The 4 Differences Between A Workaholic & A High Performer

Okay, we all might think that being a workaholic, is the same as being a high performer, but they’re actually nothing alike. Read on The 4 Differences Between A Workaholic & A High Performer.

We know it both looks like hard work, yet there is a big difference between both of them. The biggest difference is how the person feels on the inside about who they are in relationships with their work.

Someone who is a high performer works hard in a healthy environment and healthy sustainable, where this person feels happy.  A workaholic, on the other hand, works hard in an unhealthy environment unhealthy sustainable ways and feel unhappy. A workaholic usually suffers from a burnout.

Well, there are more differences between someone who is a workaholic and someone who is a high performer:

The 4 Differences Between A Workaholic & A High Performer

1. A person who performs highl knows their own value

It’s very simple, a person who performs high simply knows their self-worth, they do time to time self-evaluations of their performance so that they can constantly improve. People who perform high create their own feedback loops rather than waiting for feedback from others. While those who are addicted to working allow others to determine their value.

A person who keeps working super hard and is let’s say addicted to work, relies on external validation from those around them: friends, bosses, colleagues, and clients. They wait for external evaluations, such as mid-year or annual reviews, to understand how well they are doing, which causes them to work with a constant sense of fear.

2. A person who performs high will always know when they have to give a 100%

Someone who is a high performer knows when to “turn it up.” They know when they’re expected or required to give everything they have and they save their energy for those times.

They don’t buy into the illusion of 110%, they know that 110% is unsustainable. Instead, they focus on upgrading their capacity so that their 100% is better than the competition’s 110%.

Someone who is addicted to working tries to go all out, all the time. Which is the biggest reason why they turn out to get a burnout. They have a hard time trying to prioritize what’s important, that’s why they get confused all the time.

3. A person who performs high takes initiative. But on the other side, someone who is addicted to working is reactive

People who are high performers plan out their day in advance to make sure they will get their most meaningful work done. Only after they have completed their plan do they allow themselves to focus on unplanned events.

Someone who is addicted to working is driven entirely by outside distractions like reading emails and handling crises. If and when all of the tiny things get the address, they try to do what’s most meaningful.

4. A person who performs high knows how to do business and always does business. While someone who is a workaholic is way too busy to really deliver work

Someone who is a high performer has one goal which is to do business. The only thing that is really important to them is results. If they can’t see a way to create value at the moment, they ease or strategize instead. They know that like the economy, business comes in waves, therefore they get ready during the dips so they can capitalize during the upswings.

The No. 1 goal of someone who is a workaholic is to be busy at all times as they believe that the busier they are (or appear), the more important they must be. Workaholics fill any space in time with busy work because they feel insecure doing nothing. The insecurity comes from not knowing their value.

So keep the two separate from each other since they are nothing alike, just like in the dictionary explained: High performer: better, faster, or more efficient than others. Workaholic: a compulsive worker.