The Private Practice Success Podcast

32. Why Being a High Achiever is Holding You Back

• Gerda Muller • Episode 32

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In Episode 32, Gerda unpacks a game-changing concept for private practice owners, as she explores the traits that differentiate High Achievers from High Performers. 

Drawing from her personal experience and research, Gerda explains that although a High Achiever mindset and functioning is essential for excelling at university and launching your practice, it can and in fact will create barriers towards fully stepping into a visionary leadership role.

In this Episode, you will learn (among others):

  • The key differences between High Achievers and High Performers.
  • Why High Achiever mode may be keeping you stuck in the day-to-day operations of your practice.
  • How High Performer mode empowers you to step into the strategic, long-term leadership your business needs.
  • Practical steps to shift from High Achiever to High Performer mode.

Who This Episode Is For:

  • Practice owners who feel overwhelmed by daily operations and want to focus on strategy.
  • Business Owners who are ready to lead their teams and businesses with confidence.
  • Anyone seeking to break free from perfectionism and step into a more empowered leadership role.

Gerda’s insights will inspire you to reflect on your default mode and take intentional steps toward becoming the High Performer your business needs. 

Tune in to discover how this change can unlock your potential and take your practice to the next level.

Want Gerda's Help with your Business?

Gerda helps allied health group practice owners go from overwhelmed, overworked, and underpaid to fully empowered and financially thriving. If this is you, then make today the day you reach out. Complete this super short Triage Form here bit.ly/triageformpps and Gerda will personally reach out to you. 

Here to help you build a practice you can't stop smiling about :)

Connect with Private Practice Success & Gerda here:

Well, hello there brilliant private practice owner. My name is Gerda Muller and you are listening to the Private Practice Success podcast, and this is episode number 32. Today I want to talk to you about why being a high achiever is most probably holding you back. You might be thinking, surely that can't be Gerda.

Being a high achiever should be a good thing, right? I pride myself on being a high achiever, and I know that if you are an allied health professional that has had to navigate years of years of study at university, then I know without a doubt that you are a high achiever. I wore that badge of honour - of being a high achiever - for many, many years until the day that I realised that it was holding me back. Needless to say, that came as a shock, but I've got good news for you because I know what the antidote to that is now, and that is what I'm going to talk to you about today. 

The penny dropped for me quite a couple of years ago when I was reading an article that was published by the Harvard Business Review. This article actually looked at the difference between a high achiever versus a high performer. And I thought, okay, these are two really interesting concepts and you know, I'm a psychology graduate -  I did an undergrad degree, an honours and a master's degree - and I can't remember ever learning about the difference between these two concepts, during any of those years.

But when I read that article, I went - this explains so much. It explained my own struggle in trying to build my group Allied Health Private Practice, and the more I started to delve into this topic, I found that I most certainly was a high achiever. Every now and then I would step into high performance, but because I had to be a high achiever to get through school, to get through university - and it's very competitive getting through university, getting into honours, getting into masters - and when you are at uni, you rely on being a high achiever to jump through all those hoops, allowing you to ultimately become registered and fulfill your dream of being a helping professional. And then it is your default mode. But when you are running a business, something else is needed.

The High Achiever - High Performer Continuum

So today I want to talk to you about the difference between being a high achiever and being a high performer. Now, just like if you think about the difference between being introverted and being extroverted, we know that introversion-extroversion continuum is just that — it's a continuum. It's not an absolute.

So me, personally, I identify as being an introvert. But I can most certainly operate as an extrovert. I run in-person events. I need to be in an extroverted state of mind when I'm running those events, when I'm in delivery mode, right? And then I go back to my hotel room - it's like, okay, I now need to hibernate for the next couple of hours, have a good night's sleep, because I am an introvert so I can recharge, so tomorrow I can do it again. 

Whereas if you're an extrovert, you'll be extroverting the whole day delivering and then you're going to go, I need more - I need to go out now for drinks with everybody and have dinner with everybody because that's how I recharge.

So you can most certainly step into a different mode depending on what is required. And the same thing is true about high achievers and high performers. It is a continuum - it's not an absolute - and you can be either of the two across different situations. But I think most of us, just like with introversion and extroversion, you probably have your own personal default mode, which is either high achiever - and that most certainly was my default mode - and I have to consciously work and have become better and more accustomed over the years to step into high performer mode.

Why Does This Matter...?

Now you might be thinking, ‘How does this relate to running a business Gerda?’ Well, one of the biggest challenges I hear when I speak to practice owners is their desire to step out of the operations - to step out of chief operating officer mode, and to step more into that strategic place of being the chief executive officer. 

Now I'm using the words COO and CEO to make the point. Now, I know when you are a small business owner, you don't see yourself as a COO or CEO. But it's basically - for us, at our level of having small to medium sized businesses - are you in operations (like on the ground doing the work, and if you're not there, things fall apart) versus being able to step away sitting in strategy mode.

Another analogy you would've heard me talk about, if you've listened to quite a number of my podcasts is - are you in the weeds of the operations, like down in the valley. or are you sitting in strategy mode at the top of the mountain where you can see things coming in the distance? Where you can also see what's happening down in the weeds in the valley - but that's the place where you're sitting at. 

So COO, (Chief Operating Officer) is in the weeds and the ops. The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is sitting on the mountain, right? And this is a big challenge for a lot of us when we are running a small to medium sized business, and most of the group private practices are small to medium sized. A lot of practice owners tell me that they're very aware of sitting in the weeds, sitting in the ops, and what they want is to step out of that.

That is their desire - to step out of the day-to-day operations and step more into that visionary role of setting the strategic direction, of setting the trajectory of the business. Because unless you can do that, you can't grow and scale your business. And you know what? Sometimes it's not about growing and scaling. Sometimes it is about consolidating what you're doing, but doing it more efficiently, doing it more productively - without adding another location, without adding even one more employee - so you can grow from a financial standpoint without growing in numbers and size. 

So my hope of this podcast episode is to really help you connect the dots of why you might be struggling with fully stepping into that visionary, strategic sitting on top of the mountain role. So you can clearly connect the dots and leave some breadcrumbs for you to follow as you move towards taking on this really important role within your business. Because failure to do this will keep you stuck. There's no doubt about it. It will. That's just what happens. I've experienced it myself, and I see it with others. So I want you to start by reflecting on these concepts. 

Are you a high achiever or are you a high performer?

Now you might find yourself being pulled towards both because both sound pretty cool. You most certainly will have a default mode - just like introversion or extroversion - and the one that you operate from most of the time will be your default, okay. So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to talk you through each of these, and as we go through it, I want you to, very honestly - at the end, I'll ask you what this answer is - to go, Am I a high achiever or am I a high performer?

I just want to emphasize that the one's not good and the other one's not bad. Just like being an introvert versus an extrovert. Both of them are perfectly fine. Both of them are required in certain situations. Both of them will serve you better in certain situations, and the same holds true for high achiever versus high performer. So let's get stuck into the difference.

High Achiever Mode Characteristics

We are going to start by looking at high achiever mode characteristics. If you are a high achiever, you are most likely constantly pushing through your own emotional and physical limits to get stuff done. In other words, no matter how tired you are, no matter how long the day has been - you just keep going. You are driven by getting your to-do list done, whether that is before you leave the practice, or for some of us before you even go to bed. Sound familiar?  

As a high achiever, you are always looking for the winning solution - the thing that will solve your current problem. That could be looking at the next best thing, looking at all these influencers on social media, like, Oh, maybe their thing is the solution to my problem, or Maybe that person's thing is the solution to my problem. Which of these do I need to do? Because I need a winning solution here? Is that you? 

Being a high achiever, you probably also find yourself experiencing a lot of self-doubt. Hmm, yes. Just because you're a high achiever doesn't mean you don't have self-doubt. It's actually a characteristic of a high achiever, and within the helping profession, this often manifests as our dear old friend - imposter syndrome. And what happens when those things creep in? It leads to avoidance. It leads to procrastination. Does that sound familiar? 

The high achiever is also really high on self-competitiveness. Are you always competing with yourself? Are you always pushing yourself to be better? To do better? If that is you, then you are probably really satisfied with your wins. You are probably always moving the goalposts - never really stopping to smell the roses. Always thinking, Okay, that's done now what's next? Never really sitting to relish in the results of your high achievement.  Is that you? 

If you actually think about it - that is so freaking cruel to yourself. That is being so cruel to yourself.  Why do we do it? I know we don't do it consciously, because remember I said I am a high achiever. I don't know why we do this to ourselves, but we do. And I'm going to tell you why. It's because the high achiever's effort to achieve is often driven by a not good enough energy, or needing to prove myself energy - whether that is to others or to yourself - and that is an exhausting energy. 

High achievers are also driven by a fear of failure, and as such, we get stuck in perfectionism. So we are the typical control freaks. If this is all feeling a tad bit familiar, please know that this is not a judgment - this is an awareness. An awareness that will allow you to now ask: How is this mode serving me?  Is it serving me? 

It probably is, right? And it can be something that's keeping you stuck - like it most certainly served me at school. I did really well at school. It served me at university. I won a lot of awards at university. I was top of the class in undergrad, honours and masters. That felt good. That validated the imposter syndrome within me and getting that reinforcement feels great. 

But you know what? When I started to run a freaking business, it no longer served me. It actually started to sabotage me. And once I realised that, I had to do something about it. So if this sounds familiar to you, ask yourself the question: Is this serving you today? Is this serving you right now? 

So is being a high performer then the answer? Well, let's look at what high performer mode characteristics are.

High Performer Mode Characteristics 

The high performer typically has the ability to park unexpected problems - and this is a really big one. If a problem pops up, a high performer will consciously decide to just let it be, so they can deal with it tomorrow. Rather than obsess about it or be driven by anxiety to deal with it right now, they have the distress tolerance to sit with the discomfort of not acting, and allowing the problem to be solved the next day. 

Tell me, is this something you can do? Or when you get that email in your inbox - and it's that thing that rattles you, whether that is somebody's resigning or bad news from the accountant, or a customer complaint -  is that something that your anxiety drives you to reply to it right now? Or are you able to park it, in order to allow the emotions to leave so that you can actually make good decisions - because that's what a high performer can do.

The high achiever, when it comes to stuff like this, will immediately want to deal with it -  to deal with that imposter, to deal with the I'm not good enough energy. So the ability to park problems allows the high performer to stay in CEO mode - to stay seated on the top of the mountain, instead of being drawn into the operations. Instead of going, “Oh shit, this has just happened!” - now I am running down the mountain into the weeds of operations and  going to freakin problem solve this thing -  because this has to be done right now. It's that frantic, anxious energy. Does that sound familiar?

Let's look at it a bit more: In contrast to the high achiever - who remember, is looking for the winning solution - the high performer is looking for the optimal solution. They are thinking about more than just a quick or personal win. Instead, they are seeking out long-term solutions that solve bigger problems - no band-aiding. It's like, okay, yes, sometimes you need to put on a band aid to stop the bleeding. But then they go, Okay, what is the bigger problem here that needs solving? 

The high performer is also low on self-competitiveness. Whilst being meticulous around their habits and routines, they stick to what works with disciplined consistency. Whereas the high achiever is like, Ah, shiny objects, shiny objects! - instead of trusting with discipline and consistency things that they know work. Or if it is a brand-new strategy going, Ah, after two weeks it hasn't worked, I need to do something new. Don't stick with it. Don't do it properly. Don't follow the process. Doing a half arse implementation and then saying it doesn't work - okay? That is high achiever mode - always chasing. 

Additionally, everything a high performer does has a purpose. They don't just do things because it's on a freaking to-do list. They do it for a reason. They don't do things because a peer, a colleague, a friend, somebody in a Facebook group told them to do something - or because they see somebody else doing it. They do it because it has a purpose for them.

This is why every eight weeks I take my Private Practice Success Academy members through what we call a Practice Pitstop, in order for us to keep on checking the things that we are doing. Is this actually a now or later thing? Why are we doing it? How is it moving the needle of impact within our business?

The high performer also doesn't suffer from fear of missing out - this is a big one. Instead, they strategically choose what needs to be done. I just mentioned our Practice Pitstop. When we do our Practice Pitstop, we work through a whole structured process in the PPS Academy that we call getting to our Big Easy. What is that one thing that is right for my business right now? We choose this thing in a very strategic manner. Because a high performer means being good at pressing pause on shiny things. On pressing pause, on triggers. They aren't reactive. 

Instead, they will stand back to evaluate the situation before responding. Why? Because they're sitting at the top of the mountain. They're sitting in that space. When you are down in the weeds, you cannot do it - even if you try, you can't.  This also means that high performers are fiercely protective of their time. They achieve this by setting and maintaining good boundaries around their time, and by doing that, that adds to their productivity. 

The very first thing I do when somebody joins my PPS Academy or my Founders Club, is they get a number of onboarding emails. One of those emails has a video of a training called the 30-Day Success Elevation.  I tell any new person I work with, that in order for you to get the results from working with me, we need to be fiercely protective of your time, so we need to set those good boundaries. We need to make sure that you have time to sit at the top of the mountain. That is a big part of helping my members and people I work with step into high performer mode - straight off the bat - because I know the difference this makes in your world as the business owner.

In addition, high performers have filters and rules around how they make decisions in a calm, clear, and carefully thought-out process for decision making. By doing that, this buffers them from decision fatigue and burnout. You would often hear me talk about my rule of thumb for this and that and the other. I know if you work with me, my Academy of Founders Club, you would hear me talk about it all the time. 

I've got a lot of rules of thumb - that's the term I use for it, right. But those are my filters. Those are my rules for making decisions. For example, if we are recruiting a new contractor for my practice, and we ask them to quote us for the work that we want them to do. I will have a rule of thumb that says - and actually, if you've listened to episode 30 where I speak about Margins That Matter, you will know - that I have a rule of thumb, for the margin that matters when I accept a quote from a contractor.

If I can't reach that margin, I don't go, Oh my goodness,  I'll just say yes because we didn't meet the margin. I'll go, No, it's a no. It doesn't matter how much I like that person. It doesn't matter how great I think they will be at the work that I need them to do. I won't say yes, because I know if I say yes, that decision will come back to bite me. And I'm sorry - that's not how you run a business.

Having that rule or filter when it comes to making decisions takes the reflection out of it. Have you ever found yourself knowing that you need to say no, but you want to say yes because there's that desperate energy behind it? And then you spend all this time thinking, procrastinating, trying to convince yourself to say yes?

You know how much freaking emotional energy that takes? It's like - no. Stop that. That's high achiever energy. You want to be - and step into - a high performer mode in that particular situation. Because as I said, this protects you from decision fatigue and ultimately burnout. It's not just our clinicians that are at risk of burnout.

You, as the business owner, are possibly at greater risk of burnout. Not only are you needing to look after your clinicians, your admin team, possibly even a clinical caseload - you still have that risk of running the business, which is a big risk. That's a lot of pressure, so you have to look after yourself.

In contrast to the high achiever, who generally takes a shorter-term focus, the high achiever takes a long-term focus in everything that they do - which is so important. It's easy to get stuck in the short term, especially when times are tough. But you have to be able to look long term.

In other words, while the high achiever is thinking about next week, next month and next quarter, the high performers are thinking about next year, three years from now, five and ten years from now. They always know and are connected to the long-term vision, so they can make sure that the decision I'm making today is in support and in service of the long-term vision.

Acknowledging Your Mode

Now for the moment of truth: what mode is your default mode, and how is this mode serving you and your business?

I think you might have gathered this by now, but it is my personal belief that many of us are stuck in high achiever mode - and that stuckness is holding us back from growing and scaling the business we truly desire and deserve.

The problem is that the school and university system required, sculptured, and moulded us into being high achievers. It is what allowed you to excel academically so that you can obtain your qualification. Not to even mention the external reinforcement and validation we get for being high achievers. Similarly, a business also requires the unique qualities of being a high achiever.

High achievers get shit done. They will work through the night; they will push through to achieve those goals. They have all the qualities that you will need to start and launch a successful private practice. So in other words - the lead up to starting, the actual start, that first 12 months - being a high achiever is the mode you want to be in, because that will get you to where you want to be very quickly. 

But - and here's the catch - in order to grow and scale a group practice that is sustainable over the long term, a group practice that you want to grow beyond seven figures, will require high performer mode. There's no ifs or buts about it - that is what is required. 

You want to use your high achiever mode for when it's needed, but you also need to be mindful of not staying stuck in it because that's what you've always done. You need to make the shift to high performer mode in order to successfully lead a team that will be able to step into leadership roles, so that you - as the founder and owner - can be the visionary that will require you to be a high performer.

The good news is that you can learn how to do this. By listening to this episode, you have now become aware of your default mode. You now know how it might or might not be serving you. Maybe you can connect the dots and see how it's keeping you stuck - and that was the first step. 

From here, I want to encourage you to start catching, controlling and correcting yourself every time you go, ‘Oh, I think I'm now in high achiever mode, and what is called for is high performer mode.’ From here, you can start to embody and embrace what it means to be a high performer. You can now start to actively seek out the skills required to make this your new default mode - to get comfortable with these things.

Don't try to do all of it at the same time. Go, ‘What is this one characteristic of high performer mode that I want to make my own over the next three months?’ And then just work on that. Because I can tell you, just shifting one thing is going to make a massive difference. And very often, it's going to be your high achiever that doesn't make that happen. Because remember what I said -  the high achiever is always looking for new things. ‘It's like, it didn't work.’ Now you need to do it consistently.

If you want to start a new behaviour, you need to commit. And then you need to find the discipline. I know some days it's freaking hard, okay? But you need to seek out the discipline to be consistent in starting that new habit. And that's why I say: just choose one thing and write it down. Put it on your computer screen, put it in your diary - do whatever you need to do to remind you that this is what I'm working on right now. And this is the time period that I'm going to work on it, at which time I'm going to review it. And I can guarantee you - it's going to stand you in good stead.

I am going to leave you with one final thought: you are in control, and you have the choice.  I can try to drag you kicking and screaming from the valley of operations to the top of the mountain, and I can tell you - I'm very strong, and I will do it as much as I can. But even if I get you to the top of the mountain, it's up to you to stay there. But I know you can do it - because the time to become the business owner and the visionary you were always meant to be is now.

Thank you so very much for listening, and remember that I am here to help you build a practice you can't stop smiling about 😊

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Gerda Muller

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