Achieving consistent high performance is crucial for personal and professional success. An effective way to boost your performance is by creating a performance anchor – a set of habits and strategies that help you stay focused, motivated, and productive.

In this post, I share 8 steps to creating a performance, and life, anchor that can supercharge your success.

• Set gentle, clear goals
  Take a little time to define what truly matters to you. Clear and achievable goals give you direction, like a quiet compass guiding your efforts.
• Choose a few meaningful habits
  Focus on small, supportive habits that move you forward – things like quieting your mind, managing your time and caring for your body.
• Build a steady routine
  Create a daily rhythm that feels sustainable. Consistency, even in small steps, helps anchor your progress over time.
• Care for your well-being
  Make space for rest, nourishing food, and movement. When your body and mind feel supported, everything else becomes easier.
• Practice mindfulness
  Slow down when you can. A few moments of mindfulness or meditation can bring clarity, reduce stress, and help you stay present.

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the biggest struggles with anxiety – whether it shows up in public speaking, business, or everyday life – comes down to where your focus is.

A lot of the time, the goal becomes being liked, accepted, or approved of by others. And when that’s the goal, pressure is inevitable. You start overthinking, second-guessing yourself, and worrying about how you’re coming across.

Real change starts when you shift that focus inward. At the root of a lot of anxiety is low self-esteem – not feeling solid in who you are without needing validation from others. Once you see that clearly, you can begin to change it.

Here are three practical ways to move from awareness into real progress.

1) Give yourself credit – especially for small wins

Start paying attention to what you are doing, not just what you’re not.

For example, if speaking up makes you anxious and you volunteer to lead a meeting, it’s easy to dismiss it: “Yeah, but I was nervous the whole time.” Instead, try seeing it for what it is: “That was a big step. I showed up and did something uncomfortable.”

Most people overlook their progress. Small wins get brushed off with thoughts like “that doesn’t count” or “I should be further along by now.” Over time, that mindset builds the belief that nothing you do is ever enough.

But that’s just a habit – and it can be changed.

Start giving yourself permission to feel good about progress, even if it seems small. Progress is still progress. You’re not aiming for perfection; you’re aiming for growth.

When I first started speaking professionally, I remember people coming up to me after a talk and saying things like, “Dr. Lazaris, that was great – I really enjoyed it. What you shared is going to help me a lot.” And almost without thinking, I’d shrug it off and say, “Oh, it was nothing.”

But let’s be honest – that wasn’t true.

I had spent hours preparing. I cared about what I was doing, and I put real effort into doing it well. It wasn’t “nothing” at all. Looking back, I wish I had just paused, taken it in, and said something simple like, “Thank you, I really appreciate that. That means a lot.”

Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe you tend to downplay your strengths or brush off compliments. Maybe you put other people ahead of yourself so often that it feels strange – almost uncomfortable – to be recognized. You might even find yourself wondering how someone could truly like you, or care about you, or value what you bring.

And when someone does say something kind? It can be hard to accept. Hard to just say, “Thanks… yeah, I am actually pretty good at that.”

At the heart of all this is one big question: “Am I worth it?”

A lot of us spend our energy trying to be liked, accepted, or approved of by others before we’ve ever really learned to like ourselves. We chase validation outward instead of building it inward. But that approach rarely works for long.