Journey of a High Performer

There isn’t a lot of sympathy for High Performers. Why should there be? They get all the credit, all the fame, all the resources. People who perform at a high level lead good lives.

Or so we think.

If you want to be the top doctor, the top lawyer, the top entrepreneur, you need to work hard and make a lot of sacrifices. But no one is forcing you to do it. There’s just something inside of you that is driven, that wants more. And this part of you can’t be pushed aside. It demands your attention.

It’s hard for the majority of people to understand this mindset. It’s hard for people to sympathize because when viewed from the outside, the struggles of a High Performer appear to be a self-inflicted wound. Thus, the Journey of a High Performer can be a lonely one.

It’s hard to generalize where the journey starts. Is it childhood? Or maybe a major life-changing event happened? Many people become High Performers after going through training in the military. But when you get the bug, you just want to do great things and you’ll stop at nothing to achieve it.

Most people don’t like risk but taking risk is necessary to achieve great things. This creates the first divide between the High Performer and the rest of the world. There is a tension of, “You want to do great things? Take the risk, but don’t complain if you fall flat on your face. Most of us play it safe. You should always be safe.”

If you succeed, people applaud you, but they don’t quite understand the struggle, the sacrifice needed. If you fail, it’s a different story. If people are kind, they will reassure you and encourage you to take less risk. If they are cruel, they will say something along the lines of “I told you so.” In either case, they still don’t quite understand.

Would God understand? Maybe. Depends on your belief system. Perhaps worth a chat another day.

The “Chez Eric” brand is looking to explore this tension between the High Performer and the rest of society. This tension is at the core of class warfare and economic disparity which spill over into other controversial topics such as inequities in race and gender. I don’t have all the answers quite yet but while I have your attention: Thank you for subscribing to the Newsletter and keeping me company.