Success is not an accidental event. It’s only available to those who are willing to pay the price. If you want to make the rest of your the life Best of the Life, you need to cultivate the right habits. According to Steven Covey, the author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, you have the right to make your decisions, but you don’t have the right to choose the consequences of your actions. This article reviews some of the unmistakable ingredients that can make your life successful.
1. Action
A plan cannot work itself out unless you do something about it. So, after setting your goals, you should set out to achieve them. You aren’t different from a person that does not have targets to meet when you don’t act on your plan. Therefore, don’t get worked up in a phenomenon known as analysis-paralysis. This is a situation in which an individual does so much analysis of a task but ends up doing nothing.
It’s recommended that you have a to-do list for every goal. For example, you should have a list of things you need to do daily to get good grades in an upcoming exam. Ensure that your to-do list contains things you can do immediately. The more you have things that will take time to act, the more likely it’s that you will do nothing eventually. So, start now!
2. Patience
You need patience to achieve both long-term and short-term plans. However, you need to be more patient when working towards long-term goals. Note that patience does not mean that you will do nothing. Rather, it involves believing and sticking to the process. When you aren’t patient, you will become desperate. Meanwhile, desperation will increase your frustration. When you are frustrated, you will not have the clear head needed to make quality decisions. Life is a process, and you will need to be patient to achieve your targets. Nothing good comes easy. Besides, whatever will be sustainable and worthwhile needs to go through the due process. For example, you cannot become a professional guitarist in one month. So, you will have to be patient while learning. The basics may feel boring, but when you learn patiently, you will eventually become one of the best musicians.
3. Self- Discipline
You cannot achieve anything substantial without discipline. No matter how well you create your plans, it will all end up in futility when you don’t have self-control. It’s discipline that will make you stick to your plan on days when things aren’t going your way. Indeed, discipline is not exciting. It’s more fun to spend time playing games rather than working on your project.
However, no game can offer you the satisfaction and sense of achievement you will get by achieving your goals. Note that your scores and success in video games are nothing but virtual achievements. In the same way, your social media likes and comments don’t necessarily translate to monetary rewards. So, ensure that you are disciplined enough to keep working hard on your targets until you achieve them.
4. Inspiration
You need to be inspired to remain consistent and focused on your goal. The best form of inspiration is self-inspiration. When you are self-inspired, there’s little the people around you can do to discourage you. However, when you depend on other people to inspire and motivate, it’s not likely to last. Note that you also need the encouragement of the people around you to achieve your goals. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t count on it.
Avoid using hurts and anger as inspiration. In other words, don’t try to lose weight because you were a victim of cyberbullying because of your weight. In the same way, don’t try to get good grades to prove a point to a lecturer or your classmates. Such negative inspirations sound logical, but they often lead to desperation and frustration. You will struggle to improve yourself when you are trying to prove a point. You will be seeking quick fixes and shortcuts so that you can take revenge as soon as possible.
5. Consistency
Consistency is a vital ingredient to success. You can achieve any short-term or long-term target when you keep pushing. Every effort is like a strike with an ax on a tree. After striking the wood the first time, it will feel like forever before you end up bringing it down. Note that the first strike is as important as the last. However, if you don’t keep pushing, there will never be the last hit that achieves the target. Set your goals. Then have your actionable plan. However, all will be futile when you don’t take action. Taking action and stopping will still not lead to anything substantial. You need to maintain your consistency. If you want to produce that best-seller book, you need to keep adding the daily quota. If you want to become that famous guitarist, you need to keep practicing. Consistency will help you get the best out of your potential.
6. Accountability
There’s no doubt that self-discipline is critical to success. Nevertheless, it might not be enough in some circumstances. As a human being, you have the tendency to relent and stop pushing to achieve your dream. However, you can “set up” yourself to feel stuck in the process. One of the ways you can achieve this is by being accountable to your loved ones. For example, you can inform your spouse about your plan to write 1500 words daily in the next two weeks. This approach will help you to be more consistent and focused. You know that he or she will ask you if you were able to meet your target for the day. So, to avoid looking like an unserious person, you will ensure that you didn’t miss a day. Indeed, this approach doesn’t guarantee that you will not have an off day. However, it ensures that such days are exceptions rather than norms.
7. Little or no Procrastination
Procrastination is a form of laziness. It often starts harmlessly but ends up coming back to bite you hard. Sometimes, you are likely to procrastinate after achieving a significant milestone. For example, when you are ahead of schedule for a target, it’s likely that you feel you can relax before you continue with the next goal.
Author
Dr. Vijay Viraj is empowering employees for the last 7+ years and has been trained many people to perform best in their workplace. His EMPLOYEE FREEDOM MODEL training program has helped many employees to achieve their desired salary hike, promotion, and leadership skills to skyrocket their job career to a new level.