Aug 27, 2018
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So a couple of weeks ago I was having my third quarter of self-employment crisis of confidence. It seems like I’ve had one of these every quarter, and as I’m coming to understand, this is a pretty normal thing on the entrepreneurial journey. Or as my business coach Vicki Fitch calls in, it’s just one roller coaster in the Entrepreneurial Theme park.
This time it wasn’t all about money, it was about feeling physically burnt out and mentally exhausted, getting sick, forcing myself to stop working and then and not being sure how I could keep up the pace at which I’d been going.
And as these things mysteriously happen, the right book at the right time came through for me.
It’s called High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. I’ll link up to the book and Brendon’s website in the show notes. Brendon Burchard is someone that I learned from very, very early on in my side hustle journey when I was trying to figure out how to transition from being a web designer one on one to be able to teach solopreneurs, side hustlers, and small businesses how to DIY on a one to many scale.
He had this training video series called the Experts Academy and it was all about how to monetize and package your expertise online, and it definitely influenced what I created when I built the 5 Day Website Challenge. It was the right thing at the right time, and then I kinda stopped paying attention to him. You know, shiny object syndrome 🙂
I actually saw Brendon speak live at Chalene Johnson’s Marketing Impact Academy a couple years ago and it was very powerful, but again, his content wasn’t resonating with what I needed at the moment.
And then High-Performance Habits comes along and it’s about the “six habits will make you extraordinary.”
And when I read that, I was intrigued so I decided to look it up.
Here’s a synopsis from the publisher:
“Brendon Burchard finally reveals the most effective habits for
reaching long-term success. Based on one of the largest surveys
ever conducted on high performers, it turns out that just six
habits move the needle the most in helping you succeed. Adopt these
six habits and you win. Neglect them and life is a never-ending
struggle.”
It goes on to say,
“Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it.”
Because as I was thinking about whether or not I wanted to buy this book, the old adage “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.” popped into my mind.
Because the tactics, habits, strategies, and plans that have gotten me here, which is from side hustler to self-employed hustling my butt off to hit my income target every single month – sometimes hitting it, most times not hitting it – are not what’s going to get me THERE.
But here’s the big questions. What is THERE? Where am I even trying to go?
The first answer that pops into my mind is, “$10,000 a month.”
The second thing that pops into my mind: “Is it really worth it? To feel like this? To run myself down and feel trapped by my overcommitments? Is that really what I want?”
I read the description again and I think, “No. Right now, what I really want is to “get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence.”
“I believe those things, not killing myself hustling, will be what opens the door to $10K a month becoming easy – however it happens – like how right now $5k a month is easy but $10K is a stretch.”
So I pick up the book on Audible.com, because let’s be honest, I really don’t actually read many books, I typically listen to them on my walks with Scarlett or while I’m getting ready in the morning, and I pop my earbuds in and start listening to Brendon describe how personality tests like the DISC and Strengthfinders (I’ve taken both) can give you insight into your personality and how you can better work with others, they don’t really tell you how you can level up.
And since I’ve taken both of those assessments, I totally agree with him. I found them interesting, but they didn’t really tell me anything more than why I find some people frustrating and annoying and why I find others endearing, or why some of my best strengths are also my kryptonite. Interesting, but not particularly useful for helping me get to the next level – whatever that nebulous next level may be.
So like I said earlier, Brendon studied lots of people he’d consider to be High Performers and put together all of this data into what he calls the High-Performance Index, and in like the first chapter of the book, he tells you to go online and go take the test right now.
And because I’m a good student, and I think this is also a brilliant marketing tactic to get me on his email list, I oblige.
And the results I got were FASCINATING. I’ll link up to the test in the show notes – you can get it over at highperformanceindicator.com.
But this assessment is designed to help you understand how you’re doing in the 6 areas that have the most impact on your performance:
Those six habits are:
Clarity:
Energy:
Necessity:
Productivity:
Influence:
And Courage.
So if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Wait, Clarity is a habit? Clarity is a noun, not a verb.” And energy is also not a habit. Necessity? Doesn’t sound like a habit. Neither do influence and courage. Productivity is the only one that sounded like an actual habit to me.
But after listening to the book, I’ve come to understand that all of those things are habits. There are actions I can take around every single one of those areas on a daily basis related to clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence and courage that will take the focus off of the MONEY and put it where it will have a much greater impact.
So I took the assessment, and so today I’m gonna share with you what my results were and tomorrow, I’m going to share with you what I intend to do about them so that I can get to the next “level” without losing my mental and physical health in the process!
So the assessment basically asks you if you agree or disagree with certain statements, and it’s on a scale of Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. And they are all related to measuring those 6 habits I just mentioned.
So here are my results: This is verbatim from the email that I received with my score:
Dear Shannon, “Your overall high-performance score is 3.64 out of 5.
Why does your score matter?
Because it came from the professional assessment you just took, which has shown to strongly correlate with long-term success in your career, health, happiness, and relationships.
In other words, the assessment wasn’t a “quiz.”
It is remarkably accurate and strongly correlates with long-term success measures.
Are you happy with your score?
What do you think you should focus on to increase your odds at long-term success?
Our research shows that the top 15% of high performers worldwide score an average of 4.76 out of 5. I know, I know – that’s a HIGH bar to reach!
So, how do they score that high?
It’s not that they are born lucky.
We found that they simply developed the right kind of “deliberate habits” that moved them forward faster than others. We call these high-performance habits, and it’s the subject of my new book, which you can get gratis here. (I bought a bunch for my assessment participants. You just pay your shipping).
Of course, the challenge is that so many of us struggle to live our best selves each day. We work hard and try to be passionate, but too often feel like we’re not breaking through.
It’s just maddening to be a good person with good intentions but still not be advancing as fast as we want.
I was there once.
Then I learned to dial in my habits and suddenly I dramatically improved my overall well-being, rapidly advanced my career and deepened my influence and connection with others.
What’s cool about the assessment you took is that it can help you pinpoint where to focus in order to grow.
Let’s take a look at your scores now.
- Your CLARITY score is 3.5 out of 5. Improving this area gives you greater confidence in who you are, which decisions are right for you at this stage of your life, and what will make you truly healthy, wealthy, and happy. How could you gain more clarity in life right now? A simple thing you could do is to set an intention for who you want to be and how you want to interact with others right BEFORE you enter any social situation.
- Your ENERGY score is 3.17 out of 5. If that score seems too far away from a 5, then it’s time to start some new daily practices that can help improve your mental, emotional and physical vibrancy. People really struggle with this one. Personally, my best habit is ensuring my environment is set up for me to win. So, I order organic groceries and stock my house with good food. Nutrition first. Then I protect my sleep and make sure I work out every other day. (The top 15% of high performers are 40% more likely to workout 5x per week!)
- Your NECESSITY score is 3.67 out of 5. This measures the level of emotional commitment you feel to showing up each day as your best. It’s your level of “must” in improving your life and serving others with excellence. If you haven’t felt as driven or motivated as you want, this is a great area to focus on. Start with asking yourself every day at work, “Who needs me on my A game right now?” Really connect with who you are working for – sometimes we’ll do more for others than ourselves, right? The chapter on psychological necessity in my book is probably the most popular of all, so be sure to read that one.
- Your PRODUCTIVITY score is 3.83 out of 5. We’ve noticed that if you’re below a 4.6 on this one, it’s REALLY hard to achieve your long-term goals. Maybe it’s time to minimize distractions and start some new habits to master your time management and project planning? My suggestion is to NEVER check your email in the first 60 minutes of the workday. Use that time to strategize, get real work done, and reach out to those you are needing a reply from. Stay in offense, not reaction, in that first 60 minutes and you’ll win more days.
- Your INFLUENCE score is 4.83 out of 5. This area of your life is EVERYTHING. When we can’t get people to believe in us, support us, buy from us, or take the actions we suggest, then it’s hard to ever get ahead. A good starting place is to focus on being a great role model, asking a lot of questions, and seeking to be more patient, compassionate and available to others.
- Your COURAGE score: 2.83 out of 5. Do the people around you truly know who you are, what you dream of, what you need? Are you living your truth, taking risks, putting yourself out there? The next level for all of us requires a greater willingness to venture into the unknown despite risks or judgment. Try telling others what you REALLY think or feel more often, and take one small step into the unknown every day.
So in episode 140, I’ll unpack these results, why I think I scored the way that I scored and what I plan to do about it.