Success doesn’t just happen. Overnight successes actually take years of hard work and sacrifice. Success isn’t luck and luck doesn’t bring success.
Success is the result of making a conscious decision to charge after a goal. It comes from understanding who you are—your strengths as well as your weaknesses, the opportunities in front of you and those that might require more digging. A successful person has the emotional intelligence to be fully self-aware and the determination to stay focused on achieving results.
Put yourself where you want to be
There are people who seem to be in the right place at the right time. But if you look closer, perhaps they put themselves there at that time.
Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school basketball team. Stephen Spielberg was twice rejected from film school. Walt Disney was fired from his job as a newspaper cartoonist because the editor said he wasn’t creative enough. Stephen King’s first novel was rejected by 30 publishers. Theodor Geisel—also known as Dr. Seuss—was rejected 27 times.
At age 13, Bethany Hamilton was surfing when she was attacked by a shark, which bit off her arm. Certainly, that was bad luck. But a month later, she returned to surfing. Two years later, Bethany won first place in a national surfing competition.
In 2003, Kris Carr was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in her lungs and liver that was already in stage IV. Told it was incurable, Kris, 32, attacked the disease by aggressively researching alternative approaches and changing her lifestyle to more holistic. A best-selling author and motivational speaker, she is alive, well, and has inspired countless other people to keep fighting.
What creates a successful mindset?
Were these people lucky? No. What they had was belief in themselves and the grit to doggedly pursue their goals. They held firm to a successful mindset.
- Think positive. Keep your self-talk boosting your spirits and reminding you of everything you have. Be grateful. Count your blessings. And be confident that you can make good things happen, rather than passively waiting around for them.
- Take risks. The best results happen when you step outside your comfort zone. Remember, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll just get what you’ve always got!
- Learn from mistakes. There are no failures as long as you learn from mistakes, whether they are yours or someone else’s. Don’t waste valuable time dwelling on the error and assigning blame. Forgive the mistake, embrace the lesson, and move on.
- Persevere. Don’t give up. Think of all the effort you’ve put into getting this far. When you feel doubtful, take steps to rekindle the fire of your passion. It’s ok to slow down, but don’t stop.
- Remain accountable to yourself. You can say you’re going to achieve a certain sales goal, but are you tracking your results? Do you have an action plan with steps you can take every day and every week? A goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish—which leaves your future up to luck.
Success is a collision of all of these factors. Sure, a little luck doesn’t hurt but it’s also short-lived. You are the author of your life. Make it a best-seller.
