In order to achieve your big goals, you have to achieve the smaller, related goals along the way. Make sure to not overlook the stepping stones to help you reach you ultimate goal.
Tag: success
Focus and effort
If anyone is an international example of success, Dwayne Johnson has to be in the conversation among the most relevant at this time. He has said, “Success at anything will always come down to this – focus and effort.”
After thinking about it, any amount of limited success that I’ve had has come as the result of those two things. And there is a positive correlation as well…The more focus and effort you put into something, the greater the results will be. You have to put in work for something to work. And you can’t do it inconsistently either. You have to focus on it, otherwise you are basically starting from scratch every time.
For example: Imagine working out once per week. You might get marginally healthier, but if your goal is to be as physically fit as possible, you’re not going to see the results you want. You have to go consistently, with a clear objective, and work hard towards achieving those goals.
Feedback vs criticism
View feedback as a shortcut to success. If you only see feedback as criticism and shut down, you will limit your growth potential. If someone is being honest with you and helping you realize what needs to be improved upon, use that to your advantage. Either way the information is still there and it is still true. You can choose to ignore it and continue to be substandard at whatever it is they mentioned, or you can do something about it. This will also reinforce others to continue to give you feedback. It may not always feel the best, but you will always know where you stand.
Training like a professional
If you only work on something when you’re motivated, you’ll never achieve outstanding results. That’s what separates professionals from amateurs. Professionals deliberately practice their craft daily. They make sure that they eat, sleep, and train for optimum performance. They’ll break down film/recordings to see where they are weak or where there is an opportunity due to an opponent’s weakness, then they try to improve or exploit that weakness.
To become truly great at something, you have to practice…a lot. You can’t just do something once and then expect to become an expert. It takes studying and experience. But if you depend solely on your motivation to do the necessary work, you will never become truly elite in your field. Motivation comes and goes. You can have it for stretches, but when things start becoming difficult, motivation is often the first thing to go.
Muhammad Ali is quoted as saying, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” He knew the importance of training – of doing what he didn’t want to do so he could get to the next level. Often, it is what we are willing to do that others aren’t that being us success. Are you willing to sacrifice in the short term to get the long term results you want?
So the questions are: what do you need to be doing to bring you the success you desire? Are you deliberately training, living purposefully, and working as hard as you can? Or are you relying on motivation to get you by? Take some time today to think about your goals and figure out what you need to be doing habitually to get you there.
Systems and processes
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear
It doesn’t matter how lofty your goals are if you don’t have systems in place to ensure you reach those goals. The goal gives you a direction to aim, which is a good start, but it does not get you to the finish line. After all, you need to know what you want to accomplish and where you want to go in order to take the right actions to get there. But knowing where you want to go is only part of the equation. It won’t actually get you there without putting together an action plan and then executing that plan. (Knowing and doing are different parts of the process, but both are necessary.)
Make sure that you have systems in place that move you forward every day. Figure out what the next most important action step is and work towards completing it. Once you accomplish that, figure out the next most important action step and repeat the process.
On your way to completing each step, beware of taking actions that can derail or sidetrack you. You want to move toward your goal in as straight of a line as possible, not winding/meandering your way there. Stay laser focused and do not let the shiny objects distract you.