Brendon Burchard – Author Biography
Brendon Burchard is one of the world’s leading high-performance coaches, a bestselling author, and a pioneer of the online personal development industry. Named by Forbes as the world’s leading high-performance coach and by Oprah Magazine as one of the most influential leaders in personal growth, his books and training programs have reached millions of students worldwide.
Early Life
Brendon Burchard was born on February 28, 1977, in Montana. At age 19, he survived a serious car accident — an experience he describes as the defining moment of his life. Lying by the wreckage, he found himself asking three questions that would structure his life’s work: Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter? He went on to study at the University of Montana, earning a master’s degree in organizational communication.
Career
After working in corporate leadership training, Burchard published his first book, Life’s Golden Ticket (2008), a parable about second chances. His breakthrough came with The Millionaire Messenger (2011), which reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list and essentially wrote the playbook for the online expert-course industry. The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive (2012) hit number one on the Wall Street Journal list. The Motivation Manifesto (2014) spent 32 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. High Performance Habits (2017) became a Wall Street Journal bestseller and was named one of Amazon’s best business books of the year. He founded the Experts Academy and the High Performance Academy, and in 2016 was named to Oprah Winfrey Network’s SuperSoul 100.
Major Works
Burchard’s key books are The Millionaire Messenger, The Charge, The Motivation Manifesto: 9 Declarations to Claim Your Personal Power, and High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way — the last based on one of the largest studies of high performers ever conducted.
Writing Style and Themes
Burchard writes in the high-energy declarative style of the motivational tradition, but with an unusual emphasis on research and structure. High Performance Habits identifies six deliberate practices — clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence, and courage — drawn from surveys of high achievers. His recurring themes are intentional living, the psychology of motivation, and what he calls “charged” life: a life lived with vibrancy and purpose rather than drift. His work bridges self-help and performance science, aimed at strivers who want both success and meaning.
Legacy
Burchard was among the first to prove that a personal development business could be built entirely online, influencing an entire generation of coaches and course creators. His video telling the story of his car accident has been viewed tens of millions of times. Whether addressing arenas or writing books, he remains one of the most visible evangelists for the idea that an extraordinary life is a matter of deliberate habits, not luck.
