Success Isn’t an Event it’s a Destination
Have you ever been to a seminar, maybe a business or self-development? You have a larger than life personality on stage sharing their story. Their secret to success and the formula to live the life of your dreams. There’s a sense of excitement, your enthused and motivated. Actually can’t wait to get started. If they can do it then why can’t I?
Imagine for a moment if the vast majority of those attending then went on to pursue a life dedicated to their dreams. They amassed the wealth and success inspired by the speakers, then surely the weight of wealth would be a different split in terms of the percentage in the world today. I guess that’s why self-help events industry is so lucrative, the repeat business is great.
Pigheaded Self-Discipline
The stark reality today is the fact there’s so many attend these events seeking inspiration and motivation but have no real self-discipline to then engage with their dreams. To be successful is a journey and not merely attending an event. You have to be dedicated to what it is in life you want to achieve, be that in your business or indeed your life.
So what are the fundamentals of setting out on a journey to achieve success? In my opinion, the key to setting out on the journey and remaining on course is about having pigheaded self-discipline. Pigheaded self-discipline is about holding yourself accountable and true to the decisions, actions and activities towards achieving your success. The sad fact today is most people have no real self-discipline, let alone pigheaded self-discipline.
Three Questions
Understanding the need for pigheaded self-discipline committing today to make that change you can then really start to engage with what success looks like in your life. So what does success look like in your life? Before I go on to share some principles towards setting your journey to achieve success I’d like you to reflect and answer these three questions:
- If you were to know what your life would look like if everything in your dreams were to come true and there were no barriers towards achieving it what would that be?
- Where are you now?
- Right now what’s getting in the way slowing you down and hindering you from achieving that dream?
If you’ve taken a moment to answer these three questions right now you should have a better idea of what it is you want to achieve in your life. Now let’s be clear on one thing it’s your life. You’re responsible for it, everything that happens in your life is essentially down to you. So, Where to start?
Where to Start
Applying your pigheaded discipline the very first thing you need to do is establish where are you heading, what is your destination? Essentially what is your life’s dream? Answering question one will open up the opportunities that you seek to achieve in your life. And it is your life and you only have one look at it, so why wouldn’t you have a true dream of what you want to achieve in your life. Starting with the end in mind and answering question one you should determine with some detail what your dream is.
Once you know your dream you can then really start to work out how you’re going to get there. What is the journey? If you have been one of those who have attended many inspirational and motivational events articulating your dream may be quite easy. The challenge now lies in terms of setting out the course of action that you now need to follow.
With clarity on the destination and a clear picture of what your dream is. The next step is to identify the significant goals that you now need to achieve. Working back from achieving your dream what are the milestones you’ll need to pass along the way? To be on track for your dream where do you need to be in 10 years from now, five years from now, 12 months from now, 90 days from now, next week and maybe even tomorrow. Armed with this information you can now start to make and set your goals.
Goals are by virtue designed to give you a target to head towards something in which you’re able to focus your efforts and actions in achieving. But one of the real reasons that we set goals is to get you focused on who it is that you need to be to achieve that goal. Now to achieve any goal you’ll need to make sure you have the right mindset in setting out. Interestingly here lies the next stage.
What Do You Need to Learn?
To achieve the goal what will you need to learn? There is no doubt that what got you here isn’t going to get you to where you want to go. What got you here is almost certainly not going to get you nearly the same in the future. The fact is if you have aspirations, you have a dream then to get to where you want to get to and start to achieve your goals you’re gonna need to learn new stuff. So in achieving the goals what do you need to learn?
With learning, you become better equipped for the next stage. Setting out your plan of action. This is the key, to differentiate and essentially the critical factor is setting out on your journey. This one factor is why most people are unable to commit, they don’t plan. We walk away from the events fired up motivated and eager to get started without any idea of how we’re going to make it and get there. So what is the plan what are the stages that you need to develop to get to where you want to get to?
Setting the Plan of Action
In terms of planning, this can sometimes feel complex and the fact is it doesn’t need to be. Some of the simplest steps are looking at what you need to plan tomorrow today. What do you need to plan for next week, what do you want to achieve by the end of the month or by the end of the quarter? Essentially having a plan which has bite-size chunks for you to act upon will maintain that momentum towards ultimately your dream life and success.
Now don’t misunderstand my point today. I am by no means suggesting you don’t attend events, quite the contrary, I would suggest you attend the events. Take the learnings and apply them to your life. However, before you attend the events have a clear understanding and picture of what your dream life looks like. Go to the events take the learning and then through pigheaded self-discipline apply yourself wholeheartedly.
Now there’s a Challenging Thought!
