High performers learn how to draw on three sources of power to make their performance remarkable. They know how to access them and how to use them to keep themselves moving.

The first is your motivation. It propels you to do and be your best. What gets you up in the morning? What do you look forward to? What do you enjoy about your work? If you haven’t given this much thought, you are missing out on the fullness of using motivation and drive to keep you going.

The second is your goals. What you are pursuing must be worth the effort. It must be big enough to overcome lethargy, distraction and a host of other things that will derail you. Are your goals articulate enough to capture your imagination and draw you to your preferred future?

Finally, there is grit. Your ability to persevere is necessary when your motivational “gas tank” is empty and your goals are covered by the fog of self-doubt. Can you be demanding of yourself when you want to throttle down?

I didn’t count on having a personal example, but it presented itself anyway. I’m just on the other side of an intestinal virus with all its accompanying symptoms. Not a pleasant experience, I assure you. Consequently, my drive to write this article and my goals for doing so just weren’t enough to get me out of bed. So I’m relying on grit to get this message out.

Over the course of your career, you need all of these if you have any hope of getting to where you aspire to be. And when you can activate all three, you will be on fire and can’t be stopped.