High Performance Habits Book Review Part 2

From a hot mess to choosing your squad, Brendon made up for the first part of the book, High Performance Habits. This section had parts that resonated and some that felt a bit obvious. I found myself saying, “Yes, Brendon, I know I need more sleep but I’m just too busy,” only to find out he addressed the difference between knowing how it affects us and actually doing something about it.

Did you miss part 1? Check that review out.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Section One: Personal Habits // Habit 1 Seek Clarity

Ok, I have to admit, it really felt like Brendon was speaking to me at the beginning of section 1, Seek Clarity. Sifting through the comments about all the powerful people he’s worked with, I found myself stopping as soon as he mentioned that, oftentimes, no one knows that the high achiever is a hot mess. 

A hot mess. That’s how I’ve been describing my life since I learned the term. More when I became a mom and even more as I started a business. He mentioned was that it’s not really obvious that the high achiever is spiraling out of control until he or she is.

The Seek Clarity section is all about recognizing when shit isn’t going exactly the way you want, although, on the outside, it is. Essentially, it may look like you’re killing it but what you’re doing has lost meaning. 

Throughout my life, when I’ve hit these points, I’ve made drastic changes. From hopping to a new job, buying a house, selling a house, and even thrown out half my clothes with the goal of only using 3 dresser drawers (I’m almost there!).

Fave part of this section: you create S.M.A.R.T. goals with a focus on your primary field of interest. I’m glad to know I’ve been on the right track. As a business owner, designer, and developer, I’m constantly trying to improve on my tools. Brendon though gives a more structured method:

Research what 3 skills make people great in your primary field of interest. Learn those. Then, understand what skills you’ll need to have in 5 years. Develop those. Boom.

Section One: Personal Habits // Habit 2 Generate Energy

Again, Brendon is just speaking to me. Tackling burnout, he describes one of his ultra-powerful clients and how there was a lack of energy to the point of messing with a marriage.

Going all in, all the time without a thought on sleep or how much caffeine I’m taking is a long time habit developed sometime in my high school years. Trying to be the best in the class, getting a portfolio ready, and feeling that it was my only chance to get into college drove me to disrupt my energy.

It was, at first, a badge of honor. The students would all get together, puff up their chests, and exclaim how much sleep they were running on until the day that our Commercial Art professor told us that the lack of sleep was a sign that we weren’t doing something right. 

In my case, it was procrastination. Somehow, things filled my time until I was staying up all night to meet a deadline. 

As I’ve grown older, it continually feels like energy is something that needs to be replaced by outside elements. I’ve run through possibilities from taking more vitamins, increasing coffee, or even wondering what it would be like if I could muster up the courage to ask for some medication. The author tackles that too.

In High Performance Habits, Brendon points out that we turn outward instead of inward for the solution.

The actual way to deal with a lack of energy? Focus on your physical and mental well-being. Whether that’s sleeping more simply reducing the tension between each transition in the day. 

According to High Performance Habits, high achievers visualize joy and how they can bring it into their lives. This is something that I have never really done – unless I’m decluttering my house Konmari style. High performers don’t just reflect on what they’re grateful for, they actively look for ways of including joy into what they do. 

Section One: Personal Habits // Habit 3 Raise Necessity

Although this habit didn’t necessarily resonate with me like the others, I was able to capture some gems and apply them to my entrepreneurial journey so far. Essentially, you dive into the internal and external reasons for being your best.

Internally, you can focus on your Identity and Obsession. 

The former is all about completing everything you do in excellence but for me, this has resulted in missing deadlines or procrastinating because I’m so caught up in “doing it perfectly” whereas now, it’s about getting the shit done and out the door. 

High performers tend to tie the high standards to who they are and they don’t hide from answering questions like, “Did I perform in excellence today?”

When it comes to high performers, the word obsession doesn’t have the negative meaning that we typically think of. Being obsessive simply refers to mastering a specific topic. Living and breathing that topic. 

Don’t have something to be obsessed about? Brendon wants you to keep looking for it. Experiment and get creative. 

The external forces for creating necessity are Duty and Urgency. 

A high achiever has a sense of duty to serve even when it causes a short-term issue. Brendon gives the example of a parent getting up to comfort their kiddo even though they’d rather roll over and pretend they’re fast asleep. This sacrifice is seen as positive – well, so says Brendon.

Brendon states that “High performers are driven to get things done because they recognize that their timeliness affects other people.” 

Ah, deadlines. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love deadlines because they keep me accountable and I can focus on the end-game. I can count how many deadlines I’ve met, and failed to meet. It’s the sign that I’m either killing it or failing at it – whatever “it” is.

Brendon also covers fake deadlines. I actually like fake deadlines. They help me stay on track with the project and allow space for final changes to design projects. 

So how do we raise necessity in our lives?

Know your A-game, know your why, and level up your squad. 

Brendon suggests knowing who needs you at the top of your game that day, hour, or minute. High achievers should ask themselves whether they brought their A-game and have accountability buddies.

Your why is important when it comes to being a business owner or high performer. High achievers or performers, tell others their goals? Why? So that they’re so embarrassed about not succeeding in them that they work extra hard? Sort of. Knowing and stating your WHY and goals keeps you accountable to them.

Listening to the audiobook, every time Brendon would say “squad” I thought of Taylor Swift. But whatevs, he’s right. I’ve proven this multiple times. You are who you surround yourself with. 

Before I became an overachiever in high school, I was the opposite. My grades were horrible and, although I knew it, I didn’t see how to fix them. My mother, an immigrant who was constantly working and managing a bad marriage couldn’t have helped me even if she wanted to. I was also the oldest and only dreamt of having a big sister who would begrudgingly help me.

So I did the next best thing. I became friends with the smart girls. Not only did I have friends because they were pretty fun gals, but they were also smart. They helped me with homework, in class, anything. Somehow, just being around them, my grades got better in high school to the point where I balanced AP classes, multiple organizations, and editor of the school newspaper – to name a few.

I’ve been doing this since then. I’m not saying I’ll completely ignore you if you aren’t an overachieving small business owner, it’s just that those are the people I tend to seek out. To share in their knowledge and positivity.

So yeah, your squad is important.

Overall, I liked this section from the book but it has me wondering whether I really am a high achiever and whether I want to be.

It seems like being an average person is so much easier! But, average, aka mediocre, isn’t what I want to be. It’s not the kind of person others talk about (in a good way) or admire. Most importantly, if I’m mediocre, it’s not going to be a good representation of the BIPOC community.

Note: I did the practices he mentions but this article would have been way too long! Instead, it’s better if you do them yourself. Then, we can hop on a Zoom call and chat about what we learned