Tag: self-improvement

Don’t be the reason you don’t achieve your dreams

We all will fail in life and the secret for many people’s success is that they’re willing to fail more often and more quickly than those afraid of failure. They understand that failing is a natural precursor to success. You have to try new things – different things – if you want to improve your life. Sometimes, you’ll have great intuition and choose the right action to propel you towards your goals. Sometimes you’ll get lucky. But almost always, if you fail to take action (or if you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result), you’re going to be stuck in the same place. So even though it may not look like you’ve failed from the outside looking in, is it true? Sure, you don’t have one moment to point to where something didn’t work out. But isn’t the end result of not achieving your dreams a bigger failure than swinging for the fences and occasionally striking out?

There are a lot of reasons why people don’t achieve their dreams, many of which are outside of our control. We can accept that because if we try to control everything (even things we have no power over), we will be fighting a losing battle. But what we can do is control our thoughts, words, actions, and attitude. We decide what we read, who we listen to, who we hang out with, and how we talk to ourselves. We decide what words to say (I can, I will, how can I?) and what words to not say (I can’t, I don’t know how, I give up). We decide whether we want to get up each morning when we say we will or whether we hit the snooze button and sleep in, or whether we follow through with what we said we would do. Are we generally happy and not complaining? Are we putting out positive vibes where others want to be around us or are we so negative that others actually feel worse after hanging out with us?

Don’t be the reason why you don’t achieve your dreams. Live intentionally. Plan your next steps and follow through with them. Think big and act big. You need to take enough action and occasionally swing for the fences instead of always playing it safe. If you don’t ever reach your lofty goals, that’s fine. But when you think back, have no regrets over why you didn’t achieve it. Give it your all, do it ethically and in a way that is true to you, and go from there.

Going through the motions only gets you so far…

Part of success and of achieving goals is being consistent. Taking consistent action is the foundation for nearly every successful person. Do you think Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, or LeBron James would only work out or study tape when they felt like it? Or did they do something to improve themselves mentally and physically everyday? Their consistent actions of going to the gym everyday helped to get their body right and watching tape helped them understand defenses and get their mind right.

But just because you go to the gym everyday doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to get the results you want. That is part of the equation (a big part), but it’s not the only thing. But if you go to the gym and talk to people for a half hour then leave, are you going to achieve the physical goals that you set for yourself? Or if you are just “going through the motions,” and you don’t ever push yourself by trying to lift more weight, do more reps, take less rest period, or complete your routine in a faster time, are you really going to improve as much as you want?

Being present is great. It’s better than not being there. But don’t trick yourself or fall into the trap thinking that you’ve accomplished your goal just by being there. That’s part of the equation to success, but once you’re there, you need to put in focused, intentional work to achieve the results you want.

Motivation as a part of your success

Lean into motivation. If you’re motivated, inspired, or excited about something, follow that passion! You never know where it will lead. Go down that rabbit hole!

Motivation comes and goes, so when you have it, take advantage of it. It will make your life easier.

Think of motivation as the cherry on top, and dedication and consistency making up the bulk of your success.

What are you willing to sacrifice for the things you want?

It takes a lot of effort and sacrifice to reach the next level of success.

A lot of us take it easy on ourselves. We say, “I did enough for today.” When really, we just did the bare minimum.

If you set ambitious goals, you’re going to have to work a lot harder than you currently are. So the question becomes, are you OK with good enough? Or do you want spectacular? Do you want extraordinary?

If you’re reading this, that means you have access to the Internet. Maybe you’re reading it from a smart phone, a laptop, or a tablet. But relatively speaking, you’ve “made it.” You’re better off than so many other people in the world already in terms of finances. You likely live in a first world country. You likely don’t have any major concerns regarding food, water, or shelter. Life for you as it currently is should be considered “good enough.”

But do you want more, and if so, what are you willing to do for it? So many people want something. They desire it, but only if it falls into their lap. They want it to happen, but they aren’t willing to do what it takes to get what they want.

Only you can decide how badly you want something. If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. You can set time aside to work towards it. Sometimes that will mean waking up early or staying up late, sometimes that will mean refraining from buying something, sometimes that will mean reading instead of watching tv, but almost always, there will be a sacrifice that needs to be made if you don’t want to coast through life for “good enough.” Now it’s just a matter of reminding yourself how important your goal is and determining if the sacrifice is still worth it.

Comfort or growth? Those are our choices

We usually have two options.

1) Stay comfortable/safe by doing what we know, even when we recognize that we are capable of doing so much more.

2) Grow by trying new/challenging things. We might stumble along the way, but there will be no growth by staying within our comfort zone.

If you’re not making a conscious decision to grow/improve everyday, you’re subconsciously choosing stagnation. There’s nothing wrong with that if you’re ok with it, but if you truly want growth, you’ll have to work for it and get comfortable being uncomfortable.