Where you are today and the success you have at this moment is a result of the thoughts, actions, processes and habits of the past weeks, months and even years. If you improve how you approach your day to day life then that will lead to greater success down the road.
No matter how you look at it, to attain any kind of success, you have to go through a process. In other words, you start out a certain way and then you end up a different person. Make no mistake, people who have overcome all sorts of challenges or who have built empires started out as very different people.
They looked at the world differently, they responded in a certain way and that's why they got the results that they had. Obviously, they weren't happy with the results they were getting. So they went on this journey and they figured out how to improve on what they were doing in their lives.
Success, ultimately, is a journey. It is a process of learning things, spotting opportunities, taking advantage of them, and doing what you need to get to the next level. But just as importantly, success is also a journey that changes you from within.
Unfortunately, most people go about this journey in an unintentional way. They didn't set out to go through a process of self-discovery and self-invention. Instead people just respond to the daily circumstances that life throws at them. People live in this reactionary mode and ultimately live like a bottle floating in the ocean with no direction and no goal in mind.
Instead you need to be more deliberate in your daily actions and drive towards an outcome, a goal, a desired result. These are the people who aren’t just daydreaming of their perfect life. They are actually taking steps to make it happen.
Which person are you? Most are the reactive person just aimlessly bouncing through life. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you or that you’re lazy. In fact many work very very hard to make ends meet but the problem is that hard work is not rewarded since its not focused on a bigger outcome. We would be making things so much easier on ourselves when we become more intentional in how we go about the process of becoming more successful.
As long as you are more intentional, methodical, and systematic in your efforts to attain success, you are more likely to achieve it. That's the bottom line.
Even successful people go through life like this but they stumbled upon the right opportunity which catapulted them into another level of success which happened in spite of their lack of focus and lack of successful habits.
There's a reason why they were at the right place. That's right. As hard as it is for most people to admit, people get lucky because they work towards it. I know it sounds kind of a contradiction in terms because how can you work at being lucky?
But the old saying “The harder I work, the luckier I get” is absolutely true. Believe it or not, opportunities flash in and out of your life every single moment and most people aren't even aware of it. If you work hard on spotting opportunities, you'll be able to see them as they flash in and out momentarily.
You will then be able to position yourself in such a way that you can take advantage of them. Since attaining success is a process, it requires tools. Here are 5 tools that you would need to live a successful life.
Planning and organizing
Be more deliberate in what goes on in your life. Don't think that one day just follows another day automatically. Don't believe that if you go to sleep, you will be able to wake up the next day and you will get another chance to become a success. It doesn't work that way.
One day follows the next and not much has changed in your life. If you want things to change, you have to do things differently but we tend to do the same things day after day.
The most important way to bring change and ultimately success, is to plan and organize your life based around a plan. What kind of life do you want for yourself? What kind of future would you like to envision for yourself and your loved one?
Once you have come up with a clear image of yourself in the future, the next step is to trace it back to where you are now. What are the things that you need to do? What are the skills that you need to learn? What are the kind of sacrifices that you need to make?
What steps are needed to reach that goal?
All the details fall into place as long as you're clear about where you want to go and you understand that you have to trace yourself back or walk back from that final point to where you are today. That's when all the details will fall into place.
You will quickly realize that there are a lot of U-turns, forks in the road, and many different confusing options. But as long as you're clear as to where you want to go, you can then start making crucial decisions and then planning ahead so you can direct your energy where it needs to go.
Learn to focus
Where your focus goes, energy flows. The reason why you're not living up to your fullest potential or you feel that you're not a success today is because you're just unfocused. Nobody is immune to this. Even successful people start to fall off because they have lost focus.
People who are on the way up, on the other hand, have gained focus. And this is your ace in the hole. This is your secret weapon. Learn to focus. Now that you have a map in your mind regarding where you need to go and the steps to get there, focus on each step.
That's how it works because when you're focused, you start to study the problem ahead of you and you start to break it down and you come up with solutions. You start to prioritize and look at alternatives. Pretty soon, with enough focus and matching work, things start to fall into place.
List what you need to do and then ask yourself: What is the most important task I need to do right now? Then focus on that one task and only that task. Complete it and then repeat the process. If you can focus on the one task that makes the other tasks easier to accomplish.
Too often people try to do 20 different things at once and they start to get overwhelmed and paradoxically start to freeze up and end up doing nothing. A sort of paralysis starts to set in.
Always think in alternatives
You can’t avoid challenges and obstacles in life. They will happen. Successful people learn how to take the challenges head on and solve them instead of quitting or whining about how unfair life is.
A key mindset to solving challenges is to look at from different angles and to seek out alternatives. The solution may not be initially available to you but there usually is a solution.
We tend to lock into one train of thought. One possible solution. You have to be open to alternatives and instead of going down path A maybe path B is a way out of the problem.
You sent a resume to a company that you want to work for and you aren’t getting a response. Then think of alternatives. Can you connect via LinkedIn? Do you know someone who works there? Are they going to be at a local job fair? Can you connect via social media?
The idea is to keep thinking of alternatives and never rely on one solution.
Always seek to learn
A lot of people who think they've figured out everything in the world are either unsuccessful or on their way to being unsuccessful. The moment you stop learning is the moment you stop growing as a person and oftentimes this is when your momentum begins to slow or even reverse course.
The world is global now and its constantly changing. Your skillset might be obsolete in 5-8 years. You need to keep pace and keep at the forefront of your career. This is also true on many levels including health, investing and even relationships. Keep learning and generally good things will happen as you learn more about yourself and the people around you.
Always take care of your relationships
As the old saying goes, be kind to the people that you see on your way up because they're the exact same people you're going to see on your way down. Relationships build careers, businesses, and, ultimately our level of happiness and contentment in life.
Value relationships. At the very least, make people feel that they matter. That's the bottom line because the more doors you open for people, the more doors will be open to you. People remember and notice when you look out for others and help others be successful.
For you to reap, you must first sow. Sow into the lives of other people. Encourage them. See them for the winners and conquerors that they are. They might think they’re stuck and not going anywhere. But if you see them as different and you verbalize that and back it up with action, you plant seeds of hope and bring energy into the lives of people.
Thanks to the human need for reciprocity, it is exactly those people who will hoist you up, pull you out of that pit, and give you that swift kick in the butt that you need to keep pushing so you can get to the next level.
The final word on the tools you need for success
Ultimately, when it comes to success in life, the only tool that matters is located right between your ears. These are the tools that you need for a better mindset and a better attitude that will propel you forward to the life that you are destined for.
Your attitude, after all, determines your altitude in life.