5 Things You Must Master To Reach High Performance

Written by: Majbrit Bøttger, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

5 Things you must master to reach success, joy, and satisfaction in life.

So many people go through their everyday life feeling frustrated, numb, or unsatisfied. The feeling of "I know I have more in me." "I have a dream, but I just don't know how to get there." "Why can't I just pull myself together?". I hear this all the time, people hitting themselves on the head for not being good enough. It's a common way of thinking but also a very wrong one. It has nothing to do with you not being good enough but rather to do with a lack of direction.

When we are children, we just do things we fail and try again without worrying about others' opinions.

That free spirit disappears as we grow older and hit the teens. Now, we want to fit in and be like everybody else. So, we adapt, we forget our dreams and sometimes even our core values because we have just followed along for too long. We have been living our life based on other people's (assumed) expectations. But at some point, we will feel the need to break free, to regain control of our life. When that need occurs and we don't know how to do it frustration shows up.

To get back in the driver's seat and move the needle towards a successful life with joy and meaning, you must master the following five:

Clarity

Everything starts with clarity.

It is merely impossible to reach your goals and dreams if you don't know exactly what they are. You don't get to order "don't". Imagine calling the local pizza house saying "I'd like to order a pizza and I don't want pineapple" that is going to be a long conversation. Figure out what you DO want and focus on that.

Clarity can be divided into two; where are you and where do you want to go, the measurable part.

Who are you and who do you want to become, the purpose part.

The measurable is extrinsic like your title, your car, your house – things that everybody can see.

Your purpose is intrinsic and is about who you want to be, what kind of role model you want to be for those you love and to the world, and how you want to contribute. What you want your legacy to be.

Be crystal clear on this and make sure there's alignment between your values and your actions.

Energy

Without the energy, you will not accomplish a fraction of what you are capable of. It sounds so basic but common sense is not always common practice.

Everybody knows that they need to sleep 7-8 hours, eat right, and exercise but they don't.

Take a look at your daily routines and see what is helping your energy and what is holding you back.

Another really important thing when it comes to energy is self-love and "me-time". This is where most people cut corners. They believe they don't have the time and that others are more important when the truth is you don't have time NOT to make the time. You need to recharge to consistently be the kind of person you want to be. It is not selfish – You have to be your number one priority!

Courage

Courage is about leaving your comfort zone and doing new things (bonus: when you do and succeed it is so much more satisfying) but courage is also about standing up for who you are and what you believe.

It can lead to some hard conversations now and then, but if surrounded by the right people it's oftentimes not as big a deal as you created it to be in your head. You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with so choose them carefully. Make sure to surround yourself with people that will support your dream and efforts, not the ones that are trying to make you stay in the same place. And remember, NEVER accept criticism from someone you wouldn't seek advice from.

Productivity

Structure your day.

Make sure you spend your time on what's important to you, things that will bring you closer to your dream or vision. Be careful not to mistake "urgent" for important and to fall into other people's (false) deadlines. Handle outbound first to make sure you are acting towards your goal as opposed to reacting to other people's agenda.

I bet you can eliminate some distractions. The average person is scrolling 90 meters on Facebook EVERY day and that is just one platform. I have saved my clients an average of two hours and 57 minutes per day just by restricting their access to social media and news into power blocks designed for just that. The same thing goes for the inbox, you have to treat it as social media and only handle it in specific time slots. If you don't you will be interrupted over and over again and that will take away focus from what matters the most.

Influence

Every time we interact with others it's an influence situation and it is up to us to make it a positive one. That is why it is a great idea to set intentions for who you want to show up as before entering the situation. Find three words that describe your best self and remind yourself of them before entering a room, that will put your behavior on your radar and I guarantee you will get better results whether you want to have your kids doing their homework or you want the summer holiday to go to Alaska.

A lot of people go through life randomly and yet they wonder why people are not listening to them. To have influence you need to be seen as a role model. People need to trust you, like you, and believe that you care about them. Set intentions and go in with the heart first, then you can never go wrong.

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Majbrit Bøttger, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Majbrit Bøttger is one out of only 200 elite Certified High-Performance Coaches (CHPC) in the world. A series of incidents left her burned out and stressed and she was forced to reinvent her life. That is why she chose to get certified. It took her life to a whole new level and she have for more than a decade been dedicated to help others reach the same level of joy and meaningfulness in their lives by improving life areas such as clarity, energy, courage, productivity and influence. She is the founder and CEO of High Performance Living and have helped people all across the world living their dream life.