“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell
We wish life would be as easy as watching TV, sleeping, eating food, playing video games, and many other activities that do not require much mental stamina.
But the reality is far from the truth. If we solve one problem, there will be a thousand more problems.
Each of us has dreams and goals we want to achieve, but we wait around for the “perfect moment” to chase our dreams.
Guess what?
That “perfect moment” does not exist.
If there is that “perfect moment,” then it is now.
There is only 5% population who are successful in life because they know what they want, and they just begin.
The current situation does not matter to successful people. Once they decide upon a goal, they just begin.
If there is an obstacle, then they figure out a way to deal with it along the way.
And once a successful person sets a goal, they make sure to persist in the plan until they achieve that goal.
There is no rocket science to achieving success in our lives, but the following steps will give you a jump start to begin where you are and arrive where you want to reach in life.
I do not claim any ideas presented here as mine. These ideas are the accumulation of all the successful people I have listened to over the years.
The first step to success – DECIDE
Believe it or not but success starts with a decision.
We must decide first what we want to achieve in life.
Heck, if we travel from point A to point B, we decide, don’t we?
Then how do we expect to reach our goals without deciding what we want from life?
So, decide now. What is it exactly do you want from life?
Better health, a better job, more money, or more happiness?
Each of us has an inner voice that keeps nagging us—telling us if we are on the right track or just ignoring our life’s purpose.
Once you decide upon something, it does not stop there.
If we have previously tried achieving this same goal and failed, we will likely fail without resolving the core issue.
Let’s focus on doing things a little differently this time.
Take inventory of the things that are holding you back from achieving what you desire.
Is it a lack of education?
Is it a lack of money?
Is it a lack of confidence?
What exactly is it that had held you back in the past?
I have talked about how our false beliefs and old habits prevent us from reaching our full potential.
If we do not invest a little bit of time now and keep holding onto false beliefs, then the minute we decide to pursue our goal, we will feel a lump of anxiety within us.
The minute we decide to act towards our goals, we will procrastinate!
Remember, nobody is born lazy! Nobody decides to procrastinate on purpose and chooses to fail consciously.
Once we have identified what is stopping us from achieving our goals, it is time to move on to the second step.
The Second Step to Success – STUDY
In his book “Think and Grow Rich,” Napoleon Hill mentions that ‘knowledge will not attract money unless it is organized, and intelligently directed through practical plans of action.
He furthermore explains, “Knowledge becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of actions, and directed to a definite end.”
Knowledge does not come from spending years in school.
If you look up the name of some of the successful people, you will notice most of them did not have formal education.
However, these successful people knew to find people who already possessed this knowledge and create a “mastermind” group.
Presently it is much easier to extract knowledge given all the resources available at our fingertips.
If we want to learn how to do yoga, we just enter “yoga” in Google’s search query, and it will return tons of available information on the internet.
So once we decide on our goals and eradicate the false belief, take a moment to determine what knowledge you will need to gain to execute your plans.
If you want to achieve something, you must read, listen, and study the people who have already achieved what you desire.
When I wanted to begin writing articles for my blog, I spent countless hours reading books on how to write a blog post, watching videos on how bloggers started their blogging career, and so many other things.
Plans without actions are just that – Plans!
After acquiring the needed knowledge for your goals – ACT!
The Third Step to Success – ACT
If we spend 8 hours on sleep and 8 hours on work, we have the remaining 8 hours to work on ourselves.
How we spend that remaining 8 hours depends on how we want our future to be.
Remember, our current actions determine our future.
If we spend those remaining 8 hours doing nothing, we achieve nothing.
It is that simple!!
There will be a time when you are ready to act, and your inner voice will stop you!
Have you had one of those days when you decide to exercise? You tell yourself, “I will start on Monday!”
I sure have had those days.
Do you know the inner voice that stops you from taking action is none other than your old, conditioned mind?
Do you know those false beliefs that I mentioned earlier to identify?
This is why it is essential to resolve our false core beliefs before working towards our goals.
When you have this inner voice stopping you from taking action, ACT anyway! Face your fear, laziness, anxiety, or whatever it is head on!
Once you keep taking action regardless of the negative inner thoughts, you will gain momentum, and eventually, it will become your new identity.
The Fourth Step to Success – FOCUS
As previously discussed, we have 8 hours on ourselves.
But instead of working on ourselves, we focus on doing meager things which probably are not even related to our goals.
We watch the news, play games, post on social media, reply to unimportant messages (email or text).
We do all these things, keeping ourselves busy, tricking our mind into thinking that we are doing something but what we are doing is wasting away our precious time.
Our mind is a powerful machine that can achieve whatever we desire, but instead, we focus on small tasks.
Especially nowadays, with so many social media apps, it is so easy to get distracted.
Make it a goal. If necessary, let your friends and family members know that you will be not available for a specific time during the day. Just like you would not be available if you were at a workplace where you cannot use your phone unless in an emergency.
Keeping external distractions (TV, phone, friends, and family members) will allow you to give your undivided attention to the task on hand.
Also, another thing – avoid being a people pleaser!
I have been guilty of this. I have always tried to put other people, their needs, and feelings before mine. And over the years, I learned my share of lessons the hard way.
If we are focused on other people to make sure they are happy because it makes you happy, then I have news for you – People Are Never Going to Be Satisfied!
In the end, you will lose your precious time on people who are not worth your time and energy.
And you can NEVER recover your lost time.
So, stay focused on your goal!
Avoid getting distracted. Make sure you pick just ONE goal and focus on that ONE goal only!
Avoid getting distracted by having multiple goals and “shiny object syndrome.”
For example, if you are trying to earn money and your efforts are not showing any results, it is easy to get distracted and try the next new idea (‘shiny object syndrome”) that promises to help you make money.
If you move from goal to goal, you will just be turning wheels like a hamster going nowhere.
You must become laser-focused on your ONE goal and persist until you make sure you achieve it and avoid getting distracted by “shiny object syndrome.”
The Fifth Step to Success – PERSISTENCE
We can summarize the steps to success in one word – Persistence!
Yes, we may decide, study, act, and focus, but all the efforts are useless if we quit before reaching our goals.
Not only does stopping put all our efforts to waste, but it also puts a dent in our self-esteem.
Guess what will happen when you try to do something next time?
Next time we try to do something new, this failure will be standing in the way.
You have already created evidence to prove that you cannot achieve anything.
The problem does not lie within you.
The problem lies in being inconsistent and non-persistent towards your goal.
If we make a promise to ourselves, “No matter what, I will steadily keep working towards my goal, until I know I exhausted all of my efforts and my resources,” there is no room for failure.
Now imagine this, when we were a baby and were learning to walk, we fell multiple times and got up again.
Our parents NEVER mocked us or told us to sit down in the corner because we were being a nuisance to people around us.
They NEVER told us that we are making ourselves look like a fool falling and getting up again and again!
They NEVER told us, “We are not good enough.”
They NEVER told us, and we (even as young as we were) NEVER accepted that we would NEVER learn how to walk.
Did we?
Then why not become persistent like that with any of the goals we set for ourselves?
Work on your goal as if you know you will succeed. There is no room for failure!
Conclusion
As quickly as we get distracted today, it is easy to prematurely give up on our goals.
Success is inevitable to the person who knows what he is doing. There are only five steps to success.
If we follow these five steps to success, there is no room for failure.
