How to Become A High Performer: The Blueprint

Do you want to know how to go from great to greater or from good to great? Well, this episode is all about how you harness the three habits of high performers. I'm so fortunate to work with incredible humans who are performing in the PGA Tour, who are professional rugby players, who are playing across all different sports, but also running some phenomenal businesses. I sit down every single week, as you know, with an incredible guest, whether they're a prime minister, a president, a Fortune 100 CEO, a neuroscientist, and I pick their brain. I want to know what makes them tick, but also what they've learned and what they've researched and what studies they've done around high performance. How do high performers do what they do? What's the difference that makes the difference for people that are outperforming everyone else in their chosen sport, field or industry? Well, I'm about to let you in on that and I want you to take pen and paper. If you're out running, take a mental note and put it on your phone for later. But if you get these three things right, I know it's going to make a huge difference in you. Going from good to great or great to greater, even better great to greatest. We all want to be the greatest versions of ourselves. Maslow did so much study around the hierarchy of needs. At the top of that pyramid was self actualization, and we've went on to learn that he discovered another level. But the top part of that original pyramid was self actualization. Getting to the point where you're reaching your full potential, bringing your best to the world. We all really want that and need that. So how do high performers do it consistently? Well, I'm going to reiterate what my definition of high performance is and I want you to think about it for just a second. It is consistently exceeding norms whilst maintaining healthy relationships and well being. I want you to think about that. Consistently exceeding norms. Not once, not twice, but consistently over and over. I recall with the podcast just starting it, I was getting one or two listeners. I think it was my mom and my brother. And then I had five and it was like my aunt and her friend. And it grew slowly. I wanted to get to the point where I was sharing my message and the message of my incredible guests with hundreds of thousands of people. And in recent months, probably the last year, I've started hitting the Apple podcast chart rankings anywhere from number one. So I've been number one in New Zealand and several other countries in the business management categories and anywhere from 1 to 20 consistently so I hit it once, and it was like I texted all my close friends, and people had said, this is a dream. I hope to do it one day. But I remembered that was just once. There's a little bit of luck in that. I want consistency because that's high performance. And so the next time I hit it was about four days later. I was like, yes, okay, good, there's something happening. And then there was four weeks of nothing, and then I hit it again, and then all of a sudden, I hit every day number one for six weeks in a row. Now, that, to me, said, okay, we're starting to hit a stride. I really don't believe in resting on our previous performances. Just because I got a bunch of number ones back then doesn't mean I can chill out right now. I need to double down on my craft. I need to be clear about what I'm doing. I need to have motivation to do it, and I need to have that desire to get better and grow. So what is that for you? What are you doing in your professional or your personal life that you want to be really good at? You want to be bif? For any of you that come along to my annual live event, High performance leadership, you'll know that term. Bif. I love to work with people who want to be bif. Best in field. Being the best in your field, nationally or globally, there's something challenging about that. There's something I love about working with people who want to be bif. Because it ain't easy. It's difficult. It's challenging. There's been different parts of my life where I've been a striver striving to be bif. You know, as a kid, I wanted to be that initially in Taekwondo and went competing, started to get some prizes, but then along came drumming, and I became so passionate about it. I wanted to be a world champion, and I moved towards that and then kept moving with that and growing that. But I wanted to be bif. Best in field. Was I best in field every day? No, I definitely was not. There were many others I was chasing, but that kept a reality to it that kept boots on the ground. Sense of humility and a sense of determination. High performers don't give up, right? They keep on trying to fight for what it is they want. So I want to share with you what the three habits of these high performers are. You can implement them today. You can take five minutes today, and it will make a huge difference in the direction and the velocity that you're going to. So, number one, they are radically clear. What are they radically clear about? Their vision. They know exactly what it is they want. They can speak it, they can write it, they can think it, they can share it. What is it for you? What do you want to be BIF at? Can you write it down? Can you speak it in one sentence? What you want to be the best in your field at? Look, I've been fortunate to get top number one podcast in categories in several countries. New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, all these different places. But I haven't been the number one podcast across all categories. That, to me, is best in Finland. I'm very clear. That's where I want to head and I've got a plan to go there. So what's your bif? What do you want to do and why do you want that? I want that because I want to impact more incredible humans like you. The reason I keep showing up here every week, twice a week, is because I get feedback from humans like you that sometimes there's nuggets and gems, either from me or my guests, that really help you. That's what keeps me coming back. I want to help. I want to be a part of your journey. It's selfish, I know. I want to be a part of your journey towards what you're headed towards. That gives me such a kick. So that's number one, they're radically clear. Number two, what do you think that might be? Well, BS is their friend. BS is their friend. Belief systems, right? They understand their beliefs. Your beliefs are subconscious and they're either actively empowering you or disempowering you. So if you really want to become a high performer and sustain it, you've got to understand what your belief systems are around the goal you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to make a million dollars this year, or 100 million, then you'll have some beliefs around money and growth. You need to go in and figure out, what are those beliefs. You might have something in there holding you back, that you're not worthy of the money. Maybe one of your parents told you that money doesn't grow on trees. Save your dimes. Well, you're not going to invest and let it grow and take risks if you think like that. So whatever your field is, I want you to think, what are the beliefs that are going to help me or hold me back? They're going to help or hinder. Number three. So you've got radically clear vision. You understand your belief systems. The next thing is this. I meet so many people who know what they want. And they've got really good belief systems, but they don't take any action. They're dreamers, they're talkers. Every now and then they'll have a little burst of action and then they go back to their old ways. Why? Because they lack desire. They're always looking for motivation in short clips. Scrolling TikTok Instagram. Little cool Reels and memos and little YouTube things that fire them up. That's cool. But that's short term bursts of dopamine. That's not long term. Burning desire. The highest performers, people that are standing on the green at the 18th hole at St. Andrews, the PGA Tour, I know those guys and they are very fired up over the long term to do the job. They don't need a coffee to get up and go to St. Andrews and hit that golf ball. They don't need gentle encouragement to try and get out and hit 100 balls at the driving range today. They're at it. Why? They're radically clear in vision. They have amazing beliefs that support them and they are fully tapped in to what drives them, their desire. So if you want to supercharge your desire, you need to ask that question, why? Why do I want the thing I want? And keep asking, why? Why do I want? Let's say it's financial. It's easy to look at that one. Why do I want $10 million by the time I'm 30? Well, I want to retire. Okay, next question would be why do I want to retire at 30? Well, I want to spend more time with the people I love. Okay, next question is, why do you want to spend more time? You keep going down until you can't go any further. I call it seven levels deep. I often do it on stage with a volunteer at my live event every year. And often it's quite an emotional experience. And they go deeper and deeper and deeper. They tap into something and they're like, wow, that's exactly why I want that goal. And that will give you massive amounts of drive. As some of you know, I gave up alcohol just over four years ago. I wrote a list of why and that really drove me. I kept going back to the list. I want to be a better dad. I want to be present. I want to be a great granddad, if I'm lucky to become one. I want to have physical health in my 70s, 80s and beyond. So I want you to think about those three ingredients. You've got that really radically clear vision. You've got to have massive self belief, great solid belief systems and then this desire. Double down on this deep burning desire. So those are three things that are just arguably going to be across every high performer or high performance team. If you don't have those, you're going to see dips in performance. If you don't have those, you're possibly going to say yes to every shiny object. If you don't have those, you're likely to point the finger rather than take radical accountability. So I hope today's session has been valuable to you. I'm really looking forward to connecting with you all soon. If you enjoyed this, please subscribe Rate Review like whatever channel you're on, do the thing that would help me help more people like you. So I sincerely appreciate it. Looking forward to connecting in our next session. But for now, get out there and lead your life on purpose.