How can you achieve success on a more consistent basis?
It may be a little easier than you think and chances are you are already having more success than you originally thought. I was recently out with a buddy and we were discussing the topic a bit. He was having some trouble with his fitness goals (or so he originally thought). Not quit meeting the goals he had set for himself or making the progress he desired. But as we got talking to talking about it a bit more we found together that her was actually tremendously successful.
Step 1: A new way to look at success
How you currently define success most often varies depending upon what area of your life you are looking at.
You might definite success on the job as making 100,000 dollars a year or receiving a pay raise for your hard work.
If looking at it in terms of your health and fitness goals it may come down to your weight on the scale or your body fat percentage.
Now while these are very admirable ways to define success they are essentially things you can not control. You really have no control over whether or not you make 100,000 dollars a year or receive a pay raise that you feel you deserve.
As with your fitness goals you don’t really have a say in what the scale tells you or what that body fat percentage test gives you.
However, you do have control over whether or not you work hard doing work you find meaningful and love. And you do have control over how consistent you are with your exercise or what foods you decide to eat.
It might be a good idea to start to define success by those things in which you can actually control.
Maybe the scale didn’t budge this week but take notice if you feel like you have more energy, slept better, and are not feeling bloated anymore. Maybe you switched over all your caloric beverages to water or zero calorie beverages this week. Or maybe those two rum and cokes at the end of the night turned into one glass of red wine.
I’d define that as success!
The outcome might not have been changed but the behavior was. That’s a step in the right direction for sure.
Step 2: Absolutely, unequivitably, most definitely, pure potential
Our aspirations are our possibilities. -Robert Browning
The only difference between those that do great things and those that don’t are results. Sure, we all have the potential to do great things. But we also all have the potential to fail. So do you have the ability to be relentless in your pursuits and realize the opportunity for success far outweighs the cost of failure?
I often come across people who say they feel as if they are not living up to their potential. I use to be one of them. I often ask them what they feel like their potential is…….. more often than not they can not define it.
So instead of focusing on what you could be capable of in the near future try focusing on what you are actually capable of right now.
Focus on the important stuff. You have the potential right now to be kind, grateful, optimistic, and the potential to just simply start. Start anything. Start the exercise habit, start eating real food, to start working on that business idea. To start that cooking class you are interested in, to start spending more time with friends, family, and loved ones. The potential to focus on the important things.
What are those important things? I can’t answer that for you. That’s all you.
Here’s mine:
My health: I am in control of this because I choose to eat real food, exercise, and get enough rest
My family: I am in control of this because although far away I have the ability to reach out to them, call, text, email, or write letters.
My gratitude: I am in control of this because every day I have the ability to give thanks for the life that I have been given, the people who are in it, and the good fortunes I have been afforded.
I define success by practicing those three things every day. Take a look at your short list. If you got those things done on a daily basis would you define that as success?
Step 3: Slow down to achieve success
This might sound crazy but next time you feel nervous, anxious, rushed, or out of control just stop and see what happens.
Nothing.
That’s right. Nothing will happen. You will have stopped and that is about it. Life will not come to an end and the world as you know it will still exist. So while it is imperative to get started it is also just as important to stop every once in a while.
We do everything so fast right now and never take the chance to fully enjoy anything. Take eating for example. Chances are you hammered down your last meal in 5 minutes or less because you felt like you needed to do something else, be somewhere, or just out of habit.
Slow down, enjoy your food. Set a timer and take a good 20 minutes to finish a meal. Chew every bite fully and savor the flavor like it is your last. And this is regardless if you are eating a healthy meal or having a “cheat.”
Same goes for other avenues of your life-like work, love, and goals. Success is usually only defined by time in an athletic event. I’m willing to bet that most of us are not elite athletes. Wannabes maybe.
When you stop looking at the world as a competition, then you can stop wondering why you’re not coming in first place. -Penelope Trunk
Absolutely fantastic. Do the best that YOU can do.
It’s pretty cliché but Rome wasn’t built-in a day. Neither is your health. Just ask Jesse Stillwell. Same goes for starting your own business or possibly saving up for that big trip you want to take. Slow down, have patience, but continually work and never lose sight of the steps you can control to get there.
Step 4: Success has its consequences too
On your way to the top make sure not to step on anyone ok.
Some may argue with me but I don’t define success by the asshole that got to the top of the mountain by stealing his neighbors canteen or setting boobie traps for those that follow.
On your way to the top lay the ground work for others to follow. Wether that be bread crumbs, a clear path, or making your way back down to help another along the way.
Step 5: The path to success is playing to your strengths
Not sure what those are? Take the brief strength test found here. It helped me focus on what I am good at.
It’s no fun doing stuff that you suck at. I like the 80/20 rule here. Spend 80 percent of your time in your strengths and 20 percent working on your weaknesses and you should be a pretty happy and successful person.
John F Kennedy gave one of the most impressive and inspirational inaugural addresses of our time.
Do you think he wrote it? Short answer. NOPE!
A gentlemen by the name of Ted Sorenson did. And why? Because that is what he does best. And what president Kennedy did best was be charming, charismatic, and well spoken. He might not have been able to write those words but he sure could deliver them and vice versa for Mr. Sorenson.
So when trying to get into shape don’t run if you hate it and it’s not playing to your strengths. Mix it in 20% of the time. Focus the other 80% on swimming, biking, or weight training. Something you enjoy and excel at.
Step 6: Success needs you
Always remember that success needs you. You do not need success.
The very definition of the whole thing is very relative. Success, as we have seen can be measured in a million different ways. Living a healthier lifestyle is not just measured by a number on a scale or the weight or the plates on a bar.
happiness
attitude
confidence
stronger immune system
more energy
ability to play with my kids and not get tired
staying injury free
avoiding taking that medicine
sleeping better
more focused
more determined
my pants don’t fit
I did my first pull-up
I did twenty pull-ups
I think you get the point. You can define success anyway you want. It’s even a good idea to look outside the box a bit. Sure, maybe you really wanted to add a few pounds of muscle this month but maybe that didn’t happen. But you did back squat five pounds more or maybe you went bungee jumping for the first time.
Success!
The point is you do not need success. Success needs you to define it.
How do you define success? Are there areas you just noticed you are succeeding in and did not before?
Live limitless,
J