Four Things You Must do to Have Success in Difficult Times
Success means different things to different people: for some it is building wealth; for some it is successful relationships; for some it is creativity and independence; and, for others it some form of leadership.
Whatever constitutes your definition of success, you will find some common principles that are needed to make it achievable. Consider the following four actions. Notice that they are called actions. Some would call them attitudes, but attitudes are birthed out of actions that you willingly embrace over time.
Action # 1: Embrace New Information
Successful people embrace new information. Leaders are usually not content to stay as they are or leave things around them as they are. It has been noted that even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there. Success demands change, especially in a constantly changing world such as we live in.
The problem for many people is they listen to wrong information. To be successful requires getting new information from people you already have the kind of success you want. If you want to be healthy, learn from people who have taken charge of their own health. If you want a successful business, learn from those who have built a successful business themselves. If you want a larger network, learn from those who are good at networking.
If the old information got you where you are now and you are not satisfied, then it only makes sense that it will take new information to give you new results.
Action # 2: Develop Long Term Vision
Imagine setting sail on the ocean and only looking at the breakers on the shore. If you fail toset your sights on the distant horizon, you will never get there.
However the vision needs to be specific and sequential. Not just vague mental pictures of riches at the end of a rainbow. Rather, a smart vision, that sees the end result and back-fills to where you are now so that you understand the steps it will take to get there.
You need a dream but that is not enough. It needs to be a dream that is turned into action steps. When we understand that it is a process, even our subconscious will go to work for us to figure out how to make it happen.
Envisioning a new future is a growth process. The vision process teaches who to learn from as we define it. The vision is more than a vague future, it is a vision of the things we need to do to get there.
Action # 3: Delay Gratification
The vision should burn within you. It should create the passion that drives you to pay the price to give up the safety of the shore for the undiscovered possibility of the ocean. The more you have grown in putting the vision into practice, the more real it becomes to you.
You find yourself willing to give up the false reality of a TV program, to get lost in learning how to realize your vision. You will find yourself willing to delay doing what is fun, to do what is necessary.
Delayed gratification is an important component of emotional intelligence. It is something you can learn, if your vision is strong enough.
Action # 4: Make it Duplicatable
The most successful people in life are those who turned their vision into systems that allowed actions and results to be replicated. Thomas Edison did nott make his money from the light bulb he invented in his lab or the electricity he generated there. It had to be duplicated. When running electricity from house to house became a system, when a light bulb could burn in the living rooms of other people. Then and only then did Edison reap the rewards.
To succeed in business: you have to have a product you can sell over and over; you have to have a system you can implement over and over; you have to have information (training) than you can pass on from person to person.
When you duplicate, you lay the perfect groundwork for your success. It may be a home based business, a volunteer role of leadership, or some other entreprenurial endeavor. It may be local, national, or international. These four actions will help you succeed.
Rick Hubbard - B.A. in Communication and Organizational Leadership and an M.A. in Educational Technology He is a university media specialist, a communication consultant. He is a rep for OceanGrown International.He enjoys helping people successfully market their home-based businesses. The Perfect Ocean