Do You Really Want to Be a High Achiever?

What do you think a high achiever is? Take a minute to answer this question before I influence your answer.

When I hear the phrase high achiever, I think of people like the ones that I mentioned in the prior paragraph — Musk, Oprah, and Goggins — but I also think of myself. I think of how stressful it can be to be a high achiever; how many expectations we place on ourselves; and how we seek validation without even being conscious of it.

I’m by no means on par with Oprah, but I’ve been a high achiever most of (all of) my life. I was the kid who finished my 2nd grade math book first because along with that achievement came lunch with my teacher. I was the dork who buckled down and put serious effort into a business program I took in high school, earning me the title of “Student of the Year” two years in a row. And, I went on to become the go-to person at every accounting firm I’ve worked at because I have a reputation for being a quick study who produced high quality work.

I’m not offering this examples to brag about myself. I’m offering them as examples of what everyday high achieving can look like. You don’t have to change the world, be named one of Forbes’ richest people, or compete in 100-mile endurance runs to be a high achiever.

I like this definition from Carl Beuke, Ph.D., as posted by Psychology Today:

High achievers are often marked, unsurprisingly, by a strong motive to achieve. Less accomplished individuals are often more motivated to avoid failure.

Achievement motivated individuals have a strong desire to accomplish something important, and gain gratification from success in demanding tasks. Consequently they are willing to expend intense effort over long timespans in the pursuit of their goals.

Let’s pause here a minute to think about how you define “high achiever” one more time, and then we’ll take a look at the dark side of being a high achiever.