3 Easy Ways High Performers Maintain Consistent Energy Energy has physical, emotional and mental aspects that contribute to the overall joy in your life.
By Randy Garn Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Are there people in your life that you just love being with because they have great energy? That is one of the secrets of high performers: the energy they put out into the world attracts other high performers to them. I want to share with you one of my secrets and three easy ways high performers generate energy.
The power of joy
How we feel profoundly influences how well we perform at work, social interactions and unexpected hardships. It's easy to improve on mediocrity, not as easy to improve consistently when you are a high performer. Understandably, the task feels challenging to anyone who feels the need to succeed. It can be exhausting and overwhelming when wanting to invest in relationships, families, and the rest of their lives.
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Research has shown that joy is one of the greatest predictors of the good life we all strive to achieve. Yet, if absent, could have a detrimental effect on our performance and engagement with our peers. Feeling joy allows our mind, body and emotions to obtain an overall lift, thus exceeding our attitudes and drive for success. Having confidence in the ability to choose joy in any situation is what gives high performing people the ability to generate Energy. Yes, they have the natural negative feelings we, as humans, all feel. However, they know how to prime the emotions they want to experience in advance and consciously direct their thoughts to induce positive energy. By deliberately practicing these, they stay in positive states for longer.
1. Start your morning with a question
The first tip is something you can do at the very beginning of each day. High performers will often ask themselves questions or practice visualizations of positive outcomes at the start of their day so they can generate joyous energy starting the minute they wake up. They believe their actions will be rewarded and it inserts appreciation and excitement for their day: "What can, or could, I be excited about today?" Anticipation can be just as powerful as the event itself in releasing hormones including dopamine. As much as they look forward to positive outcomes, they realistically imagine ways to handle the risk of possible stressful situations: "What might stress me out and how can I handle it in a healthy, positive way?" Asking this question out loud and in a second-person standpoint allows perspective to "self-coach" you into being prepared for every affair. As if you were helping a friend through a hard situation. Psychologists refer to this practice as "cognitive defusion" to essentially help defuse and control the problem.
Related: How 7-Figure Entrepreneurs Effectively Manage Their Energy
2. Share positive feelings
Secondly, high performers are "conscious goodness spreaders," aspiring to steer every social interaction toward joy and regularly reflecting on all things they are grateful for: "What can I do to share a moment of appreciation with someone?" A double shot of goodness comes when feeling gratitude towards someone, and another when sharing it. Doing these things consistently will contribute to feeling enthusiastic about meeting new challenges and engaging others with appreciation.
High performers don't wait for joy to spring on them; they bring it. To assist in accomplishing the habits, developing a series of triggers will substantially help. One person I know uses "notification triggers" as a way to remind him throughout the day. He will label his alarm "BRING THE JOY" to set off three times a day. When going through the motions of everyday life, his alarm conditions his mind to bring positivity in his day.
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3. Engage your body as well as your mind
My third favorite tip to share with you is that high performers pursue joy based on how they think, their focus points and how they engage and reflect on their happy moments. They themselves generate good energy. It uplifts them but also serves others. Another important factor to being a high performer is energizing the body with physical movements and breathing techniques. When you take care of your body, you also take care of your mind. This is the reason I try to get outside with my clients as frequently as possible, taking them fly fishing, horseback riding and more. Eating healthier, getting more sleep and exercising alleviates physical stress, so you can feel better and your mind can work to its fullest potential.
What's frequently forgotten is that energy is physical, emotional and mental and will heavily increase the overall joy in your life. If you care about your contributions to the world, you must care for yourself to succeed at your best.
