If you want to join the club of high achievers, say goodbye to these 6 habits

Since the Golden Globes just took place this past Sunday, which means we’re officially in awards season, I thought I would share the following story. 

A couple of years ago, I interviewed Golden Globe-winning actress Amy Poehler (of Parks and Recreation fame) when she was about to release Lucy & Desi, a documentary she produced based on the life and careers of the famed comedic duo Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

The film was a deep dive into the love, sweat, and tears they poured into their legendary show, I Love Lucy. 

Around the same time as the documentary was being made, a big-budget film called Being the Ricardos was also released (starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem). This film was also based on I Love Lucy as well as aspects of the tumultuous dynamic between the real-life couple. 

So I asked Poehler if she was worried that Kidman’s film might overshadow her own, given that the subject of the film was the same (albeit different genres and portrayals). 

Poehler’s response—I kid you not—was nothing. 

She merely shrugged her shoulders and slightly shook her head.

She wasn’t bothered by it. Not in the least. It was interesting given her enthusiastic responses to all of my other questions. 

My point is that when you’re a high achiever—meaning you have achieved some level of greatness in your field or are on track to doing so—you are so focused on what you’re doing that what the people are doing doesn’t really even register on your radar. 

So instead of talking about what high achievers do that makes them so successful, I think it’s just as important to focus on what high achievers don’t do. 

If you’re looking to get into the high achiever’s society, here are six things not to do. 

1) They time wondering about what other people are doing  

In the intro, I mentioned how Amy Poehler didn’t waste time thinking about how her film might not be successful or if it was even worth making considering that another film on the same subject was coming out at virtually the same time as her own—and starring box office icons like Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem to boot.

High achievers created their own path and they stay on track by ignoring what other people are doing and where they are going, says life coach Erin Bower. 

“Of course they encourage and help those around them, but they understand that every person is on their own unique journey,” she says. 

“They don’t listen to naysayers who discourage them by saying that what they are trying to achieve is impossible or unrealistic. They charge full speed ahead, only focusing on their own path ahead of them.”

Bower says that high achievers also don’t worry about looking stupid or silly.

Back when I began my journalism career, I used to worry about asking a ridiculous question. Now I could care less because I’m proud of my accomplishments. It’s those kinds of questions that usually give me the most insight. 

In fact, just this morning I heard a prominent newscaster on a Canadian news channel say, “Forgive my ignorance but this means the shuttle still got to the moon, right?” about the moon lander problem that threatened a space shuttle mission on January 8. 

She wasn’t worried about asking a “silly” question, and I’m sure many people were wondering the same thing themselves. 

2) Actually, they don’t waste time—period

High achievers are intentional about their days. They want to see results. So they put a deadline on goals. This adds a dose of urgency and focus, says Betsey Allen-Manning, owner and CEO of Corporate Culture Training Solutions. 

“These folks understand that time is as precious as a golden ticket, and they don’t waste it.”

Allen’s-Manning emphasizes that high achievers are proactive. They don’t waste time waiting around for things to happen. “They navigate their own success. They’re like fearless superheroes, always creating opportunities.”

This means putting a stop to scrolling social media when you could be using those precious work hours pitching existing clients or networking with new ones.

It also means getting up and going for a jog despite the bitter cold outside because we promised ourselves we would get into better shape this year.

3) They don’t live out their lives by going through the motions 

We mentioned how high achievers are intentional about what they want to accomplish on any given day: whether it’s cold-calling that dream client, getting a couple of chapters locked in on a new book, or tweaking that song they’ve composed. 

Well this starts with our mornings. 

Most high achievers say that their most creative work happens during the earliest part of the day. 

Jack Dorsey, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, Tim Cook, and Richard Branson are just a handful of high achievers who are known for waking up really early, says Michael Palmer from The Pure. 

“They know that they have to get a head start on the day and there isn’t a second to lose,” he says. “More importantly, by getting up so early, they are awake before everyone so that there are no distractions to get in the way of them and their thoughts.”

Having a productive start to the day allows you to relax more later on because you’ve gotten a lot done. It also allows you to focus on something new or playful because you’re not too busy playing catch up.

Besides the mornings, inspiration also has a knack for striking during these unstructured periods. 

4) They don’t believe that ignorance is bliss 

Catching up on the news gives successful people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Virgin America CEO David Crush the chance to keep tabs on what is happening in the world so that they know how it’s going to affect their business “and how they can develop solutions to make the world a better place,” says Palmer.

Now I don’t claim to be a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but I can tell you as a journalist that catching up on what’s happening in the news has gotten me many commissioned stories for mainstream media outlets like The Globe and Mail and ELLE USA.

For example, Marina Nemat is an Iranian-Canadian who spent two years in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison for speaking out against the country’s rigid regime. 

I saw Nemat speaking on one of Canada’s main news outlets when the mass Iranian protests were happening in 2022 and I thought how intriguing her personal story would be for a women’s media outlet like ELLE.

I got in touch with Nemat and asked if she would be open to an in-depth interview pending confirmation of a story. She was. ELLE also got on board pretty fast. 

The story was circulated on all of ELLE’s social media channels and had many Iranian women comment and thank the outlet for giving Iranian women a platform. 

I’m really proud of that story. And really, it was just an idea I got from watching the news. 

5) They don’t feel the need to be well-liked

Do you really think that people like Steve Jobs or Mukesh Ambani (CEO and Chairman of Reliance Industries, India) care whether or not people like them? 

Hardly. 

The idea of popularity can be pretty darn alluring, but the truth is that you can’t please everyone, nor should you really try, says the team at MoneyPPL. 

“No matter what you say or do, there will always be someone unhappy with your decisions. So you might as well save your energy and be yourself. This also applies to making difficult decisions if you are in a leadership position.”

After all, since high achievers are often the ones in the top positions, they’re also the ones calling the shots—which means they might have to fire someone regularly. 

6) Being plagued by procrastination

High achievers don’t wait around for inspiration to strike like some lightning bolt from the sky. They also don’t believe they need to wait for motivation to suddenly materialize for them to get moving.  

They also don’t put things off. They pull up their bootstraps and just do. 

It’s the poor performers who procrastinate and wait for the “perfect” time to get important tasks done, says author and leadership trainer Steve Ferrante. 

“High achievers maximize their time and results by prioritizing their most important high-value activities and taking action to accomplish them.”

Ferrante clarifies that procrastinating is different from prioritizing. Prioritizing is when you purposely schedule things in the order of their importance. When prioritization is done right, it can actually be beneficial, he says. 

“Procrastination is when you know what to do, and when you should do it, but you delay anyway. This is a disadvantageous behavior that hinders productivity.”

Not to mention progress and purpose. 

To get in to the High Achiever’s Club, you have to keep calm and carry on—especially when the circumstances aren’t in your favor

You have to see success as your own responsibility, says the staff at Walden University. 

Stuff can happen that hinders our progress. Call it life, bad luck, or a bad set of circumstances. 

“High achievers face these kinds of setbacks just as often as anyone else, but they don’t get discouraged by what they can’t control or use misfortune as an excuse to stop striving.”

Push through because success comes from sheer work and willpower—not the stars being all aligned in your favor.