Outperformers think of food as fuel. If you give it the right fuel, your body will perform unbelievably for you. But, just like your car, you cannot give it diesel if it takes unleaded. And you cannot drive it on an empty tank. The healthier your diet, the better you’ll perform every day.

Exercise is the most powerful drug on the market for enhancing your life. And it’s FREE. It should be taken consistently, and preferably, taken in the morning. It decreases stress, increases happiness and boosts productivity.

Snoozing your alarm could be indicative of:

1. poor quality of sleep
2. lack of quantity of sleep
3. missing a zest for life

Most people will waste roughly 20 minutes a day snoozing their alarm. Commit to getting out of bed immediately when your alarm goes off and doing something productive, like exercise or quiet meditation. You’ll be setting yourself up for a great day.

The word “breakfast” comes from ‘breaking-a-fast,” and this is why it’s so important to put good quality fuel in your body (including protein) within 30 minutes of waking up. Ideally, you want to look for a low-fat protein source of about 20 grams. Eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt and protein shakes are all good choices.

Drinking more water is one of the single best things you can do for your metabolism, mental alertness, cognitive processing, nutrient transport, toxin removal and energy levels. Drinking at least 64 ounces of water everyday is key to Outperforming!

Sickness is indicative of a poor functioning immune system. Usually this stems from excess stress, lack of recovery (sleep) and poor nutrition. If you find yourself feeling run down and getting sick often, improvement in any of these areas will immediately help.

Outperforming the norm and achieving great successes are wonderful, but it’s only as great as the quality of your relationships with others. The old school way of succeeding was to put your head down and get it done yourself, whatever the cost. The Outperforming new school way of succeeding is to value the important people in your life…and those who have helped you along the way.

The purpose of business, and life, is to serve and contribute to others. If you want to make more money, focus on serving more people and serving them BETTER. If you want to be happier in your general life, focus on how much you’re contributing to others.

Studies have shown that the highest performing people on the planet are also the ones who demonstrate the most gratitude. They are grateful for the gifts they’ve been given and they are driven to use them to the best of their abilities. Anytime it seems that things aren’t going your way, reframe by thinking of the things you HAVE, not about the things you lack.

Most studies will show that people become the average of the 5 people they are closest to…in terms of health, wealth and happiness. One of the best strategies to enhance your life is to focus on who you’re surrounding yourself with. Make a concerted effort to spend more time with people who “pull you up” and all aspects of your life will likely improve with it.

Outperformers have an extremely high “personal psychology of excellence,” which means they demand more of themselves than others expect. If you’re feeling pressure to perform (in any aspect of your life), it’s probably because you’re trying to live up to someone’s standards. Start to value yourself and measure your results against your OWN standards, which should always be higher than those from anyone else.

Commitment is important in all areas of your life. A key component to peak performance is your mindset. When Outperformers decide they are going to do something, they are in it for the long haul. There’s no turning back. If you’ve made some commitments in the past and struggled to honor them, thinking about the MEANING behind doing what you’re doing. If you initially committed to something, it was because it had meaning and an emotional component for you. Remind yourself of these and you’ll stay more committed.

We’re all busy people. Too much to do in too little time. But Outperforming starts with knowing what needs to get done and prioritizing it by what is important, rather than what is urgent. If you have no To Do List currently, please start there. Don’t just take whatever life throws at you. If you already have a To Do List, look at it in the morning (or the night before) and rank the items in terms of what matters and what is important to you. Your productivity will skyrocket.

Goals are important (you probably know that). Are you setting them? If you are, there are a few key strategies that will enhance your goal setting:

1. Write them down. Until you make your goals tangible they are nothing more than a wish…or a dream.
2. Look at your goals. DAILY. Don’t let it slip your mind. There should never be a question what you’re after.
3. Goals are meaningless if you’re not performing the necessary actions to support them. Great achievements don’t happen from the sidelines. Take action and get in the game.
4. Share your goals and have others hold you accountable. Social motivation matters…BIG time.
5. Know your purpose behind your goals. If your purpose is not strong enough to get you through the tough times, you may need to find a new purpose. Or find new goals.

Outperformers all perform these five things, which is why they are wildly successful at achieving their goals.

Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real. Most of what we fear will NEVER happen.

The fastest way to combat fear is to change your “What If” statements:

Fear = “What if [insert negative statement]”

Fearlessness = “What if [insert positive statement]”

Say you’ve always wanted to start a new business…

Fear = What if I fail? What if people don’t buy my product? What if I’m not good enough? What if now is not the right time?

Fearlessness = What if I succeed? What if MANY people buy my product? What if I’m fully capable? What if now is the perfect time?

Simple as it sounds, this is exactly how Outperformers think to see opportunities instead of obstacles.

Staying present is one of the most difficult things to do in our current society. Everyone is multi-tasking and the level of cognitive drift is extreme.

BE WHERE YOU ARE. This means, when you are working on a task or with another person, give it your full attention. Eliminate distractions.

Think about how you learned when you were in school – you were given time “blocks” to learn certain subjects. And this was highly effective because it gave you a singular focus. Outperformers are not better multi-taskers. They’re better at doing ONE thing, doing it well, then moving onto the next thing.

Resiliency is essential for Outperforming. Every now and then, life is going to deal us a bad hand. And the way we respond to this adversity determines our destiny.

We can either condition the mindset that it was my fault, it doesn’t work and it’s never going to work. OR we can condition the mindset that other factors are to blame, it didn’t work this time but it’s going to work in the future. It’s your CHOICE.

Again, such a simple shift in mindset makes a big difference.

Your communication style (your tone), facial expressions and body language display your confidence and how people perceive you. Studies have shown that more than two-thirds of how people perceive you is non-verbal.

Here are some tips for improving your confidence and personal appearance:

• Dress for success. This doesn’t mean spending a lot of money on clothes but it DOES mean taking pride in your appearance and what you’re wearing. It says something about you…before you even open your mouth.
• Stand up tall with shoulder blades back and chest out. This is a posture of confidence and self-assurance. Head down and hunched over is the exact opposite.
• Give a firm handshake and look people in the eye. Nobody wants the wet noodle handshake as their first impression.
• Say what you mean and mean what you say. Stand up for what you believe in. Even if everyone doesn’t necessarily agree with you, they’ll respect you for it.

And don’t worry about people perceiving you as “arrogant.” The only people who are bothered by confidence are the ones who don’t have it.

Connection to deeper meaning behind what you’re doing is a powerful attribute of Outperformers. When faith is greater than fear, you can accomplish almost anything. There’s no longer anything holding you back. Spirituality lessens stress and pressure by knowing that, no matter how bad things may seem at times, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Outperformers have created a different mindset where success is the only option. They use words like can, will, definitely and today.

These words condition their psychology that failure is not an option. There is no reason for a Plan B when you’re fully committed to your Plan A.

Professional athletes focus on conditioning their body to withstand the rigors of their sport. Why should you be any different?

In many ways, being a TRUE Outperformer is more difficult than being a professional athlete. You don’t have an offseason. Other than a couple weeks of vacation each year, your opportunity to have downtime and recharge your batteries is minimal. You need to take advantage of it.

By CONDITIONING your body healthy (through exercise, nutrition, hydration and sleep), you’ll maximize your productivity and impact, as well as minimize the lost time due to stress and sickness.

These cravings most often occur because you’re under-caloried early in the day, meaning you’re not eating ENOUGH. Focus on having a solid breakfast, mid-morning snack and lunch, and watch what happens to your cravings at night. You’ll notice an immediate decrease and it will no longer be a constant battle of nighttime willpower.

Most people are not paid what they’re worth because they lack confidence. Sorry, it’s true. They don’t believe they’re valuable so they settle for less than they deserve.

Believe differently. What you’re currently getting paid is nothing more than an expression of the value you’re contributing…to a business or to society.

Want more? Contribute more value and confidently believe you’re WORTH it.

Talents are something you’re born with. They are God-given. Talents are also overrated.

Skills are developed through hard work, perseverance and determination. Skills are priceless.

Highly developed skills will ALWAYS outweigh ingrained talents (athletically or otherwise). Outperformers determine what skills they’ll need to be successful and they pay the price of admission to improve them.

Wow, what a simple question! I’m guessing you answered 4 or 5 (and rightfully so). We’re ALL busy people.

The basic premise of the question revolves around how you’re investing your time towards your priorities and the things that are important to you…not necessarily the things that are urgent.

If there’s something you want to get done in your life but you haven’t been able to “find time,” ask yourself if you’re wasting time on things that are not IMPORTANT. Latest stats have shown that the average person spends 30+ hours/week watching TV, movies and on social media. Think about it.

Outperformers are no busier than you or I – they are just better investment managers of their time.