[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness, and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.
[00:38] Today's topic is all around the magic of raising necessity. A lot of what I'm going to discuss today is based on the book High Performance Habits by Brendan bashard. And raising necessity is one of the key habits he talks about that he's noticed that high performers use to get to their A game to get to the high levels of performance. So what does raising necessity mean? It means to be fully, emotionally committed to your goal, to that project, to a task that you're doing, but more towards your goals. And as a consequence, you're fully committed to the individual tasks that will take you there. If you don't have this feeling of necessity, it can be easy to drop the ball, especially if you don't have anyone holding you accountable for it. So for many people, for instance, who have their own business that really need to work on having this sense of necessity because there's no one on an outside perspective that demands of them a high level of performance. Sure, they might have clients they need to deliver projects to, but no one's going to come and knock on their door to write more articles, to do some more PR, to be more effective in their social media, to launch a weekly podcast episode that has to come from within. And you need to feel that sense of necessity. So there are a few key factors that enable high performers to tap into this magic of necessity. One of them is identity. They really feel it's part of their identity or you really feel this if you're a high performer watching this video or listening to this episode. It's part of their identity in the sense that they naturally feel that having this urge and this necessity to deliver to high standards of excellence, to perform at a high level, to reach their goals, is part of who they are. And just that feeling of identity can be enough to create this necessity. If you've read, for instance, the book that I talk about a lot, atomic Habits by James Clear, he explains that one of the greatest forces to help us to maintain habits in our life is to have a link with our identity. So if you think of yourself as someone who's highly fit, super sportive, really enduring, it'll be easier for you to maintain a habit of running several times a week because that's part of who you are. So it's in the same way if you believe that you're someone who delivers high standards, that you have this excellence driven and that you want to perform at a very high level. And this is part of who you are. This will create the necessity in you to deliver to that standard. So that's the first aspect of raising necessity. The second one is obsession. Most high performers tend to be slightly obsessed with their goals, their purpose, their why. And this helps them to have this feeling of necessity because it's an intrinsic motivation that pushes them forward, that pulls them forward towards delivering. And it's because they're passionate. They're passionate about what they do and they're passionate about what they want to deliver. So this necessity can really support, be supported through that obsession. It can really be nurtured by having that feeling of obsession. So obsession can sound negative and it can be important point not to turn into workaholics and workaholism, but it can be a good thing if it's just passion, because that can lead to that perseverance. The third aspect of raising necessity is duty, having a sense of duty. And this is a really interesting one because what Brendan bashard found when looking through all the different high performers is a lot of them spoke about their mission, their legacy, their contribution, their impact. And the more you have a feeling of duty, the more you feel that what you do matters will have an impact, contributes, the more you'll have that necessity because it's no longer just about you and your daily life and maybe earning some money, but it's about the impact that you're having. So this sense of duty is something that's very present with high performers. And if you're someone who is a high performer or who is on this journey to sustaining high performance, then you will notice that you also have this feeling of duty. That it's not just okay if you want to or not that day, it's something that you must do, it's part of what you want to be delivering. And the last aspect is urgency. And now what's really interesting is that when we think of urgent work, we often think of answering emails and requests from clients and customers. But this is things that we perceive as urgent. And where I feel high performers difference may be is that they perceive their important work as urgent. So if they're working on an important project, like writing a book or a long page article, something that's considered important work, that technically doesn't really have a deadline, this feels urgent to them. And therefore they're not going to get pulled in by all the urgent requests from everyone else because they have this natural sense of urgency towards the important work. And this is why so many people that are high performers are able to produce a book once a year, or every two years, or a film if they're producers, or any form of work that is important work and not just urgent requests. So this sense of urgency is something that drives them, this must be done. Now, this is something I want to work on. This is something I want to deliver. So they often have their own deadlines. If you identify with this, this is fantastic. If it's something you're doing that's wonderful, that means you're already quite naturally a high performer or you've worked on it. Now, if it's not something that you've worked on, there can be different ways in which you can improve raising necessity. So obviously you can look into how can you make this part of your identity, how can being a high performer be part of your identity? How can you tap into that obsession, that passion, that drive, that excitement? How can you create a sense of duty, right? How can you make sure that it's not just about you, but also contributing? And what can you do to make this feel more urgent? Can you create a deadline? Can you have someone hold you accountable? So that's looking at these four pillars, but there's also three other ways which you can use to raise this necessity. One of them, and that's linked to duty, is to ask yourself, who really needs your A game right now? If you don't deliver, if you screw up, if you're not showing up with lots of energy, how will this impact other people around you? And sometimes the way I think of it is I think my future clients. So people I'm not yet working with. I think if I under deliver and if I'm not present or if I don't reach out to them or if I'm not creating content, then I won't be able to help them because maybe they won't hear about me, maybe they won't be able to be in touch. And so by not showing up, by not having that necessity and being high performer, then I am preventing them from progressing and from being there for them. So I sometimes think of my future clients that need me to show up in my A game, if that makes any sense. The second aspect is to look at your peer group. Because if you have a peer group that is striving and thriving and that is encouraging you to grow, and that is full of interesting resources and books and podcasts and ideas and concepts, this will have a tremendous impact on how you show up every day. This will change and shift the way people see you and the way you see the world. And this is huge. If you're surrounded by people who do marathons, the temptation to do a marathon will be high. If you're surrounded by people who talk about Netflix shows, you're going to want to watch them so you can participate in the conversations. Nothing wrong with Netflix, and you don't have to do a marathon. But just think, how is your peer group influencing your way of thinking, your ideas, and how you're showing up each day? And the last tip is to connect with your why. Often if we don't have this sense of necessity or urgency, it's because we're not really connected with why does it matter, what's the purpose behind it? What's the point? And once you're really clear on why you're doing what you do, and you're really clear on your mission and purpose behind all of your tasks and activities and goals, then you have that fire and that really pushes and creates that sense of necessity. And when you have that, typically you can share your goals and ideas and projects with people and that will give you a sense of accountability. Also, I did this recently on a post on LinkedIn. I shared that I'm looking to publish my book in the upcoming month and I just put it out there. And that was a great part of raising necessity because no one's coming knocking on my door and asking, when's your book coming out? And so if I don't do anything for three, four, five months, no one will notice. Now, if I start telling people and asking people to hold me accountable and discussing it with my coach and other people, then suddenly I have also this external necessity as a form of pressure. So I hope all of this makes sense. I find that raising necessity is hugely important, especially if you're a business owner. Because like I said, you don't show up for a couple of days, most people won't notice. And that's okay if you need a break, but sometimes you need that extra push, that extra feeling of necessity. So remember to make it part of your identity. Continue to fuel that passion and that drive that got you started. Maybe if you have your own business, remember that sense of duty and contribution and to make this urgent, to make your important work urgent. And you can do this by asking yourself who needs you to show up to be in your A game, connect with your deeper why and check your peer group. See how this is influencing and impacting you. Once more, hope this was useful. Don't hesitate to leave a comment. A review will be amazing. Always highly, highly appreciated. And in the meantime, I'm wishing you a truly, truly wonderful and magical day.
[12:12] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. So let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.