Henry David Thoreau —

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Are You A Super Achiever?

I titled my book with this question to see how people would answer it in the affirmative. Do you consider yourself a "Super Achiever"?

"If you are like most people, their initial response is usually “No”.

This is because when most people think of a “Super Achiever”, they are equating super achievement with accomplishing some world record feat that very few people will ever accomplish.

In our minds we think of award winning actors, superstar athletes, and Nobel Prize winners as the real Super Achievers. These people are either voted to some level of honor, or are recognized for winning a prestigious award.

So, when we equate ourselves to people like that, we immediately dismiss ourselves from this category.

That definition makes achieving something great seem like an impossibility for the ordinary person like you and me. We go about our day-to-day routine with the thought of just getting through the day, not really thinking about reaching some level of greatness."

10 Tips To Stop Labeling Yourself An Underachiever

Unfortunately, when it comes to achieving our highest potential, our opinions of ourselves falls short of the mark.

We see ourselves as "Underachievers" instead of "Super Achievers".

Where does that come from?

Feelings of “underachievement” usually stem from a failure in our past that left us with a feeling of disappointment.

We felt like an “Underachiever” because we failed to reach a high standard which lead to a feeling of frustration and self doubt.

The reality is that many people who feel this way are actually very productive and are doing some impressive things with their lives.

Stop labeling yourself as an "Underachiever".

Here are 10 tips for erasing the label of "Underachiever". It will help you reframe your thinking and make the necessary adjustments to see yourself in a new light.

Let's get started.

Look Closely At Your Expectations

If you don't see yourself as a "Super Achiever", look at what makes your feel that way. Many times this feeling is present because we feel we are not meeting our own expectations.

It could have nothing to do with our productivity or the fact that we can't accomplish things, but with our own expectation of what should be accomplished.

Sadly, we may not even be aware of how high our expectations of ourselves really are.

Take some time to reflect on what you are accomplishing compared to what you think you should be accomplishing.

That gap may be impossible for anyone to close.

Recognize Your Successes

Let's do a this quick Super Achiever exercise.

Look back to your list of expectations.
What steps have you made toward reaching these goals?
Make a second list of anything you have accomplished recently.
You can even include things that you almost completed, but fell just a bit short.

When you actually look at everything you have accomplished, it is surprising what you did get done.

You may have glossed over these because your high level goals may not have been achieved. But look at the progress you've made along the way.

Reframe your focus and start looking at your mini-successes along the way. Celebrate every one of them.

Doing so will completely change how you see yourself.

Look At The Big Picture

Anytime you sense the feelings of underachievement creeping up, take a moment to reflect on your life as a whole. Look at the big picture instead of focusing on success or failure.

Zeroing in on one area of your like that is causing you some frustration can cause feeling of underachievement.

Your life is more than that one area.

Look at your life as a whole, and consider everything that you have that is going right.

Consider all the strengths, consider your blessings, and take a step back to appreciate what you have going for you.

Explore Where Your Feelings Of Underachievement Stem From

Digging a little deeper to investigate where the feeling of underachievement come from, try to put your finger on a likely source.

Were your parents overly critical of you? Were their expectations too high?
Did you have a teacher that questioned your abilities?
Is your boss demeaning?
Do you feel like your significant other questions you too much?
Are you experiencing a slight depression?

Keep asking yourself these questions to get to the bottom of those feeling.

Talk To Your Friends

Your feelings of underachievement are not realistic at all.

It is likely that you’ve gotten into a habit of seeing yourself this way, and to get another perspective about your performance may be what you need to start recalibrating those feeling.

If you are fortunate to have a few honest friends, sit down with them one at a time and ask them to describe your strengths and weaknesses.

Encourage them to be completely honest, and do your best to trust what they say.

Accept Praise

If you have labeled yourself an underachiever, you may be so hard on yourself that when someone compliments you, you may not acknowledge it at all.

Learn to accept praise when it is given and acknowledge it with a little appreciation.

If this is hard for you, when someone compliments you, write it down, repeat it to yourself later.

As you begin to internalize it, your self image will improve.

Talk To A Professional

Changing any habits and behaviors is not an easy job. If you are committed to this change process, you may make the best progress by working with a professional who can be an accountability partner.

Using a professional therapist, who can give you tools, assignments, and feedback to catapult you to greater success.

It will take commitment and daily practice to get your self perceptions back on track.

Avoid Over-committing Yourself

Another culprit that can sabotage your success and lead to feelings of underachievement is the habit of over-committing yourself.

Taking on more than you can handle is the recipe for disappointment, because something will fall through the cracks.

Saying "no" will allow you to choose the tasks that are the most important to you.

Following these guidelines will help:

Before you take on a new project, return to your planner and review any existing due dates or deadlines.
Break the proposed project down into sub-goals with deadlines, keeping in mind how much actual time it will take to reach each of the sub-goals.
Without sacrificing sleep and other time you need for yourself or your family, ask yourself, do you have the time to take on this new task?

Allocating the adequate amount of time to successfully complete tasks builds your self confidence.

Focus On Better Planning

Very often, poor planning and/or poor organization can doom your efforts from the beginning, and lead to feelings of underachievement.

Do the work upfront to put a clean plan together with due dates and deadlines for your goals and subgoals.

To do this:

Find a planner that you enjoy using (digital or paper) and use it daily.
Determine an end-date or deadline for your goal or project). Is there a specific time when this needs to be complete?
Figure out due dates for each sub-goal. Consider how many actual hours it will take to complete each individual task.
Write down all due dates and deadlines for your goals and sub-goals.
Check in with your planner throughout the day to update each task.
Take small steps toward achieving your goals every day.

Set Realistic Goals And Sub-goals

You can set yourself up for success, and cut feelings of underachievement by setting realistic goals and breaking them down into achievable sub-goals.

Realistic means that you've done your research to confirm that, given a set of circumstances, others were able to compete the same task you're wanting to do.

Unless something unusual happens, you can feel confident that you can complete the same tasks in the same amount of time. That is being realistic.

Conclusion

Labeling yourself as an "Underachiever" can prevent you from enjoying all the little successes you experience throughout your life.

In fact, a closer look may reveal that you may be more productive than you realize.

Setting our expectations to high, taking on more tasks than we can handle, and setting unrealistic goals only feeds into the feeling of failure and underachievement.

Put plans in place with realistic goals that are scheduled and monitored daily to track your progress.

Break those goals into tasks and subtasks that you work on until the job it complete.

Acknowledge your successes and celebrate them with your friends who want you to succeed.

Lastly, if you still need help, check in with a professional that can give you tools and resources to keep you on track.

You can even use my book,
"Are You A Super Achiever?" to find out how to get started on the fastlane to greater accomplishments in your life.

Also check out the article on "10 Qualities of A Super Achiever".

So I ask you again, "Are You A Super Achiever?"

Question?

What compliments have you received lately? How do you feel about it?

(Leave a comment below.)

Watch This Video for Some More Motivation

"Believe In Yourself"

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Albert Powell

Thank You

Hope it helps you in some way.

Please post a comment below, and let me know what you think.

Share it with the Super Achievers you know, and join our mailing list for more helpful tips.

The information you share with someone could be the difference between success and failure in their life.

And remember,

"Make something great happen today."