7 Qualities of Prosperous High Achievers by Anna Bloth Karling, Founder & CEO at Zebrain

Hello everyone,

My name is Anna Bloth Karling and I'm the founder & CEO of a health tech company called Zebrain. Zebrain is my second tech company and my fourth company in all, so I've been an entrepreneur for a while now. :-)

However, I remember very vividly how I felt when I first decided to leave my steady employment to start my own business. I have never doubted the choice, but to be honest, I felt a bit overwhelmed in the beginning.

I was a new mom, quite newly married, in a new place of living, had a large group of friends and family that I wanted to see as often as a could, and a new entrepreneur with a company to grow - all at once. I dare to say that the learning curve was quite high and I felt a strong need to tap into all of my potential in order to raise my game and find energy for more.

So, I went out and found myself a performance coach. For me, it turned out to be a complete game changer for my work-life balance and I slowly realized that this field of people development was my passion. Some years later, I founded Zebrain which is a platform for people development, based on coaching.

I know that many women in the B&D community are highly ambitious, goal-driven performers, who also prioritizes their mental and physical health. Therefore, I would like to share our top tips for creating a holistic approach to performing and feeling your best. 

Picture of me and Jessica Huge who is Head of Coaches at Zebrain (and a fellow B&D member)

7 qualities all prosperous high achievers have in common

Performing at the top is something that most of us dream of, and it has probably always been so. However, in recent years something has changed. We want to be high achievers, but at the same time we also want to prioritize our physical and mental health and have a sense of meaning outside the office. But how do we become such fulfilled human beings? Here are 7 qualities we believe most (if not all) prosperous high achieving women have in common. 

1. They practice self-leadership 

If you want to perform at the top, you must take responsibility for your own development. In a working life characterized by individual freedom, self-leadership has become more important than ever. A good self-leader has a holistic view of her own life and understands the importance of making the right priorities. Self-leadership is also related to self-insight - knowing who you are, what values ​​you have, how you behave and how you usually react in different situations. Being able to lead oneself is also an absolute prerequisite for being able to lead others.

2. They have goals and visions in mind for every day

Most of us have plenty of dreams, goals, and things we want to achieve in life. But then everyday life comes and pushes on, and unfortunately it is all too common for us to see everyday life and the long-term dreams as two completely different and unrelated affairs. Unfortunately, that attitude won’t get you far. Long-term success and top performance is achieved through good habits and routines, along with an ability to prioritize the efforts that really yield results. Every. Single. Day.

3.They always want to develop and learn new things. 

Being constantly on the lookout for new knowledge, insights and perspectives is one of the most underrated paths to creativity and success. By always being hungry for knowledge and open to new ideas, you can find answers to things you did not even know you were curious about, and above all you will discover connections in places you never looked into before. This is how creativity and innovation arise. With an open and curious attitude, you become better at living your own life. New insights will strike one by one, all while you become more and more clear-sighted which is a fantastic feeling!

4. They make their health a priority

There are careerists who brag about how they neglect their own health in the pursuit of top performance. It's kind of like a marathon runner bragging that she's tearing her own shoes. But fortunately, that attitude is becoming less and less common in today's working life. If you want to perform at the top, not only in the short term but also in the long term, you have to be very careful about your diet, exercise, sleep and mental health. Stress, lack of sleep and other ailments have a strong negative effect on cognitive ability, and in the worst case it leads to burnout. Diet and exercise are also important for us to be able to perform. Taking responsibility for your own health is therefore one of the best investments you can make if you want to be successful in your career and in life.

5. They give more than they take 

This is something of a golden rule that applies to both our professional life and private relationships. High achievers are smart enough to realize that altruism, generosity and the desire to "go the extra mile" for other people is an absolute "win-win" concept. By always asking yourself how you can contribute to the development and well-being of others, rather than just thinking about your own needs, you can become a person who always adds enormous value to the environment. Then you can be sure that what bounces back to yourself will also be valuable

6. They are not perfectionists

Having high ambitions is a fantastically good quality, but if you place too high demands on yourself, you risk getting stuck in work and eventually burning yourself out. The difference between perfectionists and prosperous high achievers is that perfectionists are often driven by a critical "inner voice", which constantly tells them that their work is not good enough. Prosperous high achievers also strive for excellence in many contexts but are then driven by a genuine desire to do the job as well as possible. They also realize that everything does not have to be perfect - sometimes you simply must settle for "good enough" so that you can move on to the next task.

7. They embrace change 

Many people are terrified of change, and it's not really that strange. You are afraid of losing what you already have, which may have taken years to build up. Sometimes you are even afraid of losing yourself and your identity. But successful and high-performing people realize that change is an inevitable part of life - and that in the end it often leads to something better. If, on the other hand, you try to resist the change, there is a great risk that you will eventually lose your vitality and spark of life. Then, there still won’t be much left of that which you so wanted to preserve. The core and essence of a person's life and identity remain the same - and by embracing change, you can ensure that you get the best out of that essence tomorrow.

Proud of my team at Zebrain

I hope you liked this text and I would love to hear which quality you think is the most important and if you think some quality you want to add.

I’d love to connect so feel free to write to me at Linkedin or visit Zebrain’s website.

Grateful to be part of the B&D community and get inspired by so many of you amazing women! Good luck on your journeys!