High Performance Habits: Part 2

Welcome back! I am so happy you are here reading and ready to learn about the 3 social habits. If you haven’t had a chance to read part 1, no worries you can find that post here. Now let’s dive in, we don’t want to waste anytime! The high performance habits covered below are: increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage.

4. INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY. Did you know that the average American spends about 4 hours watching television a day? The irony to that is so many people wish they had more time in their day, but really the time they have isn’t used to it’s potential.

Focus on what matters the most, everyday. Evaluate your day and how you are spending your time.

Something that Michael and I do is time block our calendar and I know I have discussed this before. From the time we wake up, to the time we go to bed, the space is filled. Break down your tasks and give them a home in your planner. It’s okay when there are days where the schedule changes because something comes up. What is not okay is that most of us have no idea how much extra time we could have to be working on our life’s work. Every Sunday I fill in my planner with my work meetings for the next week and then focus on the open areas after.

We fill the time so that tasks have the time they need to be completed and so we can give the task its full time and attention it deserves. Also, give yourself a minute or so to transition into the next task. The transition is important to recognize because you allow yourself to “change hats” and mentally move onto the next task knowing you gave your all in the previous one. Sometimes when we only have the end goal in mind, its daunting to think about how long it will take to get the entire project completed. Break the project down into steps so you can make it more manageable. Below is an example of what I do when I need to write a blog article.

• Step 1 - 30 minutes: Brainstorm article topics

• Step 2 - 30 minutes: Outline one of the article topics

• Step 3 - 30 minutes: Perform research for your first draft

• Step 4 - 30 minutes: Write a draft of the article

• Step 5 - 30 minutes: Finish draft of article

The greatest thing about the steps is that it creates little wins. I don’t need to wait until the blog is done to have a win because every completed step along the way is equally important. Increasing productivity is an option for everyone, it just takes a little time to start and get into the rhythm. Be patient and go easy on yourself. Taking the time to make these changes is a win in itself. You are stronger than you think, please give yourself some credit. You can’t learn or evolve without starting something new!

Are you focusing on the activites that will help you move your life forward?

What acitivites will you push to the side? Push away the things that do not matter.

5. DEVELOP INFLUENCE. You are always influencing people whether you know it or not. Walk into your day, showing up how you want to truly be seen. Your role models are doing the same exact thing. Be like them, act like them. When you think about how you want to influence others you create more intention with your actions. Intention gives you purpose, as well as motivation to achieve that purpose. Be intentional with every relationship that you have. What legacy do you want to leave for the people around you?

Trust is an is essential ingredient in influence.

There are so many skills that are needed to create positive influence. Listening, leading, and reinforcing are a big part of influencing.  Listening is a great gift. Through listening we release judgments and uncover something new while we inquire and learn. Everyone wants to be heard and acknowledged and in order to be heard someone on the other end needs to be listening. With listening, you have the opportunity to reinforce positive actions and thoughts. Reinforcement increases self-confidence in others and in turn, inspires people to do their best work.

Every habit ties into one another, the goal is to be your best person while helping others be their best as well. That is how leaders are born, they are encouraging others to be their best self. Encourage in a positive manner, let failure be okay. Inspire courage and action. Challenge the people around you, challenge how they show up, challenge their energy, challenge their contributions, challenge their thinking. Challenge them to be better. Challenges are an excellent opportunity for growth.

What steps will you take to become an active, great listener?

How will you challenge yourself and the people around you to be better?

6. DEMONSTRATE COURAGE. Doing something, even in the presence of fear is what courage means to me. Dig deep to figure out what you are fearful of. A great fear for many is the fear of failing. When we fail, we see it as a sign of weakness, and it should be seen as an opportunity to learn. With a learning mindset, we promote growth, purpose, and belonging within our mind. Learning something new is difficult and scary because it’s new but failure is not a lost experience, it’s always a learning experience.

In order to demonstrate courage, you must speak up for yourself and what you believe in. Don’t suffer in your life in silence. Do the people around you truly know who you are and what you want? Are you nervous people will judge you for who you truly are? Judgement is scary and shuts us down but when you live your true self you actually become more courageous. Challenge yourself and go outside of your comfort zone, that’s where you grow and become more familiar with the scary actions that start to become less scary.

The more we practice our acts of courage, the easier they become.

Ask for help, we have this notion that asking for help is a weakness but showing your vulnerability is an act of courage and improves relationships with the people around you. Again, suffering in silence will never help you grow. You are not a burden; people want to support and cheer you on in your journey. The biggest gift of all is being able to help others, so allow others to receive that gift from you. Surround yourself with other people who are crushing their goals, the people around you need to be inspiring you. If you hang out with people who don’t have goals and watch TV all day… you will get sucked into that. Be around people who WOW you. Courage will become automatic because you will want to be like those people. When you are seeing their courage and progress all the time, you will take the actions to do that for yourself. Take bold actions!

What do you need to be more courageous about?

Are you surrounding yourself with the right people?

How are you going to apply these habits in your life? When are you going to start? Please let us know in the comment section below!

Explore more. Adventure awaits.