Two Key Characteristics of High Achievers
Do you ever look at a co-worker, family member, or friend, and think, “damn, she’s really got it together”?
Maybe she has a great job and a great body. She’s got a couple degrees on the wall, and she’s got money coming in from her side business.
When you have a conversation with her, you feel like you’re the only person in the room.
Good things are always coming her way. She’s the stereotypical high achiever.
Those things don’t happen accidentally. Some people might be lucky, but luck will always run out.
When you encounter the person I described above, you'll find she achieved her success through hard work and relentless determination. But she will have two other characteristics, qualities that you can cultivate in yourself to become a high achiever as well.
Those characteristics are a focus on a process, and an ability to delay gratification.
High achievers are process oriented
“Goals are about the results you want to achieve,” says James Clear in his book, Atomic Habits. “Systems are about the processes that lead you to those results.”
Any schmuck can set a goal.
I want to lose 30 pounds.
I’m going to go back to grad school to get an MBA.
These are all admirable goals. But what usually happens to those goals? We talk about them for a few days or weeks, maybe take a step in the right direction, but we almost always quit before we reach them.
That’s why the gym is packed in January and back to normal in February.
As Clear says, “winners and losers have the same goals.” If that premise holds true, then goal setting isn’t the difference maker.
High achievers may set goals, but they put more weight on the process than the goal. They care more about the how will I get there than the where am I going.
When you focus on building and following a process, you start accomplishing goals as a result. But if you just focus on achieving a goal, you may not achieve it. And if you do, then achieving the goal marks the end.
A process is something that is perpetual and delivers you constant achievement.
Here’s a real example: Last year, I set a goal to read 24 books, but I didn’t come up with a process. I ended the year with 20 books complete.
This year, I didn’t set a goal for number of books, but I did come up with a process: five days a week, I spend about 80 minutes on the train, so I decided to make sure I’m reading when I’m on the train.
Not scrolling Instagram.
Not watching Netflix.
Reading.
I also make sure I have a book with me wherever I go. Whether I’m going to a doctor’s appointment or I’m sitting in the airport, I always have at least one book with me.
These two things alone – this simple process – has allowed me to finish ten books so far this year. At that pace, I will easily read 24 books.
Goals can be gamed - a process cannot
Let’s go back to my 24 book goal. I could decide to read a bunch of short books just to hit my goal. But by changing the emphasis from number of books read to the time I spend reading, I have no incentive to read short books that don’t add value.
The point of reading is to learn. By implementing a process that emphasizes time spent reading, I end up reading to learn, not just for the sake of churning out books.
Orient yourself toward a process, and you will see ever improving results. Orient yourself toward results, and you are destined for disappointment.
High achievers delay gratification
Willpower can be strengthened just like any muscle in your body. As you build your willpower muscle in one area – the gym, the kitchen, with your finances – that discipline spills over to other parts of your life.
Delaying gratification is just another way to talk about willpower.
Can you wait to buy that TV until you have the cash, or do you put it on a Best Buy credit card?
Can you resist the temptation of a paycheck long enough to get through college?
Can you skip happy hour when you know you should be at home working on your business?
Looking from the outside, we might think – “yeah, it’s easy for those people to delay gratification because they’re high achievers.”
In reality, being a high achiever doesn’t give you the ability to delay gratification. Delaying gratification gives you the ability to be a high achiever.
Don't buy the fancy crap
I recently read a great example about delaying gratification.
Brad delayed gratification by not buying himself a Porsche until he could pay cash for it. When Brad had saved $80k, he headed to the Porsche dealership, ready to buy his dream car.
While he was in the dealership, several factors kept him from pulling the trigger. He walked out, took the $80k, and spent it on a rental property the next week.
In less than 10 years, Brad figures that property has increased his net worth by about $180k. The car would’ve decreased his net worth by about $70k in the same time period.
That’s a big difference from one simple decision – a decision that was the result of the ability to delay gratification.
Don't give in to every whim
How many happy hours have you been to this month?
How many of those happy hours were planned in advance versus a 5:30 “this day was shit, let’s get a beer” happy hour?
There’s nothing wrong with getting a beer with co-workers now and then. But it shouldn’t be your priority or your norm.
Here are a few things that high achievers prioritize over happy hour:
Going to the gym
Building their side business
High achievers relentlessly delay gratification in favor of building their bodies, minds, and businesses.
They might go to a happy hour occasionally, but it will likely be planned in advance (so they can adjust their workout schedule), and it might even be a reward for working diligently on something for a long period of time.
If you’ve read this far, you probably fit into one of two categories:
High achievers
Aspiring high achievers
If you’re the former, do you agree? What would you add?
If you’re the latter, it’s time to get to work. Just like most self-improvement, it’s simple but not easy. Will you put in the work?
