Success. It can seem as though people are either born to succeed or not. This is not the case. There are plenty of successful people out there who actually started out poor. Take Oprah Winfrey, Jim Carey, and Steve Jobs. None of them started out particularly successful at all.
Becoming successful is all about having the correct mindset. Correct mindset can be learned.
Here are 8 tips to help create success in your life, all requiring correct mindset to accomplish.
1. Remember to Enjoy the Journey
It’s so easy to become focused on the goal, be it to finally make a sale, achieve a goal weight or attain a certain amount of money. We may even base our happiness on achieving that goal.
The fact is, if we can not be happy now, we will not be happy when our goal is achieved. Sure, we may feel short term happiness after achieving the goal, but this happiness soon fizzles out.
Life is all about what happens in the now because now is all there ever truly is.
“I have realized that the past and the future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is” Alan Watts
Think about it. Look back at a past moment. Whilst you were in that past moment was it not a case of you were actually in a “now” moment? Think about when you might be in a future moment. Will you not be in a “now” moment then too?
Life is about being in the present moment. Allowing ourselves to be happy in the present moment and enjoy what ever it is we may be doing to achieve our desires, is an extremely powerful tool, not only for achieving a particular goal but for creating the life we desire.
Remember to stop and smell the roses
2. Embrace Mistakes – They Are An Important Part Of The Learning Process
Successful people have no fear of making mistakes because they know experiencing failures lead to success.
So many of us are taught as children that failure is a “bad” thing. Yet as babies we learned how to walk by falling over. Mistakes are a fantastic way to learn. If only we would embrace them rather than being fearful of making them. A common trait of successful people is that they are not afraid of making mistakes. Successful people see mistakes as a positive as it means they are closer to achieving their desired result.
Experiencing failures, and then overcoming hurdles, expands us as people. We become more flexible and wiser for having had the life experience of a mistake. There’s a saying that goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know”. Sometimes we just need to experience particular failures or mistakes to gain a true understanding of what it is we are working to succeed at.
3. Be Willing And Patient Enough To Start At The Bottom
A tree is only as strong as its roots.
If we did not learn that 1 + 1 = 2 how would we have learned that 235+ 648 = 883?
If we did not learn how to catch a ball how would we have ever learned to play basketball or football?
Ask anyone who trains in martial arts, or who rides in equestrian dressage events, how important developing the basic skills are, and I’m sure they will verify just how important it is, and, how the sport depends on these basics.
If we can not get the basics right, how can we then develop a stronger understanding of more advanced levels? Sure we may have to overcome our egos or learn to be more patient, but in doing so we become better people.
4. Know That Your Thoughts Do Create Your Reality.
It can be a tough thing to understand for many people, but, Quantum Physics has proven the fact that our external world is created by our internal world. A great series of documentary movies to watch regarding this fact are the What The Bleep movies (You can find them on YouTube).
It’s important to know that our thoughts, words, and actions either take us towards our desires or away from them.
Thoughts that reinforce your belief in yourself are great, but I like to take it one step further than belief. I like to replace having thoughts of belief in yourself with having thoughts of “knowing”.
I know that I can do this.
Try it out for yourself. Think of something you are working towards. Say the next two phrases out loud to yourself replacing the X with that thing you are working towards.
“I believe I can X”
“I know I can X”
Which statement feels more powerful to you?
Various doubts, fears, and insecurities move us away from our desires. Yes, we all experience these, but the successful person will not give these thoughts time and energy. It’s about recognizing them, not feeling bad for having them and letting them go. They have no benefit for anyone other than maybe shining a light on what we need to work on to move forward.
5. Knowing What You Truly Desire Has Power
Have you defined what it is you want from life? If someone was to ask you what your dream achievement in life would be, could you answer them straight up?
How can you achieve success if you do not know what it is you want to be successful at, or, if you do not know what having that success will ultimately achieve for you in the long term?
Knowing what it is you truly desire gives purpose to your life. Having a purpose drives you forward – the stronger the purpose the stronger the drive.
And it is this drive that will pull you through any challenges you face during your journey to achieve your desires because there will be challenges. Knowing that overcoming challenges will drive you towards your dreams is a great motivator to keep going.
Your dream will give you the enthusiasm and passion you need to keep you moving towards the success you desire when others would just quit.
6. Allow Intuition To Guide You
Successful people are able to use both logic, combined with intuition, to make important decisions. Tough choices such as where to invest money, when to change employers, or whether to start a company, are decided upon by applying the right amount of due diligence combined with instinctive pull. Feelings act as a signpost letting us know which direction to take.
If it doesn’t “feel” right, don’t do it.
7. Ability To Set Realistic Goals
Successful people are able to set short and long-term goals. The long-term goal creates the ability to set short-term goals, from a daily list of things to do, to weekly and monthly must do’s.
An athlete does not train willy-nilly to achieve a goal. They have a periodical training regime which details their daily and weekly sessions.
Knowing the long-term plan, and having a daily plan to achieve the long-term desire, provides the motivation to get up each day and “get into it”. When you know exactly what it is you need to do on a daily basis to achieve the results you desire, it is easier to remain self-disciplined. In essence, self-discipline is all about creating a schedule.
8. Exercise
A common trait of successful people is that they exercise in some form consistently. Be it weight training, running, surfing or playing golf, successful people know that to keep on top of the game they need to keep their bodies in tip-top condition. Exercise also works to clear the mind for better productivity.
Consistent exercise has an added benefit of developing a strong mindset – a strong mindset is needed for success!
Final words:
Sure, there are some people out there who were born into success thanks to their family, but there are also many people who have worked their way up to become successful.
Success is within the reach of everyone.
A common factor of all the books out there teaching people how to be successful is that they all express the fact that success is a matter of changing the thoughts that run through our heads. I look forward to assisting you with changing these thoughts in future blogs. Until then I hope you found this blog helpful.