My 2 Steps to Overwhelming Success

byStephenO12

273 followers

Updated 8 years ago

Setting Yourself Up for Overwhelming Success

This is the best advice in my life that I could give - if I only had 2 minutes with you.

Over my lifetime I have had many successes (and maybe even more failures). There are a few things I’ve learned that have bent my efforts toward the path of success. However when I have forgotten or failed to do these things have led me down the road to failure.

I want to share these with you to add to your knowledge and hopefully help you find more successes and less failures.

I know this sounds too simple. But it’s the simple things that are the difference between our success and our failure.

When I say, have a goal, I mean know where you want to go.

Know why you doing what you are doing and what you want the end to look like.

For example: My goal is to help you achieve more success in your life because I care about you. I’m writing this is to give you tips and advice on things that have helped me succeed and hopefully this will help you succeed as well.

Whenever you start something, you should say to yourself, “I am starting this so I can __________”

Make it as detailed as possible. Writing it down will help make it more real.

Once you have done this it will sink into your mind and your mind will move towards the goal you set.

If you do not have a goal, your mind will not know what to do or where you are going. So make sure you know deeply why you are doing what you are doing.

There is a lot of research on goal setting and personal achievement. One of the most interesting things I have learned is that successful people focus more on the process than they do on the goal.

What that means is you should focus on the steps you have to take to achieve your goal rather than focusing on the goal at the end of the process. When you focus on each step and what you have to do next and then next, you create a movement toward your goal and avoid getting lost in doing busy work or doing things that do not lead you toward your goal.

When you are focusing on the Process and not the goal there are a few things that will help you.

1. Have a checklist. If there are definite items or steps that you have to take make a checklist of everyone and cross it off when you have completed them. I know you may think, “Oh I know them in my head or I’ve done them before.” But according to Atul Gawande a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and best seller of the book called The Checklist Manifesto (one of Amazon’s best sellers) he has proven the value of checklist how it increases your chances of success dramatically.

1. Make a Plan. I’m always surprised by the number of people who do not plan out their success. If I wanted to drive from California to Florida, if I had no plan on how I was going to get there my chances of getting there would be next to impossible. It’s even more important when wanting to reach your goals. There’s a saying that’s more than true that says, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Remember this before you start any project and you will know from the beginning if you are likely to succeed or more likely to fail.

1. Take consistent actions every single day toward your goal without fail. Psychologist Angela Duckworth in her book “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” did a study on West Point cadets. All of these cadets were the best of the best in the country. They all had top academic achievements, they all were physically in top shape and they all had worked hard and were dedicated to get into West Point. But one out of every five do not make it passed the first month. She discovered in her research that one of the main indicators of whether a cadet or anyone will succeed or fail is their willingness to take consistent action and keep taking action until they have reached their goal. In other words, consistently take action until you win.

1. Give Yourself Permission to Fail over and over again. Everything will take longer than you expect.
   1. YOU WILL underestimate how much you will have to do
   2. YOU WILL overestimate your abilities and level of productivity
   3. THERE WILL be obstacles
   4. THERE WILL be setbacks
   5. YOU WILL make mistakes over and over again.

There is a term runners call “Hitting the Wall” that is when a runner gets to a place after they have been running for some time that their body just screams “STOP! NO MORE! PLEASE QUIT!” It’s only when they break through that wall that they find the strength to keep going to succeed and to make it to the end.

You will hit a wall like that when you are trying to reach your goals.

Whether it’s because you have been working months and have seen no return, or because you have been posting on a blog with little to no traffic or you have failed over and over again. When you hit your wall this is when you must keep going. This is when you must not give up. This is when you push harder and eventually you will breakthrough and see success.

You will notice that I didn't say anything about positive thinking or the law of attraction. There is growing research that has shown that positive thinking and the law of attraction have little to do with your success.

While it’s a little hard for me to personally believe that positive thinking doesn’t help, the research that I have read has shown that planning, focus and consistency is a much better predictor of success than positive thinking.

So this is my best advice I can give. It’s helped me in so many ways and I come back to it again and again.

I hope it will help you too and I wish you have a life full of success and blessings.

-Stephen