If you want to grow a successful business, you need to practice high performance strategies. These are the tactics and techniques that switch on your A-game and empower you to be productive, positive, and effective.

High performance is a commitment and a journey. It’s an attitude and a mindset too that develops through a hunger to tweak, and constantly improve.

So dive into this list of 29 strategies high performance strategies which you can try. Each of them will hit your goals, grow your business, and create a life you love.

1. Commit to self-mastery.

You can’t be your best, most effective self unless you have a deep understanding of who you are, what motivates you, and what you want to do. That’s why high performance starts with an exploration of self and a commitment to becoming the best version you can possibly be.

2. Build your habits.

You are what you repeatedly do. High-performers not only sharpen their awareness of existing habits, but they take steps to embed the positive behaviors that will help them be and do more. What do you want to achieve right now? What habits will help you get there? If you’re writing a book, commit to a daily word count. If you’re looking to lose weight, monitor your daily activity. If you want to grow sales, track your marketing and sales activity. Take steps forward everyday and success can become inevitable.

3. Reflect.

The past leaves clues, so make sure you’re not leaving valuable lessons behind you. Instead, reflect to pull out the learnings so you can grow further and faster. Reflect daily, weekly, monthl, quarterly – pick different timescales to track how far you’ve come. It’s a game-changer.

4. Capture your wins.

Giving yourself a pat on the back for a job well done isn’t boastful, instead it enables you to own your successes and appreciate your achievements. Write down what you’ve done well and use your growing list as a tool to motivate and inspire you to keep on pushing.

5. Thrive in discomfort.

High performers know they have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Leaving your comfort zone is never easy, but it’s where all the growth and learning opportunities arise. It’s why high-performers are willing to tackle things they don’t know how to do – and learn along the way.

6. Don’t be afraid to fail

No one likes to get things wrong, but the higher you aim the more likely mistakes are going to happen. High performers know they can’t always get it right. Instead, they define mistakes as part of a learning curve that allows them to get smarter, more resilient, and more successful.

7. Journaling

Everything you need is already inside of you, all you’ve got to do is tease it out. That’s why journaling is a powerful, high-performance tool. Daily journaling builds self-awareness and helps you make sense of thoughts, feelings and situations. The more clarity you get, the bolder the moves you’re able to make.

• 8. Deep work

We live in an age of information overwhelm and overload. With so much to contend with, it’s no surprise most things only get a superficial glance. Deep work can give you a competitive advantage. When you’re able to concentrate on tasks at a deeper level, you uncover insights and ideas that are impossible at the surface. It’s why high-performers give themselves the undistracted space to get into the zone, because that’s where genius resides.

• 9. Eliminate distractions

You can add insane amounts of value through your thinking, problem solving, and creativity. But if you’re always distracted, it’s almost impossible to stay focused and get to the heart of an issue. Remove distractions (such as social media, your phone, notifications), and as well as working more efficiently, you’ll produce higher quality work too.

• 10. Keep a notebook

Ideas don’t always strike when you’re ready for them. Instead, they show up when you’re out with friends, when you’re taking a walk, or when your mind is relaxed. Taking a notebook everywhere is a simple high performance strategy. It allows you to capture those unexpected ideas – and stretch them. Rather than desperately trying to cling onto a thought until you get back at your desk, you can use a notebook to empty your head – and free up bandwidth to allow the next spark to strike.

• 11. Don’t multitask

It’s a myth that multitasking helps you get more done in less time. Your brain can’t actually work on multiple tasks at once. Instead, it flits from one task to the other. Constant switching drains bandwidth and prevents you getting into your flow. Far better to focus on one thing at a time and do it well. You’ll be more productive and more effective.

• 12. Bookend your day with gratitude

Feeling thankful for the things you already have in your life is a powerful way to switch on an abundance mindset. Gratitude is also a powerful reminder to enjoy what we have today – even as you work towards your next goal. Simply write down three things you’re grateful for – and notice how that gratitude feels in your body. For a deeper practice, pick one thing and write down three reasons why you’re grateful to have it. Over time you’ll notice how this simple, but powerful high performance practice nurtures a positive mindset too.

• 13. Turn down negativity

Henry Ford famously said, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” If you want to succeed, you have to believe you can do it. This is an intentional practice that inspires high performance by getting choosy about the things that influence you. So turn off negative news, chatter, and TV shows and instead listen to positive audios, eBooks, and podcasts. It makes all the difference.

• 14. Meditate

It may feel like a contradiction to slow down in order to speed up! Meditation provides an escape from a busy day and an overactive mind. It allows you to separate yourself from your thoughts so you can create mental calmness. It can also help you tap more deeply into your ideas and intuition – so you can unlock even more creative insights.

• 15. Use external brains

You only have so much bandwidth – don’t waste it trying to remember dates and other pieces of information. Instead, get into the practice of emptying your head – so you have more space to think, problem solve, and create. Use notebooks, rely on your calendar, brain dump, brainstorm, scribble, doodle, and scribe. Get it all out and give your brain space to move onto the next big thing.

• 16. Work with your energy levels with the E|N|D formula

Your energy levels will vary throughout the day – so become aware of your patterns. For example, are you at your peak in the morning – or later in the day? When you’ve figured out your pattern, match tasks to your energy levels. For example, don’t schedule a draining (D) task when you’re at your lowest. It will take you three times as long. Instead, schedule an energizing (E) task to give you a boost. This high performance strategy will increase significantly the amount you get done in a day.

• 17. Eat well

Keeping your body topped up with good fuel will help sustain your energy and give you the resilience you need to achieve your goals. Eat fresh foods, cut down on sugary snacks, and stock up on vitamins and minerals. Drink plenty of water too – it will help you stay hydrated and flush out your system.

• 18. Take exercise

Your body isn’t designed to be sat at a desk all day long. Spend too many hours hunched over your keyboard and you’ll develop stress and strain in your body. Your energy levels will fall too. Daily exercise doesn’t have to be high energy workouts at the gym. A daily power walk can get your heart beating (and unlock your creative thoughts). When you’re busy with your business it’s easy to convince yourself you don’t have time. But resist the temptation. High performance needs your body to be healthy and strong.

• 19. Eat that frog

Every day there is one task that will feel like a mountain to climb. It may be a large task, a boring task, or a difficult task – or even a task that’s causing anxiety and stress. Your frog is the task that fills your mind and drains your energy just thinking about it! For high-performance, get that to-do out of the way first thing. You’ll feel so good for getting it done and you’ll also be more effective for the rest of the day because the frog won’t be weighing you down.

• 20. Morning routine

Each morning, start the day with rituals and routines that help you switch on your A-game. It’s a high performance strategy that many of the world’s top achievers swear by. Your morning routine should be personalized to you, but play around with ideas and combinations to see what generates the best results. Examples of activities to try include journaling, meditating, reading, yoga, running, a good cup of coffee. What unique combination will work for you?

• 21. Set big thinking goals

High-performers create intention and direction in their life by setting goals. Goals give you a focus – a barometer that allows you to decide what’s important (and what isn’t). Use goals to stretch you, inspire you, and empower you to create the life you want.

• 22. Take consistent daily action

If you want to go far, don’t rely on ad hoc sprints – you’ll burn yourself out and lose momentum. Instead, leverage the compound effect by taking action towards your goals on a consistent basis. Pretty soon those small steps will grow into big achievements.

• 23. Prioritize

Not all tasks are created equally and you have a finite amount of time each day. For high performance, do the top priority tasks first. With those out the way, you can then concentrate on what else sits on your to-do list. Remember, you don’t have to do everything yourself. What tasks can you delegate, outsource, or eliminate altogether? It’s a powerful technique that not only reduces the size of your to-do list, but reduces overwhelm too.

• 24. Give each task a time allocation

Parkinson’s Law states that tasks will take as long as you give them. That’s why a blog post that should have taken a couple of hours, stole your entire day! There’s an easy way around this. Instead of giving tasks an open-ended window, schedule them into individual time slots (like you would a meeting). Leverage the power of deadlines and you’ll get more done in less time.

• 25. Plan your day for high performance

If you don’t plan your day, the day will run you. For high performance, don’t leave things to chance. Instead, schedule your day to make best use of your time. Don’t just plan in work tasks, plan in everything – meal prep, ‘me’ time, gym classes, time with your kids, your partner, and your friends. Planning everything is the simplest way to ensure you have time for it all.

• 27. Become a perpetual learner

The more you know, the more data you have to draw upon to make fresh connections, develop unique ideas, and grow your business. So invest in personal development. Go to seminars, attend events, join a mastermind, read, listen to podcasts, and read content. Sharpen your own knowledge about business and life – and everything else will improve as a result.

• 28. Network

You can’t be your best in isolation – a rising tide lifts ALL ships. So take the time to connect with a network with people who inspire and energize you. Having a network you can lean on is invaluable for collaboration, support, and problem solving. Business can be lonely, but with a circle you can rely on, you’ll find it easier to switch on high performance and be your best.

• 29. Commit to work-life harmony

As a high performance entrepreneur you want to build a successful business. But entrepreneurial success feels empty if you don’t feel satisfied in life. So as well as working on your business, invest time in all the other things that make you happy. Take time for your hobbies and other interests. Take time out to relax and rejuvenate. Make time for quality relationships. Take care of your body, your health, your mindset, and your wellbeing. When every part of your life feels full, your business will grow even more.

With high performance strategies you can be more effective, more productive, and produce higher quality work. Of course, these all have a profound impact on your business, but also your personal achievements.

Which of these high performance strategies will you try? Which have we missed?