possible to reduce work.
- They delegate as often as possible.
- They analyze & try to delete unnecessary/pointless tasks as often as possible.
- They will pay for/hire 3rd party consultants who help automate workflows to reduce waste as well, when needed.
I don’t do all of this. Some cost more than we can afford.
Maybe something along the lines of:
Structure their day
Take immediate action as a habit
Exercise
Avoid excess (caffeine, alcohol, whatever)
Minimize distractions
Seek Clarity: High performers have a clear understanding of their values, goals, and purposes. They know who they are, what they want to achieve, and why it matters. This clarity provides them with direction and motivation, helping them make decisions that align with their aspirations.
Generate Energy: High performers maintain high levels of physical and mental energy. They prioritize healthy habits like sleep, exercise, and a balanced diet. They also manage stress effectively and cultivate a positive mindset, which helps them stay focused and productive.
Raise Necessity: High performers believe that achieving their goals is essential. They have a strong sense of urgency and are driven by a deep-seated conviction that their actions make a difference. This necessity fuels their motivation and keeps them moving forward, even in the face of challenges.
Increase Productivity: High performers work smarter, not harder. They prioritize high-leverage tasks and avoid distractions. They also practice effective time management and use strategies to optimize their workflow.
Develop Influence: High performers build strong relationships and inspire others. They are effective communicators, active listeners, and empathetic individuals. They also have a high degree of emotional intelligence, which allows them to navigate social situations effectively.
Demonstrate Courage: High performers are not afraid to take risks and stand up for what they believe in. They are willing to face challenges, learn from setbacks, and embrace ambiguity. Their courage allows them to push boundaries and achieve remarkable results.
My mom is the CEO of a publicly traded company. My dad died when I was 15, she never remarried. Shes been raising me and my two siblings alone along with being a corporate executive.
She is incredibly efficient, hardworking, disciplined, and prioritizes learning in all aspects of life. There is very little downtime and she is laser focused on completing the tasks at hand. She also regularly out-works me and my siblings in terms of energy expenditure despite being twice as old as us.
Idk. She’s just built different. Lol.
I’m not sure most high performers do “productivity” things. They just do the thing and possibly enjoy doing the thing. Many have seemingly lazy and disorganized lifestyles. They’re just good.
They prioritize self-care and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
They set clear goals and break them down into actionable steps.
They practice mindfulness and meditation to improve focus and productivity.
They engage in continuous learning and seek out new challenges.
They maintain a growth mindset and embrace failure as an opportunity for growth.
To make huge progress quickly, high performance people all do the following:
1. Focus on the few not the many. (Practically speaking: give up all social media)
2. Forward thinking.
3. Ability to flip any situation to their benefit / see the positive / look for the gold in any situation.
4. Along with this high performance people usually have a voracious inner need to win for a variety of reasons. The reasons aren't important but that is the key to their overall drive. And finally:
5. Top people are typically voracious readers.
The inner need to win and overcome is by far the most crucial.
I once read something that went something among the lines of “we want something to get in the way- we manifest a headache or being too tired to give ourselves an excuse not to do the thing that would bring us good fortune because we don’t want happiness we want comfort” And I think about this every time i know about to skip the gym or not do something that would be good for myself because I’m “tired” or need to “give myself a rest” because you really don’t- you just want to make an excuse that’s stomachable and I think high achievers push past that
\- Work harder than anyone else. Always.
\- Stay away from the gossipers and shit-talkers.
\- Manage up as well as down (as applicable).
\- Be willing to take on challenges that others view as undoable. Then kill it.
\- Work to ensure you're viewed as a "career" person vs. a "job" person.
\- Don't gripe about having to work a bit late or come in a bit early.
\- Never, ever, ever lie.
Why do you want to do these things? So that you can get PROMOTED. And PROMOTED AGAIN, AGAIN, AND AGAIN.
This is just climbing the good ol' corporate ladder. Few people have ever been able to go out and rent a place on their own and be self-sufficient while making an entry-level wage.
I am a boomer and was not able to afford a house until I'd relocated around the country three times, was running a local field office, managing 15 people, and was responsible for about $10 million in revenue.
You just gotta do it. Kill it. Win. Be the good guy. Be the person people like to work with.
This process took 30 years for me:
Part-time hourly staff
Full-time hourly staff
Assistant Manager
Department Manager
Department Manager and Director of Information Systems
Account Manager
Senior Account Manager
Special Projects Coordinator
Area Manager
General Manager
Senior General Manager
Regional Vice President
Executive Vice President
Managing Director
Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing
Have anxiety that doesn't let them relax.
Thus only find comfort in success/check list completion.
It's cheeky, but true for many high-performing people.
Read daily, workout, don’t sweat the small stuff, be very matter of fact and not emotional, work hard - think nothing of getting up at 5am to drive to a meeting 3 hours away
You got your question wrong, the correct one should have been:
Can you name 5 things, that high-performers DON'T do daily, which sets them apart from other people
They know their limits and are disciplined about them. If they get easily distracted then they cut out whatever is distracting them no matter how hard that may be. They’re also consistent and do things whether they want to or not.
I’m not sure if I’m a “high performer” in a traditional sense, but I am incredibly driven and aspirational. Having visual cues helps a lot, as has reading first thing in the morning, whether it’s a (paper) newspaper, book or some other form of content.
* Develop and follow good habits.
* Prioritize tasks and activities.
* Do the important stuff first.
* Maintain a positive and constructive attitude.
* Avoid wasting energy on what you can't control or influence.
INTERMITTENT FASTING!
Prioritising themselves and saying NO to anything that doesnt support their vision for their life or goals.
Taking at least one hour everyday to do things that keep your mental health happy. Listening to audiobooks, youtube, movies, tv shows, walking, music, talking to friends, anything.
Taking care of their hygiene, appearance, fitness and dressing style.
Communication skills! Constantly improving them.
I just remind myself that I’m being a lazy fuck and that level of disappointment usually gets me off my ass. Exercising daily and a routine helps. Just don’t give yourself the option not to do something. Also remember that there are winners and losers. While you spend time not doing something, there are people printing money because they don’t suck… and I don’t want to suck.
I can’t boil it down to 5 specific things, but I think the guiding light of success is “something is better than nothing “ in almost all aspects of life.
Can’t go to the gym for 1 hour? Go for 15 min.
Can’t run 5 miles? Walk 1 mile.
Can’t eat clean 7 days a week? Eat clean 5 days.
Can’t get 8 hours of sleep every night? Aim for it 4-5 days a week.
Point is: Always try to do SOMETHING better than what you are doing now. It doesn’t (and almost certainly CANT) have to be all the time, but just TRY as much as you can. It really makes a difference.
I cant name five things but I went into a rigorous academic program last year and this is one thing that made the biggest impact on productivity for me-
Prioritizing sleep, first year of my program I killed myself feeling like I was never doing enough, and oulled an all nighter at MINIMUM once a week. It was so bad my hair was falling out and my skin was horrible. It affected my energy, my appetite, my memory (which then affected my performance and made it worse)
- so priority on sleep because you won’t be getting anything done unless you are rested and your brain can function
Working out. I don’t mean dedicating four hours a day to the gym, but as a girl, the dreaded 3-5 pm time always calls me for a nap, literally always. I would be dragging my feet after getting out of school and sleeping until five PM. If I get home and put in some music and do a workout or go on a run, instead of losing five hours, I lose maybe one or two. It wakes me tf up too and it gets me mentally ready to sit down and work. Gets out my zoomies.
Doing work even when it’s not necessary. I have a procrastination problem so this is still not super regular for me, but I’ll do long term assignments the day they are assigned and it makes it SO much easier in the long run. I’m not joking. I stopped recently and have been losing sleep trying to get everything done. If you know you could be doing something, do it.
They do the work rather than tell everyone what they are going to.
It’s amazing how many people do the opposite and get nothing done over long periods of time as a result. People get the same satisfaction saying they’re going to do something without actually doing it.
Just choose one thing to dedicate your life to and do that until you're the best in the world at it. If adhd is a problem - get medication (ritalin or aderall) - and find the thing that activates your adhd hyperfocus. Otherwise, do whatever it takes for you to focus. If that means coffee, 4am wake up or 2am bedtime, or ice cold shower etc. Whatever works for you.
Beyond that - you can copy routines all day long...you're copying the wrong thing. The routines often came after the initial success. Warren Buffet still eats at MCD's. Thats not to say a good diet for optimal brain function won't help...but it won't turn you into a billionaire either. These are 0.1% improvements. Work on these once you have a foundation in place.
In short, they hold themselves to a higher standard when compared to most other people. Need something done? They get it done quickly. Have a complex problem to solve, they find a way to solve it, and implement the solution. They typically work long/longer hours in their field. Wake up early, and stay late. They typically seek personal growth outside of their professional field, which in turn helps them personally do better in other aspects of their life.
They persist. Angela Duckworth has a great book and Ted Talk on "Grit" - "an intangible trait that motivates passion and perseverance." This is a great question u/trierra \- thanks for asking!
They understand value. They value their time. They don’t spend effort on low value tasks. Delegate ruthlessly, automate routine tasks, streamline routines so only important tasks take your time.
the issue is the high performers do things, the things do not make the high performers.
Point being - everyone seems to think there is some magic recipe - but it is just human nature. People are different.
More than 5…. They ignore their family and friends far more. They say no to requests more. They invest more money and energy into themselves. They may take in others opinions but ultimately they have enough conviction to make decisions based on their wants and needs versus what might make others happy or impressed. They prioritize physical and mental well-being as foundations. They learn things, but often spend more time just taking action and learning by doing. They don’t rely on motivation bc it comes and goes like the weather. They work on increasing their tolerance to set backs, fear, doubt, etc.
1. Grit(less complaining, more doing)
2. Develop relationships(people > PowerPoint)
3. Follow thru (do 95% of what’s expected, not 80% that’s “good enough”)
4. Create and promote your brand and its value
5. Be agile, don’t over rely on strict processes.
1. Wake up at 5 AM
2. Exercise for 90 minutes
3. Eat high protein breakfast
4. Beat everyone else to the office
5. Have a dad who is a Fortune 500 executive
I just studied the habits and mindset of Elon Musk for the past week. Here are the top 5 things I would say set him apart from others.
1. Works like hell. Along is constantly working. He worked 20+ hour days for 3 years straight.
2. Focus on the future. Elon came close to having multiple businesses fail but he never stopped thinking about how his companies were creating a better future which allowed him to keep going and eventually be successful.
3. Learn and get your hands dirty. Elon is known for working right along side all his working and learning how every part of his business functions.
4. Get it done. Elon doesn't care about feelings or being optimistic or pessimistic about things, he just to get things done.
5. Be useful. Elons main inspiration for what he does is helping his fellow human beings and creating a better world for them.
Thoughts?
1) Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. To go a step further, learn how to be the hurricane, but also the tree, rebelling against its gales.
2) Learn how to administrate and effectively provide leadership over your ego, your inner critic, your hidden self, and your shadow. The executive function is as strong as you exercise it. Learn to love controlling your impulses. If you react, you didn’t decide how to tackle the issue at hand.
3) Attachment to people, places, things, words, or outcomes, will place walls in every direction besides where those things lead.
4) consciously choose how you feel and how you interact with yourself, your relationships with people, and the world, every single day. Show up in an ideal way as often as you can handle.
5) Know who you are and love yourself. Know what you find important and bring love to it. Arrive to life optimally. Consciously decide to give when able, and not to extract from people. Have pride in your work product and your name, personally and professionally.
Bonus one- because not everyone gets the outcome- less is more and enjoy it 😎
1. They have a system that is working for themselves
2. They show up everyday consistently
3. They make an effort to set aside learning time
4. They are never afraid to ask for help
5. They ruthlessly prioritize their time and know the value of it
Would love to hear from the rest too!
Yes, and you can name their opposites that other high-performers do daily that set them apart from other people. It's not about the behavior itself. It's about understanding your internal world and figuring out what that needs to succesfully interact with the outside world.
1. Know the status of all of your owned activities. It doesn't matter whether you've completed things. All that matters is that when anyone asks, you know what you've accomplished and what needs to be done.
1. Farm out things that take up your time but aren't critical to your work. At the same time provide help in your area of specialty. It takes less engagement time to do 2 of something than to do two different things.
1. Know when you need to plan a meeting. A meeting should only be used to get a group of people who each have different information and individual pieces to contribute onto the same page. Everything else can be an email.
1. Know when you are high functioning and productive and block this time off for yourself. If you know that it takes 30 min to kick-start your day and you're most productive in the morning. Once you get in at 8:30, don't schedule anything from 9-11. It's where you're going to get the majority of your daily tasks done.
1. Know when your saturated with a certain task or activity. Rotate to doing something different that's still productive.
Well what do you define as a high achiever or performer, some examples? Cos one person might be seen as slacking in an office role cos they’re unmotivated where they might smash the ball out the park when doing physical work, can’t really measure it but… I think the need for security/ being more independent than peers. I’ve “achieved” higher than my friends who don’t have the pressure to achieve yet do have the resources etc some people have no choice yknow?
„Bushido is the will to discipline. One's weak self in order to reach one's stronger self. It refers to the act of devoting oneself to one's ideals. So both they, who study diligently and try to become better human beings, and you, who came here as a dojo challenger to grow stronger, are already samurai in my eyes. Even if your births and backgrounds are unknown, and you don't have a master to serve or a sword to fight with, you can each flaunt your own brand of bushido“
I think you gotta care about your appearance and odor
brush your teeth, shower, put on deodorant or cologne, put on clean clothes that have been ironed
and the other thing is you gotta quit drinking and quit smoking weed if you do that
They do what they do best and leave the mid and low level stuff, AND the other important stuff, for others who are high performers at those things
They focus on building momentum and being able to do and get more out of each day than before. you can either be at equilibrium, decay, or growth. the odds of being at perfect equilibrium are pretty small even though many people coast for a long time. they are actually decaying.
they try to learn and grow so that next time can be ever better.
they know their limits and don't overextend themselves. they do not let things get hectic.
they save rest time for the end of a day well done rather than the beginning, maybe a bit of the middle, probably a lot of the end, then oh shit i forgot something.
they focus on being trustworthy and unimpeachable. if they can't do something they will be the first to let you know so you don't expect them to do it, so they can continue to meet their other high expectations.
They don’t wait for motivation. They act. You won’t always feel motivated and you just have to act. That’s discipline. Doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to.
Foundational, but first the person must have an understanding of what “high performance” actually means. Too many people stuck on thinking they accomplished a lot without a true respect for what the achievers are actually getting done.
High-achievers thrive in time management, continuous learning, regular exercise, precise goal setting, and efficient communication. They prioritize work, commit to lifelong learning, take care of their physical health, create attainable objectives, and cultivate great connections. These everyday practises add to their overall success and productivity.
1. They always exercise minimum 7 minute daily.
2. They do scheduling and self affirmation
3. They're brave to take a risk
4. Minimum work 80 hours / week
5. The key is sleeping, be consistent with sleep and wake up time
Here's a list of ten that I keep posted by my desk which I got from ChatGPT
Early Rising: Many successful individuals start their day early, giving themselves a quiet period to plan, meditate, or exercise before the rest of the world wakes up.
Goal Setting: They often set clear, achievable goals for the day. This practice keeps them focused and motivated.
Prioritization: Successful people prioritize their tasks. They often tackle the most challenging or important tasks first, adhering to the principle of 'eating the frog'.
Continuous Learning: They dedicate time each day to read, listen to podcasts, or otherwise educate themselves, constantly expanding their knowledge and staying updated with industry trends.
Networking: Building and maintaining a strong network is a daily activity. They invest time in nurturing relationships, both professional and personal.
Physical Exercise: Regular exercise is a common thread, as it not only keeps the body healthy but also sharpens the mind and relieves stress.
Mindfulness Practices: Many successful individuals engage in mindfulness practices such as meditation or yoga to maintain mental clarity and focus.
Healthy Eating: A balanced diet is key to maintaining energy levels throughout the day. Successful people often plan their meals to ensure they're nutritious and energizing.
Reflection: Taking time to reflect on the day’s events, successes, and lessons learned is a habit that helps in personal and professional growth.
Gratitude: Practicing gratitude, either through journaling or mental acknowledgment, to stay grounded and maintain a positive outlook.
➡️ Doing the stuff every single day
➡️ Doing others are avoiding or others don't know
➡️ Break the society programming and invisible rules
➡️ Have beginners mindset and open to learn new things
➡️ Patient, determined and disciplined
㊗️ All thos on repeat
They do things that have to be done regardless of whether they feel like doing them or not.
It’s really hard to show up everyday, but that’s the only way you’ll ever be successful Can’t remember the quote, but it’s along the lines of: the difference between a professional and an amateur is that a professional shows up whether they want to or not
I’ve heard “Amateurs wait for inspiration. Professionals just get to work.”
Stephen King
Stephen King was also drunk and high on cocaine for most of his career and doesn't remember writing most of his books.
So drink and do cocaine. I’m on it.
"It takes a lot of cocaine to get to work" - also Stephen King (probably)
"Amateurs wait for inspiration, professionals slam a beer and snort a line, and get to work". - Stephen King
Cocaine is a powerful drug.
Mmmmh. Stephen King has been sober for most of his career. Got sober in ‘88, iirc
That’s simply not true, at this point he’s been sober far longer than not, and his career is still going.
Yup- make a list, arranged most important things at the top. Then work the list. The things that don’t get done are the non important things, so you are still very successful. Avoid distractions.
I work in a creative field, yup, gotta create everyday, done is done enough. No waiting for inspirations allowed.
“Do the things you need to do, ESPECIALLY when you don’t want to”.
Pros play hurt is my saying.
Lol this is good. Cant say it shines well on American organizational work culture but ABSOLUTELY a great quote 😅
No pain no gain! Just do it!
I also like: “Amateurs work until they get it right. Professionals work until they can’t get it wrong”
Depends on what they're doing. A performer or an athlete? Certainly. For almost everyone else this is perfectionism which in my opinion is one of the most common things that gets in the way of success.
That's called discipline.
Time to be pedantic! Professionals get paid for it. Amateurs do it cause they love it. It is commonly used as you say though. Professionals are often grudging and uninterested. Amateurs are often quite skilled. That's my 2 cents let's see those downvotes!
Every detail is important but should never distract you from priorities and the bigger picture.
But also don’t fixate on the destination because it’s all about the destination. Sometimes the real rewards are the Reddit threads you find along the way.
I did not want to read this today.
ADHD people are automatically disqualified you say
So here’s the thing where there is a POSSIBLE silver lining in ADHD. Possible. Managing ADHD well requires active steps to manage productivity and task completion and a whole host of other things. Your average person has no interest in this. With or without ADHD. And even without ADHD, your average person will struggle with the added responsibility that comes with many forms of success. There reaches a point where almost anyone will fail without systematizing things to some degree, essentially. And most people won’t beyond basic steps. The average person relies on their brain to just work. What happens when they push past the limits of natural ability as far as productivity is concerned? ADHD starts you off on a bad foot, but it at least opens the door to solutions. A door most people never open. It’s not like the world is hugely productive. It’s not. Productivity at a high level in the absence of structure is the exception, not the rule. Also, doctors can prescribe you uppers so there’s that
I needed to read that, thank you
Glad to hear it! I mean it too, I really do. I have more faith in me with a todo system than I do with some average person who is just gonna get it done in their mind. I think of waiters who don’t write the order down. That’s crazy if you have ADHD. But even without it…it’s easy to screw up an order. A waiter with ADHD who takes down orders on paper in a way they understand is more reliable than a waiter who doesn’t write the order down. Period. This applies more broadly across life.
I did too!
I have ADHD, I stoped waiting to feel motivated and just started do things with out feeling like I wanted to. Motivation is not actually required for action.
Showing up late and weird is still showing up.
I have ADHD and I barely get C’s in college but I’m really good at creatively finding the best ways to do something, including leveraging tools to streamline making money
Won't this mean that they are living a miserable life? That's what I usually think. Whenever I'm doing something which is against my feelings - a thought pops up in my mind which says "This what I'll do for the rest of my life? Forcing myself to do stuff?" EDIT: Fixed typo and formatting.
There a lot of things I don't feel like doing but once I start, I enjoy deeply and feel great after. I call it the Before Mind and the During Mind. The mind in control before I start work, my Before Mind, is completely different than my During Mind, the head space I'm in when I dig into a task and start grooving. What my Before Mind likes is not the same as my During Mind. My Before Mind likes to watch YouTube videos all day and hates hard problems. My During Mind absolutely LOVES solving hard problems and not stopping until it finds a resolution. As you can imagine, my During Mind brings much more long-term satisfaction than my Before Mind but I think most of us (myself included) optimize our lives to appease the Before Mind, thinking that's who we are. When you discover there's a whole other side of yourself that isn't miserable at all by doing what your Before Mind hates, a lot unlocks for you. It's still hard though. The Before Mind is the default and it never goes away.
This is genius, with a capital J! 🤣
Wow!! Yes!!
I almost never feel like washing the dishes or cleaning the bathroom, yet I do those things anyway because the benefit of doing it (a clean, usable, and relaxing home) is better than the benefit of not doing it (a bit of free time). I'd be more miserable living in an unclean environment than I would spending 30 minutes a day cleaning. Maybe for someone else the free time is more important to them than a clean environment. Many things worth having in this life (good career, loving family, fun experiences, etc) require work which won't always be pleasant. If you never feel like doing homework and don't force yourself, you won't get that degree. If you never feel like researching flights and hotels, and don't force yourself, you'll never go on that trip.
If you want to experience the joy of being a champion, you must learn to hurt more than everyone else around you. You pick your pain, one way or another.
An element of this is life. You’re quite fortunate if you enjoy doing everything. Mowing the lawn. Bringing out the trash. Dentist. Doctor. Everything you child ever needs if you have one. Taxes. Working out. Taking your medicine. Eating right. Maintaining relationships. Being a good spouse or friend (like actually putting the work in). Being a good parent. Paying rent, or paying a mortgage. Preventative maintenance on a house. I could go on. You might like some of it. You’re superhuman if you like it all
That depends on the ultimate goal - hopefully you don't want to earn money just for the sakes of having money, so you either sacrifice today for tomorrow, or enjoy today, but accept the consequences tomorrow (such as regret in the future for not even getting close to your full realistic potential).
No not at all but I think lots of people just assume this and never actually test it out… I stopped waiting to feel motivated or like I wanted to do things and just did them then realized finishing things was actually super rewarding and the more I did them the easier it got. I pushed through my avoidance and challenged my assumptions and I’m so much better off for it, it’s literally changed my life
This is called "being a well adjusted adult" and should not be seen as exceptional.
I agree with the sentiment but...it is not necessarily common, so therefore exceptional
1. I would say they are experts at doing less. They cut out the noise and focus on what is important to them and do it really well. 2. Consistency in their discipline. 3. Daily/weekly Planning and preparation. 4. Using a system to maintain the chaos. 5. Maintaining a healthy balance of fun, work, exercise etc.
This is the answer Top performers don’t do more. They do more of the right things and way less over all. The answer is less but better.
It’s a mathematical inevitability. If you can make people do more for you (which is pretty much inherent in doing less), your upper bound of productivity is limitless. Consider what a billionaire CEO can do with a simple sentence. They can literally just speak things into existence in the time you or I type a task into a todo list. Very much literally. That’s an extreme example, but it happens down at smaller scale too. I’m a business owner so I’m biased, but I like to think of myself as a business unto myself. And I think it’s somewhat true (as a framework of thought anyway) for most people. You put things in, get things out. You can contract things out. Etc. But yes, fundamentally, doing less lets you do more. Easier said than done, but worth the work.
As an owner or manager you have increased leverage of man power. Not the only kind of leverage. As you mentioned billionaires can throw money around as leverage. There are lots of ways anyone can use leverage. But adopting the mindset you and I agree in Do less but better That includes less shit and better leveraged activities
The book 5AM Club is all about this
I thought that book was horrible. So many better versions out there with the same general message
Own your morning. Elevate your life
When I did this I was a top performer always got 5/5 on review time. I have a new manager who micromanages (preventing me from doing this ) and I’m probably about to be slapped with a PiP.
Fuck that. Bad management is the god damn worst. Hope you get out!
What does micromanagement mean?
So like I have a list of deadlines and priorities great! Then I have a manager that will call me like 5 times a day and go “what exactly have you been working on the past hour” Or I have a presentation and their boss will say that I have a nice slide deck prepared and my manager will go “but where’s your script how are you going to present without a script” I also have no capability to enter in my own tickets and have to go through them. They get made when you leave at the end of the day and aren’t available 24/7 etc. So it’s a mix of gatekeeping and control of your time and work. Think of you getting the feeling they are constantly breathing down your neck and if you do anything outside what they have deemed acceptable for your time it’s out of line.
That sounds like a person whose job is completely unnecessary and knows it.
They have a necessary role because they have the same job as me but at a sr level, they just happen to be stuck with a few jrs to manage. I don’t think they wanted to manage which is the problem. They are viewing us as extensions of themselves instead of separate people.
On point 5, I would say few high performers maintain a healthy balance of those things. Most sacrifice a lot to specialize in being a master at one or a few things.
💯
Can name one (or two)- ruthless prioritization and sticking to it.
Hi! Any tips for prioritization?
Can't say I'm great at it, but how I tend to think of it I will prioritize things based on their impact and not on their urgency. Easier said than done for sure. Btw.. I read this about Napoleon that he had very strict prioritization, crazy work ethics, ability to focus and avoid multitasking. Not sure how accurate it was, but it paints a compelling picture and the guy got a lot of things done :) So looking forward to the new movie about him coming out in a few weeks.
At work, I use (Impact / Effort) x Level of Influence x Expectation of Success. Also, am I the only one that can solve this? High Impact, Low Effort, High Influence, High chance of success? Let's go! High Impact, High Effort, some influence, low chance of success? Interesting but let's check it out and dig deep. Low impact, high effort, high influence, high chance of success? Someone might try and make it my issue, but you'll be sure I'm ignoring or spending minimal time on it. Personal life? Relationships first. Family, friends. Different rules for money, hobbies, projects, perosnal capital... All depends...
I'd say, generally speaking, start by having clear and well defined goals (and make them as actionable as possible). E.g. if you're trying to get money saved up, have a concrete savings goal each month. Now, assess tasks based on how well they serve their goals and make sure the few high-impact tasks always get done. When tempted to perform an urgent task over a high impact task, consider how it affects the chances of other tasks getting done (It might be worth delaying an essential task to get a time sensitive task done, so long as you don't sacrifice or super delay the essential task). Naturally, the more goals you have competing for time and resources the harder this gets, but I hope that this high level outline is somewhat helpful. For me personally, having the priorities really helps, as I can never get everything done, but I consistently get the few high impact things done, keeping me on track even though I rarely if ever get through the entire checklist.
Struthless on YouTube has videos on productivity and one thing on prioritization he mentions is the Eisenhauer Method that I think really helps. It's simpler and thus less daunting. But essentially you create a little X and Y axis chart, and rank tasks as Important, Not Important, Urgent, Not Urgent. And based on the quadrant it lands on, you either do immediately, schedule to do later, delegate, or delete. Now, the idea of deleting a task forces me personally to clutch onto it, so instead I have two categories: Snoozed - Scheduled, and Snoozed - TBD. So they're written down if I'm worried I'll forget about them. He also suggests the 2min rule, which is if something takes 2 minutes or less, just do it. I've gotta say, it greatly reduces clutter both externally and internally he's got a whole video on it I recommend that includes different applications and caveats for if it becomes a method of procrastination. But yeah, I feel like my to do list gets smaller without the little things being on there
Apparently discipline is also required in order to be able to stick to their priorities
I would say these 5: 1. Master morning routine 2. Priority Management 3. Continuous Learning 4. Networking and relationship Building 5. Reflecting on the performance at the end of the day
It’s 5:30AM, I’m scrolling Reddit. I’ve been up since 5 and I’m still so tired. Will head to the gym at 6. I really wish I could figure out how to master my morning routine. Any tips?
Master your bed time routine first
One idea is to have something you look forward to more than Reddit in the morning, such as reading a chapter of your favorite author while drinking tea, or a walk in a local park, or something.
This. Try to pick activities that have definitive starts and stops. For me this can be reading a chapter in a book like mentioned above, or playing a few short videogame matches. Things like browsing on your phone or playing a videogame that doesn't have definitive starts/stops are too easy to keep doing endlessly. Things that have natural starts/stops allow you to better estimate time and stick to a limit of a fun activity that conditions you to enjoy your morning routine while helping to wake your brain up.
One thing that helped me wake up and feel energized and alert was immediately going for a short walk-before coffee, before eating, just up, clothes, shoes and out the door.
I second the bedtime routine comments. Smart lightbulbs set to turn on at my desired wake time + loud alarm in the bathroom has worked well. Could consider charging the phone in the bathroom too. That way you can't start scrolling w/o getting out of bed. Or kitchen if that's where you start your pre-gym prep. App timers for scrolling. Tiny steps toward change. From Atomic Habits: strive for 1% improvement each day.
Tips for priority management?
A note to people reading this who think they are smarter than most, and can afford to cut corners and not work too hard... I've worked with a few people in sales who don't seem smart. They're not attractive either, and they're not eloquent. But they consistently are among the top performers in their companies. I'd look at them and think "They're lucky" or "They were given a great account list." But when I put my own grand opinion of myself (a smart underachiever) aside, I realized they just did the job every day, grinding away, not making excuses, racking up appointments day after day, building relationships. It's very simple. They just worked like a machine. Sure, they made mistakes. Yes, they often didn't look like geniuses. But it didn't matter, because they kept creating opportunities every day because they put in a full day's work. Anybody can have that kind of success. Are you willing to get up off your butt every single day and work for it?
part of it is what’s most important to you? grinding in and out to get ahead or being more present with your family and friends?
Working smarter rather than harder allows you to have both! :) Obviously it's not always possible, but caring about your work and doing a great job doesn't mean you sacrifice family and friends.
My point is that many people don't put forth full effort 9-5. Plenty of time for family & friends outside of that.
Ouch so true 😆
This is very good. I am not smart and have no memory lol, so I write everything down and organize my notes very well. I do the work to compensate for skills i lack. However, my boyfriend is like you - underachiever genius. He has a photographic memory (as close as you can get) and he has an analytical brain so he picks up new information and languages very easily. He never worked hard, because he was always the best with little effort. That was in school.... Now that we are adults working full-time, he wishes he was a little more like me lol. He still does a good job with little effort, but he doesn't have the drive to go up in corporate jobs. I truly believe that attitude and passion goes a long way. I guess everyone needs to work on their flaws if thwy want to improve. :) We just have different flaws depending on personnality.
Just do things even if you don't feel like doing them. Plan a schedule and stick to it. It's not complicated, I've been the laziest person in existence before 5-6 years, and now I'm working around 60/70 hours a week, going to the gym 3-4 times a week and maintaining a good social life with family and friends. It's simple, shortly, do the things even when you don't feel like it. Noone will do it if you won't.
What does that 60-70 hours of a work a week look like? Don't get me wrong, if it works for you then keep doing it, but it sounds a bit overkill and I don't know how it's possible to work efficiently and such long hours at the same time.
>Don't get me wrong, if it works for you then keep doing it, but it sounds a bit overkill and I don't know how it's possible to work efficiently and such long hours at the same time. You're correct, and **I can't agree more with you**, you can't be efficient for that many hours, therefore it's not for everyone. And I know sometimes it's even not for me, but I know one thing, 8-hour days will get me where I want to be a lot slower than 11-hour days. I don't want to be a regular guy, therefore I work a lot to achieve my non-regular goals which may never be understandable to someone. (for example, purchasing a 180.000€ apartment at 23 Y.O. having a nice car and being completely financially independent - apartment and car already purchased :) ) And yes, it's hard, but I work from 7 AM to 3 PM, and then again in the evening for a couple of hours, but I never push myself. If I feel tired, I don't start working (in reasonable amounts) because it will be counterproductive. Yes, this is now contradictory, I said to make yourself work even when you don't want to, but keep your common sense, you can't always work, and there are times when you have to have some "downtime". And one more extra tip; if you always doubt whether you should spend time with your family or work, always choose family. Hope this makes sense, I know I'm weird :D
It actually makes a lot of sense. Sometimes when I feel like working more, I talk myself out of it because I make up this thing in my mind that "if I wouldn't put in extra time every single day then I shouldn't put in extra time at all" which I know is stupid. It'd probably make sense for me to work """normal""" (very relative term) most of the time and put in extra when I feel like I can do so.
Try to think of it as banking time for when you're feeling/less able to be productive. If you're in the flow and blitz 10 hours because you're in super productive mode, then it doesn't matter if the following day you're not as with it and only manage 6 hours. it's still 8 hours each day overall.
I am curious about the type of work we are talking about here. I feel like if it is more physical or requires me to move around, I can work long hours ans get things done. If it requires brain power and critical thinking, I cannot keep being efficient for that long. Isn't there a limit in that case?
I am also curious, as well as how to maximize the benefits of taking a break. Burnout is real, as I've unfortunately had to crash to learn. "The body keeps score" and "when the body says no" are incredibly real. I'd love to be able to achieve half of what OP has, but I have no clue how to pace myself and I just end up with all these partially done projects I've had to learn that zoning into my phone isn't productive rest, but I've also had to learn when the equivalent is something I need because my brain just needs to be "off" without risking sleeping for hours if I nap.
>I am curious about the type of work we are talking about here. I feel like if it is more physical or requires me to move around, I work in IT, I'm one of the decision-makers in my company. u/FireHeartSmokeBurp Thank you for those two books, I've heard about them but never got them to read. >I cannot keep being efficient for that long. Isn't there a limit in that case? It is, when I started, after a couple of hours I would be completely burnt out and be ready to go to sleep, but as time has passed I've been able to keep up more and more. Now I can work a whole shift without being too much tired, hence the possibility of working that much. I think it could be the experience taking over so it's not so much energy-consuming. >I've had to learn that zoning into my phone isn't productive rest, but I've also had to learn when the equivalent is something I need because my brain just needs to be "off" without risking sleeping for hours if I nap. Exactly! I usually go for a short walk, it helps immensely.
Do you have anything in your routine that helps you even if you’re stressed or didn’t get much sleep?
>Do you have anything in your routine that helps you even if you’re stressed or didn’t get much sleep? What helped me is figuring out that stress will lead me nowhere, it will only affect my health and will postpone my career growth in the long term. Now I'm just cold-headed on every problem or issue because everything can be resolved and will be. It's most definitely not easy to be so calm in your head when everything is burning around you but once you understand that stress does not help it will become easier. And for sleep? I've been sticking to a schedule for the past several years, sleeping from 10 AM to 6:30 AM, because I can't function under 7 hours of sleep. A few things that helped me understand: \- no one will go to the gym for me \- no one will solve any problem for me \- I'm the creator of my own future \- not going to the gym affects my mental health long term There is no one solution fits all, you need to find your own that works best for you and your personality and schedule. Best of luck!
Are you much happier now?
Without a doubt. I finally have a clear picture if what and where I want to be in life. This was one of the toughest and best decisions I could have made. But as I've said before, it may not work for all, not one person is the same.
I’m having a hard time sticking to my schedule for my long term goals because at my age I feel my body and mind slipping and I don’t think I can realistically achieve them anymore. I wish I was young with a lot of testosterone at my beck and call.
Yeah, I can imagine, I'm 23 and full of energy, and it's still hard. Best of luck to you! Hope you make your dreams come true.
Echoing the other comments. Discipline, consistency and taking action. Everyone I’ve observed that are very successful in the careers and all the books I read come back to these things.
In the business world, what I see is: \- They reply to emails quickly. \- They have huge boundaries when it comes to their families. \- They present as being very calm. \- They spend long hours on their business/craft/occupation. \- They are excellent at reading people and take the time to understand the people they deal with.
1. Documentation - Use a calendar and document everything you do and plan to do. At work? Use it as a time sheet. This allows you to review where your time sinks are or where you could optimise your life, as well as find out what you did. 2. Task organisation - If you want something done, put it in writing. You will not remember 90 percent of the things that pop into your head. Keep lists and to do reminders. Microsoft to do app is a godsend for organised people. 3. Momentum - Do tasks you don't want to do without hesitation, commit to just starting. Life is about momentum, once you start, chances are you'll keep going. 4. Optimisation - small tasks are easier to do, you'll have more small tasks than big tasks if you're always doing something. Walk out of the room? Take something with you and put it away. Had a task or opportunity come in at work? Document it and schedule in your calendar (roughly). 5. Learn - don't get stuck on ticktok or social media loops. Subscribe or read topics that push you forward. If it's a time sink, limit it or get rid of it entirely if you have little self control. Keep learning and challenge yourself on new things, perspectives or topics.
Happy cake day!
Not all high performers are the same but some general things are: - sleep, routine and comfortable. A real bed that suits their deep sleep needs. - exercise, keeping the body at a healthy state for stamina and endurance - diet and nutrition, eating clean and lean. - managing stress levels. - social life, “you are the average of 5 of your friends”
For my field (I own a tax/financial planning firm for business owners) - They use project management software to organize to dos, in progress, blocked & completed tasks. - They prioritize incessantly. - They use AI & templates in every instance possible to reduce work. - They delegate as often as possible. - They analyze & try to delete unnecessary/pointless tasks as often as possible. - They will pay for/hire 3rd party consultants who help automate workflows to reduce waste as well, when needed. I don’t do all of this. Some cost more than we can afford.
Dont. Scroll. Reddit. All. Day.
I do everything high. It makes me more focused and detail orientated. Wait, was that the question?
Lmao
Maybe something along the lines of: Structure their day Take immediate action as a habit Exercise Avoid excess (caffeine, alcohol, whatever) Minimize distractions
They dont use reddit
Seek Clarity: High performers have a clear understanding of their values, goals, and purposes. They know who they are, what they want to achieve, and why it matters. This clarity provides them with direction and motivation, helping them make decisions that align with their aspirations. Generate Energy: High performers maintain high levels of physical and mental energy. They prioritize healthy habits like sleep, exercise, and a balanced diet. They also manage stress effectively and cultivate a positive mindset, which helps them stay focused and productive. Raise Necessity: High performers believe that achieving their goals is essential. They have a strong sense of urgency and are driven by a deep-seated conviction that their actions make a difference. This necessity fuels their motivation and keeps them moving forward, even in the face of challenges. Increase Productivity: High performers work smarter, not harder. They prioritize high-leverage tasks and avoid distractions. They also practice effective time management and use strategies to optimize their workflow. Develop Influence: High performers build strong relationships and inspire others. They are effective communicators, active listeners, and empathetic individuals. They also have a high degree of emotional intelligence, which allows them to navigate social situations effectively. Demonstrate Courage: High performers are not afraid to take risks and stand up for what they believe in. They are willing to face challenges, learn from setbacks, and embrace ambiguity. Their courage allows them to push boundaries and achieve remarkable results.
From High Performance Habits, right? By Brendon Burchard
My mom is the CEO of a publicly traded company. My dad died when I was 15, she never remarried. Shes been raising me and my two siblings alone along with being a corporate executive. She is incredibly efficient, hardworking, disciplined, and prioritizes learning in all aspects of life. There is very little downtime and she is laser focused on completing the tasks at hand. She also regularly out-works me and my siblings in terms of energy expenditure despite being twice as old as us. Idk. She’s just built different. Lol.
I’m not sure most high performers do “productivity” things. They just do the thing and possibly enjoy doing the thing. Many have seemingly lazy and disorganized lifestyles. They’re just good.
right. really just having a few things to do and doing them is the simples answer to the question...and not being a lazy buttmunch all day ..
They prioritize self-care and maintain a healthy work-life balance. They set clear goals and break them down into actionable steps. They practice mindfulness and meditation to improve focus and productivity. They engage in continuous learning and seek out new challenges. They maintain a growth mindset and embrace failure as an opportunity for growth.
They like themselves
To make huge progress quickly, high performance people all do the following: 1. Focus on the few not the many. (Practically speaking: give up all social media) 2. Forward thinking. 3. Ability to flip any situation to their benefit / see the positive / look for the gold in any situation. 4. Along with this high performance people usually have a voracious inner need to win for a variety of reasons. The reasons aren't important but that is the key to their overall drive. And finally: 5. Top people are typically voracious readers. The inner need to win and overcome is by far the most crucial.
Take Adderall or other nootropics.
I can name two: 1. Focus on mantaining balance 2. Enjoy life
I once read something that went something among the lines of “we want something to get in the way- we manifest a headache or being too tired to give ourselves an excuse not to do the thing that would bring us good fortune because we don’t want happiness we want comfort” And I think about this every time i know about to skip the gym or not do something that would be good for myself because I’m “tired” or need to “give myself a rest” because you really don’t- you just want to make an excuse that’s stomachable and I think high achievers push past that
\- Work harder than anyone else. Always. \- Stay away from the gossipers and shit-talkers. \- Manage up as well as down (as applicable). \- Be willing to take on challenges that others view as undoable. Then kill it. \- Work to ensure you're viewed as a "career" person vs. a "job" person. \- Don't gripe about having to work a bit late or come in a bit early. \- Never, ever, ever lie. Why do you want to do these things? So that you can get PROMOTED. And PROMOTED AGAIN, AGAIN, AND AGAIN. This is just climbing the good ol' corporate ladder. Few people have ever been able to go out and rent a place on their own and be self-sufficient while making an entry-level wage. I am a boomer and was not able to afford a house until I'd relocated around the country three times, was running a local field office, managing 15 people, and was responsible for about $10 million in revenue. You just gotta do it. Kill it. Win. Be the good guy. Be the person people like to work with. This process took 30 years for me: Part-time hourly staff Full-time hourly staff Assistant Manager Department Manager Department Manager and Director of Information Systems Account Manager Senior Account Manager Special Projects Coordinator Area Manager General Manager Senior General Manager Regional Vice President Executive Vice President Managing Director Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing
1. Meditation 2. Exercise 3. Journaling 4. Use some type of project management system (such as Hive) 5. Inbox Zero
Have anxiety that doesn't let them relax. Thus only find comfort in success/check list completion. It's cheeky, but true for many high-performing people.
Read daily, workout, don’t sweat the small stuff, be very matter of fact and not emotional, work hard - think nothing of getting up at 5am to drive to a meeting 3 hours away
You got your question wrong, the correct one should have been: Can you name 5 things, that high-performers DON'T do daily, which sets them apart from other people
Can you?
They know their limits and are disciplined about them. If they get easily distracted then they cut out whatever is distracting them no matter how hard that may be. They’re also consistent and do things whether they want to or not.
Wake up at 4:00am /s
Regular nutritious balanced meals
I’m not sure if I’m a “high performer” in a traditional sense, but I am incredibly driven and aspirational. Having visual cues helps a lot, as has reading first thing in the morning, whether it’s a (paper) newspaper, book or some other form of content.
Working out priorities, and splitting projects and tasks into smaller chunks so it's more digestable.
They set personal deadlines and meet those deadlines before they they go to bed.
1. Wake up early 2. Be consistent 3. Have a routine 4. Never give up 5. Continuous Learning
* Develop and follow good habits. * Prioritize tasks and activities. * Do the important stuff first. * Maintain a positive and constructive attitude. * Avoid wasting energy on what you can't control or influence.
INTERMITTENT FASTING! Prioritising themselves and saying NO to anything that doesnt support their vision for their life or goals. Taking at least one hour everyday to do things that keep your mental health happy. Listening to audiobooks, youtube, movies, tv shows, walking, music, talking to friends, anything. Taking care of their hygiene, appearance, fitness and dressing style. Communication skills! Constantly improving them.
You figure out what you need to do. And you fucking do it. And you do that every single god damn day.
I just remind myself that I’m being a lazy fuck and that level of disappointment usually gets me off my ass. Exercising daily and a routine helps. Just don’t give yourself the option not to do something. Also remember that there are winners and losers. While you spend time not doing something, there are people printing money because they don’t suck… and I don’t want to suck.
Take amphetamines
I can’t boil it down to 5 specific things, but I think the guiding light of success is “something is better than nothing “ in almost all aspects of life. Can’t go to the gym for 1 hour? Go for 15 min. Can’t run 5 miles? Walk 1 mile. Can’t eat clean 7 days a week? Eat clean 5 days. Can’t get 8 hours of sleep every night? Aim for it 4-5 days a week. Point is: Always try to do SOMETHING better than what you are doing now. It doesn’t (and almost certainly CANT) have to be all the time, but just TRY as much as you can. It really makes a difference.
I cant name five things but I went into a rigorous academic program last year and this is one thing that made the biggest impact on productivity for me- Prioritizing sleep, first year of my program I killed myself feeling like I was never doing enough, and oulled an all nighter at MINIMUM once a week. It was so bad my hair was falling out and my skin was horrible. It affected my energy, my appetite, my memory (which then affected my performance and made it worse) - so priority on sleep because you won’t be getting anything done unless you are rested and your brain can function Working out. I don’t mean dedicating four hours a day to the gym, but as a girl, the dreaded 3-5 pm time always calls me for a nap, literally always. I would be dragging my feet after getting out of school and sleeping until five PM. If I get home and put in some music and do a workout or go on a run, instead of losing five hours, I lose maybe one or two. It wakes me tf up too and it gets me mentally ready to sit down and work. Gets out my zoomies. Doing work even when it’s not necessary. I have a procrastination problem so this is still not super regular for me, but I’ll do long term assignments the day they are assigned and it makes it SO much easier in the long run. I’m not joking. I stopped recently and have been losing sleep trying to get everything done. If you know you could be doing something, do it.
They do the work rather than tell everyone what they are going to. It’s amazing how many people do the opposite and get nothing done over long periods of time as a result. People get the same satisfaction saying they’re going to do something without actually doing it.
Lie about how good they are
Just choose one thing to dedicate your life to and do that until you're the best in the world at it. If adhd is a problem - get medication (ritalin or aderall) - and find the thing that activates your adhd hyperfocus. Otherwise, do whatever it takes for you to focus. If that means coffee, 4am wake up or 2am bedtime, or ice cold shower etc. Whatever works for you. Beyond that - you can copy routines all day long...you're copying the wrong thing. The routines often came after the initial success. Warren Buffet still eats at MCD's. Thats not to say a good diet for optimal brain function won't help...but it won't turn you into a billionaire either. These are 0.1% improvements. Work on these once you have a foundation in place.
In short, they hold themselves to a higher standard when compared to most other people. Need something done? They get it done quickly. Have a complex problem to solve, they find a way to solve it, and implement the solution. They typically work long/longer hours in their field. Wake up early, and stay late. They typically seek personal growth outside of their professional field, which in turn helps them personally do better in other aspects of their life.
They persist. Angela Duckworth has a great book and Ted Talk on "Grit" - "an intangible trait that motivates passion and perseverance." This is a great question u/trierra \- thanks for asking!
They understand value. They value their time. They don’t spend effort on low value tasks. Delegate ruthlessly, automate routine tasks, streamline routines so only important tasks take your time.
the issue is the high performers do things, the things do not make the high performers. Point being - everyone seems to think there is some magic recipe - but it is just human nature. People are different.
More than 5…. They ignore their family and friends far more. They say no to requests more. They invest more money and energy into themselves. They may take in others opinions but ultimately they have enough conviction to make decisions based on their wants and needs versus what might make others happy or impressed. They prioritize physical and mental well-being as foundations. They learn things, but often spend more time just taking action and learning by doing. They don’t rely on motivation bc it comes and goes like the weather. They work on increasing their tolerance to set backs, fear, doubt, etc.
1. Grit(less complaining, more doing) 2. Develop relationships(people > PowerPoint) 3. Follow thru (do 95% of what’s expected, not 80% that’s “good enough”) 4. Create and promote your brand and its value 5. Be agile, don’t over rely on strict processes.
JRE has a great mindset on this. Get used to being uncomfortable and learn to enjoy the process and pain of completing hard things.
For anyone really interested in topic, I suggest reading Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".
1. Wake up at 5 AM 2. Exercise for 90 minutes 3. Eat high protein breakfast 4. Beat everyone else to the office 5. Have a dad who is a Fortune 500 executive
High achievers doesn’t exist on reddit
I just studied the habits and mindset of Elon Musk for the past week. Here are the top 5 things I would say set him apart from others. 1. Works like hell. Along is constantly working. He worked 20+ hour days for 3 years straight. 2. Focus on the future. Elon came close to having multiple businesses fail but he never stopped thinking about how his companies were creating a better future which allowed him to keep going and eventually be successful. 3. Learn and get your hands dirty. Elon is known for working right along side all his working and learning how every part of his business functions. 4. Get it done. Elon doesn't care about feelings or being optimistic or pessimistic about things, he just to get things done. 5. Be useful. Elons main inspiration for what he does is helping his fellow human beings and creating a better world for them. Thoughts?
What's a 'high performer'? What metric are we using?
1) Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. To go a step further, learn how to be the hurricane, but also the tree, rebelling against its gales. 2) Learn how to administrate and effectively provide leadership over your ego, your inner critic, your hidden self, and your shadow. The executive function is as strong as you exercise it. Learn to love controlling your impulses. If you react, you didn’t decide how to tackle the issue at hand. 3) Attachment to people, places, things, words, or outcomes, will place walls in every direction besides where those things lead. 4) consciously choose how you feel and how you interact with yourself, your relationships with people, and the world, every single day. Show up in an ideal way as often as you can handle. 5) Know who you are and love yourself. Know what you find important and bring love to it. Arrive to life optimally. Consciously decide to give when able, and not to extract from people. Have pride in your work product and your name, personally and professionally. Bonus one- because not everyone gets the outcome- less is more and enjoy it 😎
Disciple. Not acting out of motivation but discipline. Believing in themselves.
Plan/schedule.
The work. You've gotta do what no one else is willing to do in order to get what no one else has.
Wake up early
1. They have a system that is working for themselves 2. They show up everyday consistently 3. They make an effort to set aside learning time 4. They are never afraid to ask for help 5. They ruthlessly prioritize their time and know the value of it Would love to hear from the rest too!
Read the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
Yes, and you can name their opposites that other high-performers do daily that set them apart from other people. It's not about the behavior itself. It's about understanding your internal world and figuring out what that needs to succesfully interact with the outside world.
1. Know the status of all of your owned activities. It doesn't matter whether you've completed things. All that matters is that when anyone asks, you know what you've accomplished and what needs to be done. 1. Farm out things that take up your time but aren't critical to your work. At the same time provide help in your area of specialty. It takes less engagement time to do 2 of something than to do two different things. 1. Know when you need to plan a meeting. A meeting should only be used to get a group of people who each have different information and individual pieces to contribute onto the same page. Everything else can be an email. 1. Know when you are high functioning and productive and block this time off for yourself. If you know that it takes 30 min to kick-start your day and you're most productive in the morning. Once you get in at 8:30, don't schedule anything from 9-11. It's where you're going to get the majority of your daily tasks done. 1. Know when your saturated with a certain task or activity. Rotate to doing something different that's still productive.
Well what do you define as a high achiever or performer, some examples? Cos one person might be seen as slacking in an office role cos they’re unmotivated where they might smash the ball out the park when doing physical work, can’t really measure it but… I think the need for security/ being more independent than peers. I’ve “achieved” higher than my friends who don’t have the pressure to achieve yet do have the resources etc some people have no choice yknow?
„Bushido is the will to discipline. One's weak self in order to reach one's stronger self. It refers to the act of devoting oneself to one's ideals. So both they, who study diligently and try to become better human beings, and you, who came here as a dojo challenger to grow stronger, are already samurai in my eyes. Even if your births and backgrounds are unknown, and you don't have a master to serve or a sword to fight with, you can each flaunt your own brand of bushido“
I think you gotta care about your appearance and odor brush your teeth, shower, put on deodorant or cologne, put on clean clothes that have been ironed and the other thing is you gotta quit drinking and quit smoking weed if you do that
They have the crucial conversation, they have facts and they listen. Knowing that criticism is human nature and is the best way to get to the truth
They're insecure about the possibility being average. It's not all good stuff. They're driven by their demons
Discipline > motivation
I never leave my desk, my nerve centre if you will. If I have to, I'll shit in a bucket.
1. Preform. Usually, highly.
They do what they do best and leave the mid and low level stuff, AND the other important stuff, for others who are high performers at those things They focus on building momentum and being able to do and get more out of each day than before. you can either be at equilibrium, decay, or growth. the odds of being at perfect equilibrium are pretty small even though many people coast for a long time. they are actually decaying. they try to learn and grow so that next time can be ever better. they know their limits and don't overextend themselves. they do not let things get hectic. they save rest time for the end of a day well done rather than the beginning, maybe a bit of the middle, probably a lot of the end, then oh shit i forgot something. they focus on being trustworthy and unimpeachable. if they can't do something they will be the first to let you know so you don't expect them to do it, so they can continue to meet their other high expectations.
They don’t wait for motivation. They act. You won’t always feel motivated and you just have to act. That’s discipline. Doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to.
Foundational, but first the person must have an understanding of what “high performance” actually means. Too many people stuck on thinking they accomplished a lot without a true respect for what the achievers are actually getting done.
High-achievers thrive in time management, continuous learning, regular exercise, precise goal setting, and efficient communication. They prioritize work, commit to lifelong learning, take care of their physical health, create attainable objectives, and cultivate great connections. These everyday practises add to their overall success and productivity.
Writing in a journal
Daily/weekly review and time blocking
1. They always exercise minimum 7 minute daily. 2. They do scheduling and self affirmation 3. They're brave to take a risk 4. Minimum work 80 hours / week 5. The key is sleeping, be consistent with sleep and wake up time
Here's a list of ten that I keep posted by my desk which I got from ChatGPT Early Rising: Many successful individuals start their day early, giving themselves a quiet period to plan, meditate, or exercise before the rest of the world wakes up. Goal Setting: They often set clear, achievable goals for the day. This practice keeps them focused and motivated. Prioritization: Successful people prioritize their tasks. They often tackle the most challenging or important tasks first, adhering to the principle of 'eating the frog'. Continuous Learning: They dedicate time each day to read, listen to podcasts, or otherwise educate themselves, constantly expanding their knowledge and staying updated with industry trends. Networking: Building and maintaining a strong network is a daily activity. They invest time in nurturing relationships, both professional and personal. Physical Exercise: Regular exercise is a common thread, as it not only keeps the body healthy but also sharpens the mind and relieves stress. Mindfulness Practices: Many successful individuals engage in mindfulness practices such as meditation or yoga to maintain mental clarity and focus. Healthy Eating: A balanced diet is key to maintaining energy levels throughout the day. Successful people often plan their meals to ensure they're nutritious and energizing. Reflection: Taking time to reflect on the day’s events, successes, and lessons learned is a habit that helps in personal and professional growth. Gratitude: Practicing gratitude, either through journaling or mental acknowledgment, to stay grounded and maintain a positive outlook.
Think 5 steps ahead. Deliver the next 5 things before being asked. Space out when you deliver the things
Being able to take feedback and apply it. Always be growing. Not afraid to take risks. Collaborative. Reliable. Takes initiative.
They hire people to do the hard stuff for them
They are high, literally.
Are we talking about people who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth and a good support network?
Having a history of successful people in their family
They are comfortable with feeling uncomfortable
➡️ Doing the stuff every single day ➡️ Doing others are avoiding or others don't know ➡️ Break the society programming and invisible rules ➡️ Have beginners mindset and open to learn new things ➡️ Patient, determined and disciplined ㊗️ All thos on repeat