When you take time to think about your career and life, what are you focusing on? I ask because what you are focusing on may tell you whether you are a top performer.
Daniel Teitelbaum is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Mental Toughness. In the book he suggests that top performers:
- Expect to win.
- Always keep their minds focused on the “best case scenario.”
- Know exactly what they want out of life, both short-term and long-term.
- Have a high level of self belief.
- Know how to keep themselves focused and motivated.
- Stay out of their comfort zones.
Teitelbaum also describes a Harvard School of Psychology study focused on the differences between three levels of achievers:
- Low achievers tend to focus on the past and can’t get their minds off of past defeats.
- Average achievers focus on the present, on just getting done the work they have. (for lawyers the billable work they have to do.)
- Top achievers stay laser focused on the future, on the specific victories they are planning to make happen and they consistently think about and visualize those victories.
I like this quote:
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -T.S. Eliot
Are you focused on your future and do you know the specific victory you are planning to make happen? How far can you go?