Are You A High Performer? Take This 5-Minute Assessment To Find Out

We live in a culture that is obsessed with realizing success. But have you ever wondered how you actually measure up against the highest performers in the world? Or even how likely you are to achieve sustained success in comparison to the movers, the shakers, and the top newsmakers?

The High Performance Indicator assessment (often called the "HPI," or "HP-36") is your ticket to all of these answers. Based on the world's largest study of high performers, this 36 multiple-choice question assessment (expected to take only 5 minutes) will yield 6 scores that tell you how likely you are to succeed and maintain success over the long-term (Note: the assessment is anonymous - no personal data is collected). In addition, it will show you exactly how you measure up in comparison to the top-15% of high performers across every industry.

Take the assessment here (no personal data is collected):

The best part is that it’s not predicated on “fixed” traits like an IQ or personality test, but rather on six core habits that can be improved upon over time with effort and attention. For the first time in human history, YOU have access to tangible and applicable ways to improve your performance, results, and success, even speed up your progress towards greatness.

Additionally, it’s critical to note that “high performance” as defined by the HPI and related studies is inclusive of both external measures of success and life outcomes. Meaning that high performers experience fulfillment and achievement and neither comes at the expense of the other.

Skeptical Of The Assessment? Here’s The Good News.

The efficacy of the HPI is extremely high. Developed by renowned High Performance Coach, Brendon Burchard, High Performance Institute researchers, and graduates from the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, the HPI comes from one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on high performance.

A significant volume of data and process rigor was invested in developing the efficacy of the HPI and determining the 6 habits that drive high performance. The High Performance Institute team ran a bunch of data analytics from over a million high performance indicator assessment data points, and over 300,000 organizational employees in their partner organizations participated in the studies. They had deep insights drawn from the over 1.6 million online students, more than two million newsletter subscribers, over 10 million Facebook followers, and over 100 million video views and comments. They ran all that data and compared it to academic literature reviews. They had coaching insights from over 3,000 high performance coaching sessions. And then they had empirical results from actual training interventions. And they combined all of that to basically take a look at over 100 different human performance variables.

These 100+ human performance variables were analyzed and categorized into six key habits that relate to a person’s (your) long-term success potential. Questions were then designed and tested to best predict the quality of your habits (and further, your likelihood of sustained levels of high performance).

Combining research-backed psychological principles as well as long-standing, informal theories in personal development, the resulting HPI assessment is both verified and practical. And the HPI, through numerous studies, has been proven to strongly correlate with measures of external success including GPA, sales performance, and promotion potential, as well as important life outcomes such as overall happiness, health, self-confidence, etc.

What Does The HPI Assessment Really Measure?

When you take the HPI, you will receive a score (1-5) in each of the six habits correlated with high performance. You will also see the average score for each of these core habits for the top-15% of high performers, giving you a pulse of just where you stand and how far you need to walk to consistently perform at the highest levels.

The HPI’s Six Core Habits: Explained.

The six habits measured in your HPI results are as follows: clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence, and courage. These aren’t “habits” in the way we seem to talk about them in the current cultural lexicon, but they are substantiated and built through daily actions (like meditation, exercise, and journaling). Think of these core six areas as the “meta skills” or “meta habits” of high performance.

To be truly successful and fulfilled over the long-term, these are the practices you should be focused on every single day.

Here’s a small dose of what each habit means in relation to high performance:

Seek Clarity. High performers take the time to figure out whom they want to be, where they want to go, and how they are going to get there. They are clear about their goals and passions. As they enter new projects or social circles, they consistently generate a new degree of clarity as to what they are doing, how they are doing it, and why.

Generate Energy. High performers put a concerted effort towards choosing activities that generate energy so they can maintain consistent focus and effort all day long. They make the time to actively care for themselves and prioritize longterm health and well-being. This translates to greater physical energy, mental stamina, and positive experiences.

Raise Necessity. High performers experience a pull to perform exceptionally. But this isn’t a passive experience. They tap into the reasons they must perform well--both external (deadlines, obligations, etc.) and internal (identity, beliefs, values, etc.). In aggregate, this produces a driving need to perform at the highest levels.

Increase Productivity. High performers focus their time working on things that will move the needle, things that matter deeply. This habit allows them to produce work that truly makes a difference. They are quick to shield distractions and say “no” to lackluster opportunities, so they have time for the things that matter. They are productive day-in and day-out.

Develop Influence. High performers learn how to get people to believe in and support their visions, efforts, and dreams. They demonstrate strong leadership and are able to persuade people to contribute. They recognize that any success in life requires having a great support network.

Demonstrate Courage. High performers express their ideas, do bold things, and stand up for others, themselves, and what’s right. They do what they think is best even in the face of fear, judgment, or threat. They see courage as a daily choice, not something that you must do occasionally.

How To Get The Most Out Of This Assessment

This assessment has a number of applications, but in the big picture the data it provides can be confidently used for two things:

(1) To see how people are performing across a habit (in aggregate)

(2) To formulate a plan for addressing weaknesses (at the individual level)

And given those two use cases, the High Performance Institute has identified three areas where this test can be administered to capture that data and put to good use:

Self-Monitoring. Most of this article so far has been about self-monitoring, I’ve been trying to convince you why you should take this assessment, and that’s because it is the easiest way for you to start seeing the benefits of this data-driven approach. The HPI can be used to take a pulse on how you are performing and in what of the six core habit areas you can improve upon to see greater levels of success and happiness in your life. 

Coaching. Coaches can also use this tool to encourage the aforementioned self-monitoring, but also to gain tailored insight into their clients’ unique needs. Then, a data-driven coaching plan can be advised to address changeable and controllable variables in helping to improve a client’s levels of success and overall experience of life. 

In fact, Certified High Performance Coaches who have been trained at the High Performance Institute, utilize the process, frameworks and curriculum to build on these 6 habits to help their clients reach heightened and sustained levels of performance in all areas of life.

Hiring and Employee Development. Hiring managers can use this assessment to measure the performance of potential hires or applicants. However, be cautious to adjust for a level of bias in any test given to a potential hire. People in this position have a tendency to skew the truth. The most effective way to use the HPI in companies is for training departments and managers to take stock of what areas employees are collectively struggling in and create programming to help employees better practice and implement the High Performance Habits.

Still Not Convinced? Here’s Why You Should Take The Assessment... 

Self-improvement is the most important work we will ever do. Yet, if we’re honest with ourselves, we often approach it haphazardly. I find that this is often a competence problem, not a motivation problem. We don’t know how to track our progress, so we don’t. 

This problem only expands as the tests that our employers often distribute - tests that measure “personality” (such as Myers-Briggs) or “performance” (such as CliftonStrengths) - are often focused on passive traits or talents. They aren’t focused on the triggers or causes of success and the results are often demotivating and confusing.

That’s what makes the HPI Assessment so valuable - for individuals, coaches, managers, and presidents of companies. Your results will provide actionable insights through trackable, reliable numbers. You will have an action plan for how to improve, allowing you to truly transcend traditional self-improvement advice and experience real results.

Conclusion

The research is new, the tools are new, but the wisdom isn’t. Aristotle taught his disciples over 2,000 years ago that we are a product of our habits, and further that excellence is a habit, too. 

The HPI comes from one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on high performance habits. So for the first time in history, we have access to not only a theoretical understanding of what habits to build and how to build them but also where we each individually need to improve to become high performers.

If you use the HPI intelligently--both for yourself and at work--it can categorically improve your experiences in life and at work.

And guess what? It only takes 5 minutes to fill out.

So… what are you waiting for?

Take the High Performance Indicator assessment here...

• This assessment is anonymous (no personal data is collected) and in 5 minutes you get 6 scores that correlate with high performance.
• 36 simple multiple-choice questions reveal your likelihood of long-term success. 29 fast questions also help us determine how you respond versus your peers.
• In the end, you'll get 6 scores and be able to compare your overall score to the general public and the world's top 15% of high performers.
• To keep a record of your scores and the results, you must print out or screen capture your scores and the results pages.

About the Author

Andrew Srinarayan is a Certified High Performance Coach & Business Growth Strategist who helps executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs to get to their next level by empowering them to intelligently address the obstacles in front of them. He brings humor, compassion, and a healthy dose of challenge to every interaction. 

To learn more about Certified High Performance Coaching and to schedule a complimentary coaching session, visit his website: www.shiftmindset.com

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References: Measuring High Performance: The High Performance Indicator Development and Validation by Alissa J. Mrazek & Michael D. Mrazek, University of California Santa Barbara; Daniel A. Southwick, University of Pennsylvania; Brendon Burchard High Performance Institute