High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way [Paperback] Brendon Burchard Paperback – April 1, 2018

I am so annoyed that this book was sitting as part of my digital library unread for years! Luckily, I have been going through my library to see if I want to read something there, and this book popped up. I am beyond thankful it did. It has to go to my top 10, maybe 5, books I have ever read.This book is very different from the average self-help hacks and quick advice. It is a comprehensive guide to how to start living a better life. It won't have all the answers, but it will be the best starting point you can find. It will be an eye opener and a guide to how to achieve things that matter to you.I love it.

This book gives you a basic guide for life and having a successful career which is a monumental achievement after years of research and coaching by Burchard. This book is the real deal. The summary of the entire book, which is only 4 pages, should have been put at the beginning but is at the very end. The book explains that you need to have the habit and skill of 1.) clarity, i.e. goal setting, 2.) Energy, i.e. maintaining physical and mental health through positive psychology, 3.) Necessity, i.e. psychological drive or motivation through identity, 4.) Productivity, i.e. efficient work on your most important field of interest, 5.) Influence, i.e ability to persuade other people or social skills, 6.) Courage, i.e. the ability to control fear and 7.) Confidence, i.e. optimism about your abilities. Burchard goes through and gives his take on the key to each of these skills, but you can get a lot more information from other sources, i.e. this book is just a roadmap to professional development (and Burchard says so much at the end of his book).High Performance Habits (HPH) has a number of bonuses that will exceed your expectations. First, you can log in and take a 5 minute test to find which HPH you need to work on the most. Second, the book goes through the three traps that will ruin your career and/or life, i.e. superiority, dissatisfaction, and neglect, despite your best habits. (Honestly, this section of HPH was truly original and worth the price of the book alone.) Third, you get tons of free online courses on all the High Performance Habits. Finally, you get the skills to acquire confidence, i.e. competence, congruency, and connecting.High Performance Habits (HPH) does not have all the answers, and I would recommend you look to experts in the individual habits for really in depth knowledge. I would recommend "Succeed" by Heidi Halvorson for "clarity." I would recommend "Fully Charged" by Tom Rath and "Positivity" by Barbara Fredrickson for "energy." I would recommend "Find Your Why" by Simon Sinek for "necessity." I would recommend "Deep Work" by Cal Newport for "productivity." I would also recommend "The Talent Code" and "The Little Book of Talent" by Daniel Coyle. I would recommend Tony Robbins program "Influence" for the "influence habit." Finally, I would recommend "Agency" by Paul Napper and Anthony Rao and "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" by Susan Jeffers for "courage." I would recommend "The Confidence Gap" bye Russ Harris for more information on gaining confidence.This book is a must read and well worth the money. You probably can go and get HPH for free by purchasing the book directly from Brendon Dot Com. Competitive corporations are paying to have their employees trained in these habits so you need to read this book just to stay competitive and up to date. This book was so good I read the endnotes and I never do that. A lot of people criticize the book because a lot of the habits have received attention from other authors but this book integrates and synthesizes all of the self help and professional development work into one cohesive plan to succeed professionally which is new. If you ever wondered whyother people were succeeding around you and what you were missing then this book is for you.Postscript: Burchard has automated the 7 Habits into a new app called "growthday" where you are prompted to stick to the program. There are training videos from experts on the 7 Habits. Burchard has added 3 more habits that you need to be successful. One of them is "Resilience," i.e. psychological resilience, and that is covered in detail by the book "Build Your Resilience" authored by therapist Donald Robertson. If you find out what the other two are then please leave me a note in the replies below.

I read a lot of leadership and self-improvement books; this has become one of my favorites for practical, targeted help and motivation.

Burchard is a High Performance coach, and acknowledged as one of the best and most popular in the world (he reminds the reader, a tad too often.) His contribution is in concert with that of Aristotle’s view that: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”High performance is succeeding beyond standard norms, consistently over the long term. High performers are, nevertheless, less stressed, healthier and happier than their peers. And high performers’ work, has nothing directly to do with traditional rewards.Many high achievers too often feel confused and unfocused, and that they are not making the impact or progress they once did. Having achieved, many feel that they are plateauing at best, or failing at worst, and this despite putting in punishing effort, at great personal expense.High performers’ secret is their habits, and Burchard presents a bucket full of good ideas from which you will no doubt find many that are very helpful in propelling or reinvigorating your success.The accepted norm seems to be “Pretend you’re not working hard, so your friends are impressed with your leisurely posts and photos at breakfasts, but yes, work hard. Don’t wait for instruction, because there are no rules. Try to keep your head on, because it’s a madhouse here. Ask questions, but don’t expect anyone to know the answers... You’ll never figure anything out—just keep adapting, because tomorrow everything changes again.”The zeitgeist has clearly changed the rules of success, which is far more a function of personal effectiveness than ever before.The right habits for your context, professional and social, can dramatically increase your results, as well as the overall quality of your life. Identifying what is right for you is a very personal activity.Burchard presents a six-part, high performance programme, divided into two-parts: personal and social.The ‘personal habits’ are comprised of clarity as to what you want to achieve; having the energy to achieve this; and raising the intensity to make this happen.The ‘social habits’ are comprised of influencing others to advance your productivity; impacting others positively to be more productive; and appreciating that success is on the other side of the struggle - never before.It starts with clarity. Just consider what was clearly most important to you at 20 and each decade thereafter to see the need for an annual review as a first step. Clarity requires answering three deceptively simple questions: Who am I? What do I value, and what are my strengths and weaknesses? (This should be done very slowly, very thoughtfully, and in writing.)Once this is clear, you can formulate your goals and your plans. “Studies show that having a specific plan attached to your goals… can more than double the likelihood of achieving a challenging goal,” Burchard claims.But there is an important difference between “know thyself” and “imagine thyself.” High performers are more focused on imagining a positive version of themselves in the future, that they pursue with vigour.To perform at a very high level also requires a very clear idea of the skill sets that you need to develop now, to succeed in the future in your primary field of interest. This field should be an area in which you can become excellent, and contribute to others. It is almost a tautology that life success (in whatever way you measure it,) comes from adding value to the lives of others – whether it is making their cars go faster, educating them or their children, or enabling them to increase their wealth.The second high performance habit, is generating energy. Sleeping well, (yes, the 20th century aspiration of sleeping as little as you can, is counterproductive,) eating well, and exercising daily.A habit I have not seen mentioned before, is enhancing energy by managing transitions. We move from one activity to another without a break in our focus or feelings. Burchard describes this as “release tension, set intention.”After finishing one meeting for example, pause and simply instruct yourself to ‘release’ from it. Repeat the word until you are released from its mindset and feelings. Then focus on the mindset and feeling you intend for the next one. To convince yourself of the value, try this before you enter your home this evening. Release from your work demands and efforts, and intend to be the type of partner, mom or dad you really wish to be. Only then open the front door.The third high performance habit is to “Raise Necessity”. Necessity differs from the weaker version – desire. Necessity demands action. Necessity doesn’t permit you to wish or hope to succeed, it consistently forces you to work hard, stay disciplined, and push yourself.For something to be chosen by you as your ‘necessity’, it must be congruent with your ideal self: it must be something you see as your ‘duty’, and it must be something you know is urgently required.To build this ‘necessity’ to white heat, remind yourself of who needs you to succeed at this. Tell others because social pressure works! And spend a lot of time with people who challenge and inspire you.The sixth high performance habit is to “Demonstrate Courage”. Mark Twain described courage as “resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” Only experience reduces fear and stress.All situations requiring courage involve risk, fear, and a good reason to act. There are many types of courage, some not recognized by others, such as reassigning your brother because he is not pulling his weight in your business.“If your future best self—a version of you ten years older, who is even stronger, more capable, and more successful than you imagined yourself to be—showed up on your doorstep today and looked at your current circumstances, what courageous action would that future self advise you to take right away to change your life?” Burchard asks.To be a high performer does require hard work, discipline, often boring routines, courage and coping with continual frustrations.A colleague once told me that he doesn’t go to Church every Sunday to learn something new, but to be reminded of things he already knows. So too with a large part of this book, but that doesn’t detract from its value in any way. And there are some strong techniques I haven’t come across before.Readability Light -+--- SeriousInsights High --+--- LowPractical High +---- Low*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy, and is the author of the recently released ‘Executive Update.