What are the thought patterns that are typical of high performance people?

These people typically look at themselves as a continually growing and changing person. They are accomplished at seeing the bigger picture and moving forwards with conviction and a sense of resilience. A high performance person also looks for a sense of control over the future path rather than looking backwards.

To look at this in more detail, these are the 8 “Is” that are typical of a high performance person and they are the thought patterns you may wish to consider to ensure you perform at your highest level:

Integrity – You should see your own integrity as highly important in the way you deal with other people. People like to work with people they feel they can trust. It also important to give people a sense of trust in them too. Use this as a default position as opposed to one of mis-trust and cynicism as this creates healthy productive relationships. Integrity comes from saying that “I am ok” and “you are ok”.

Independence – Develop a sense of autonomy and trust yourself to make your own decisions. This will ensure you are more self reliant and proceed with a sense of self determinism and control. Encourage this independence in others through delegation too and allow others to make their own decisions, mistakes and learn for themselves.

Initiative – Look for options and be creative in the way you go about solving problems or creating new futures. Be innovative in the way you look to develop new directions. Use a range of techniques to broaden they way you think and develop strategies for the future.

Imagination – Envision yourself as being in a higher and more successful place than you are at present. Bring this imagination into reality and let it influence the way you go about your day to day work. Use your imagination to conquer your fears and dream bigger dreams for yourself and your business.

Industry – High performance people not only imagine but they have the ability to act and bring this into reality through their existing competencies and new skills they can develop. Part of this is looking at what you are good at and what skills others have who can work with you. It is in part to focus on the things that you are good at and to work on these strengths.

Identity – Be accepted for what you are. Your true identity comes from accepting yourself for who you are and acting in an authentic and stable way. This should be consistent with the values you hold. For a business this means looking at the brand of the business as being holistic and all encompassing. This relates to the many ways you present yourself and how you interact with everyone. It is good to be unique. Part of that is in understanding who you are in relation to others and the broader world out there.

Intimacy – Within psychological intimacy you are not so concerned with what others think and so you are more able to share elements of yourself without feeling you need to seek approval or be guarded. You are able to express yourself and your point of view and, as long as you do this with respect for others, people will respect you for this. This feeling of intimacy allows you to share the self identity you feel comfortable with. Intimacy is key to forming strong bonds in personal or business relationships and you can reach a place where you will give to others unconditionally without the need to have things in return. Coincidentally though it is this genuine behaviour that attracts reciprocal behaviour.

Inspiration – It is important to be inspired by what you are doing. All high performance people are doing things that they enjoy and see value in. This is so important when you set your own goals and direction in life. Without inspiration or passion for the path you have set yourself you will struggle to find the motivation to work your way through the bumpy ride that naturally follows.

When looking at people who perform at their peak, these are some of the key thought patterns and behaviours that you will see consistently. So this is the behaviour that is worth modeling if you want the same level of success.