5 Key Steps to Top Performance

Top performance is within your reach. You can achieve so much you'll blow your own socks off. And when you put in the effort, total commitment, and execute your plans effectively, you will get a high that will lift you to a whole new level.

Tyler Perry. Public Domain. Source: Army.mil, Slideshow Hollywood sends greetings to troops during 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Believe me, work can be fun when you get recognition, and here's how to make it happen. But be warned. You only get a high when you are totally engaged and performing at the edge of your personal envelope.

Fluffing around and shuffling papers or waiting for the boss' orders do not make for a happy you. You can almost hear the self respect going down the gurgler. Talk about a lose-lose situation. And it does NOT have to be this way.

Life can be a high performance sport and you can take charge of your own play. So, don't wait for someone to show you how you fit in. GET STUCK IN!

Eli Roth. Public Domain. Wikimedia CC

1. Are you up to it? Assess your capabilities and talents
Find out the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be effective in each task. Find out if your own capabilities and talents are able to respond to these requirements. If you don't honestly have it, get out and look for another job. The earlier you do it, the better it is for you.

The worst thing about a career ladder is finding out you've got it leaning on the wrong building! If your match with requirements is weak, go back to school and learn the skills you need. That is, of course, if you really like your job. If not, figure out what is really a grabber for you and get those skills.

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Fairbanks and Chaplin, Wall Street Rally, New York Times, 1918. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Find out if the job you are in is the job that suits your talents and abilities. If not, you are wasting your time. Get this book and learn how to find this out.

2. Develop a personal development plan
What do you want? What skills do you need to get it? Step by step. Write this plan down. Use diagrams if you can. It gets clearer when you have to sort it out on paper.

Do not make this another random activity that you do when you have the time. It is not an insert into your day. It is a plan that you seriously undertake. Put a schedule and monitor yourself at strategic points which you mark in your plan.

Identify the resources you need and put this plan in place. Look into what your local learning institutions offer.

Find out if someone within your circle can be a mentor to you. You will be surprised at how many resources are available when you truly hunt them down.

People really love to help others with advice and ideas if you make it interesting for them. Don't forget to include incentives and rewards for hitting your target. You owe it to yourself.

Navajo Practicing for a Competition. Source: aesta1

3. Take a task each day and do it
You don't leave this plan lying around until the next evaluation. Start with the easy tasks first. Spend time improving your knowledge and skills. The more skills you have, the more you can contribute and the sooner you hit the turbo charger.

Determine the skills that are often called for in your area of interest beyond your job. Work hard at these. Take courses if you have to. Apprentice with someone who is very good at your listed items. Develop one or two skills that you truly enjoy and be the best around in those so folks will call on you when they need that talent.

The more people respect your expertise, the more confident you become. As you get confident in one skill, move to one closest to this so you won't have a steep learning curve. Work at this, too. Remember, choose the ones you enjoy and you'll be whistling, too.

When you're doing what you like, you'll make people around you feel better too and you'll be called on more often to do new things. And when you get great feedback, the turbo charger spools up another thousand RPM.

4. Set your standards of performance
Look closely and assess your own performance.

Yes, it is important that you not only accomplish the tasks you need to do but these should be at even higher standards than what your organization sets.

This is your way to credibility.

5. Monitor your performance and reward yourself for successes
Your self development plan when developed, step by step will have clear deliverables at important points. A certificate. A statement of competence. An attagirl from the boss. Monitor the completion of these deliverables.

When you have successfully accomplished the deliverables, reward yourself. Turbo charging is about performing better because you feel better about yourself.

When you monitor your progress, be aware of feedback from people you work with. While you will not allow these to influence your progress, know what they like and resent. You can then develop strategies to manage these.

Remember that lots of folks who are not big enough to help you are big enough to hurt you, so don't make enemies and do compliment others.