What is success? Is it what I have or what has me?
Probably neither!
Perhaps it is not the concept of success that is the problem, its the way each of us defines it. Is it having lots of money or having a BMW (or two) in our garage or even reaching the top position in the organization, being recognized and getting noticed by the masses?
If we start defining success by these beliefs, they soon may become dangerous to our psyche and eventually to health.
If we define success as living each moment to its fullest, despite having money, prestige and possessions, we may even be happier. The difference is in attitude and in the beliefs behind that attitude. So, what should we do to attain a winning attitude? To achieve success? I think with some adjustments in the way we think might do the trick….
1. Knowing what you want and setting goals to achieve that is the first step. If our goals are too broad and not very clear, we are likely to forget after a while what it is that we started out to do. This one goes hand in hand with breaking bigger tasks into smaller ones. Setting short term goals and knowing exactly what it is that we want to see happen at the end of that goal is the first step in the recipe of achieving success.
2. Developing a positive attitude goes a long way in achieving goals and succeeding. Eliminate negative thoughts, feelings and emotions because they only prevent us from reaching our maximum potential and achieving success and happiness. Dwelling on things that we do not have and always thinking about things and events that did not go the way we expected them to, will only make us more miserable, leading to stress and eventually derail us from our goals. Vicious circle is it? Yes, it is, and once trapped in it, it’s hard to get out of. So pay attention to what you *think*.
3. Focusing on the goal every day will help us think of the result we want. Visualizing what we want and desire has a powerful way of bringing it to us. This is like the intention manifestation principle Steve Pavlina often talks about. The power of visualization is well documented in The Secret video and the book, with a collection of stories of how people have used expectations and visualizations to change their lives.
4. Confidence is another one of the tools that is of utmost importance to achieving success. Confidence is nothing but the way we train ourselves to think. I read somewhere these lines from Charlie Chaplin, that I had copied and kept and this is the best place to add them. When asked the secret of his success, Charlie Chaplin said, “You have to believe in yourself, that’s the secret. Even when I was in the orphanage, when I was roaming the street trying to find enough to eat, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world. I had to feel the exuberance that comes from utter confidence in yourself. Without it, you go down to defeat.”
5. Taking actions is the ultimate step in the plan of achieving success at anything. Writing down clear achievable goals, developing a positive attitude and thinking good thoughts is only a small fraction of the entire process. If we keep thinking good thoughts and keep writing down our goals but never act upon them, our desired result will not be there. There will be some result, but it’s not the one we desired. So, success can only be attained by taking action until our ideas and goals becomes a reality.
It is easy to not try and accept failure, but it is even easier to be successful.
Would you like to add anything else to the above?
I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
Peter
Success is feeling good about what you have accomplished and how you have acted each and every day