“Do not let other people dictate your path.” – Dr. Ruth Gotian
What do astronauts, Olympic champions, and Nobel laureates do differently that allows them to achieve at such a high level? My guest today is Dr. Ruth Gotian, and she will reveal the four attributes common to all high achievers – and how you can build this into your life!
It was clear from the minute I met Ruth that she was passionate and committed to studying excellence, and helping others benefit from it. Ruth is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and shares some fascinating insights.
In this episode we chat about her new book, The Success Factor, and you’ll learn:
- How passion and purpose serve high performance (and why it matters)
- Why perseverance is a hallmark of high achievers worldwide
- The power of a strong foundation and what it means for YOU (don’t miss this one!)
- How informal, continuous learning creates a huge advantage
- And a lot more!
Click that play button to listen, and don’t forget to subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts!
High Achievers Learn Continuously
For any role that you want in the future, dream role or anything else, you can’t just hope to wind up there. You have to recognize that it’s a step-by-step process. You’re going to have your plan, and it’s going to have checkpoints along the way.
So when you look at that dream role which is probably five/ten years out, to get there, ask yourself, what are the intermediate steps along the way and how can you achieve each one of those steps? Because you can’t just take that one giant leap – you need to plan it out step by step.
High Achievers Have Rest Days, Too
The other thing that surprised me is how much these high achievers protect their downtime. It was very important to them because they realized later on in their career that their rest days are as important as the work days. That in order for the work days to be productive, you must have the rest days.
Managing Introverts vs. Extroverts
The definition of success changes based on who you ask and based on rank and gender as well. That’s something to consider. But for me, there are certain markers that we can look at to determine whether the person is “successful”.
First is they would have made a fundamental paradigm shift through their work. Their work is so extraordinary that it lead other people to change the way they do things and perhaps, how they think about things.
Two, as they were moving up through the ranks, they lift other people up with them so it’s not just about them.
Links and Resources
Connect with Ruth: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Website
The Success Factor by Dr. Ruth Gotian (book)
The Power of Pressure by Dane Jensen (book)
A Higher Standard by by Ann Dunwoody (book)
