The aim of this article is to provide an outline of the attributes you require to become incredibly successful, so you can decide how you need to improve to increase your levels of success. Each attribute will be dealt with in depth in future articles and e-Books, but this is a great starting point if you truly want to become hugely successful.
The first thing I want to say here, is that I’m talking about being successful in all areas of your life. This article’s not just about being successful in work or business, it’s also about being successful in your relationships, all aspects of your home life, your hobbies and interests, your health and fitness… in fact just about anything you want to be successful in!
So, as you read through this article, simply apply the thoughts and ideas to the area(s) of your life in which you want to achieve success… or more success!
OK, let’s get started – have you ever known me to hang around – of course not! And I’m not going to disappoint today, either!
This may shock you… or it might not… but there is no secret to success! What? I can hear the cries from far and wide! Don’t believe me? That’s probably because so many gurus, coaches and so-called experts have created this great mystery behind success… usually down to their own self-interest! Create a mystery… create a problem… then cerate a solution… and charge people for it! Look, we all need to earn a living, but why the mystery? Let’s just be honest with each other and help each other and this world of ours will be a much better and happier place to be!
OK, you want a secret? This is it…
You can achieve success in any area of your life… as long as you have the desire to do so and as long as you’re prepared to learn a few new things along the way. Add to that the ability to set goals, a touch of confidence and success is yours for the taking! Weh-hey!
Oops, I’ve let the cat out of the bag… it’s not a secret anymore! Aargh! OK, if it’s not a secret, you’re probably wondering why some people are so successful and others are failures! Your words… not mine! Actually, there’s no such thing as a failure… just a lesson learned. Ask Thomas Edison (inventor of the electric light bulb). Well, OK, so you can’t ask him now… he’s no longer with us… but his quote is so famous and makes my point well! He was asked how he carried on with his research when his experiments failed so many times. And his answer?
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.
Now, you can be picky about the 10,000 times, but the point’s made perfectly! Each time Edison “failed”, he just learned something that didn’t work. He didn’t see it as failure, he simply took another step towards his eventual success! How cool is that? So, what can you take from that? Have you just learned something? Can you take a leaf out of Edison’s book and start learning today? Sure you can! And in doing so, you’ll be well on the way to becoming successful yourself!
OK, so let’s get back on track and explore what it is that makes some people successful… whilst others fail miserably! Aargh! There I go again, talking about failure! Now this is important! If you accept failure as failure, then of course, you can fail. It’s only by treating “failure” as a lesson learned that you all of a sudden cannot fail! Does that make sense? I hope so, because it does to me! Lol!
Attitude
If I had to pick out one thing that makes some people successful and others failures, it would be attitude. People who achieve outstanding success approach things in a totally different way to those who are unsuccessful. Their attitude is one of “never say die” and they also expect to succeed. Failure doesn’t even enter their mind for a split second. All they see is the finishing line… and breaking the tape! Creating a winning mindset is so important to becoming hugely successful.
Just do it!
You won’t see too many successful people wondering what to do next, either! They have an attitude of getting on with things, rather than talking about what to do next. They won’t be pondering about what will happen when they try things, they simply get on and do it! They’ll try things out. Learn from the results and then move on to the next step. They’ll keep doing that until they’ve reached their goal. Problems will be resolved. Obstacles removed or hurdled. Nothing gets in their way. Nothing!
The big question now is, “How do you become hugely successful?”
Now there’s a tough one! But, since we’re working on becoming an incredible success, I’m sure we can get past it! Oh yeah!
OK, here’s a list of attributes I think you’ll need if you’re going to become a huge success in life. Take a look and see if you agree with me. As you read through the list, tick off those that apply to you already and highlight those where you think you need a bit of work to improve. If you can think of any more that you think should be added, please contact me and let me know! You see, I’m willing to learn. I’m learning all the time!
OK, You’ll need to have:
- a vivid long-term vision of where you want to get to in life
- set high, but achievable goals
- a desire to be or achieve the best – 2nd best just isn’t an option
- a belief in yourself and that you control your own destiny
- a high level of drive and energy
- strength of purpose
- motivation
- the ability and willingness to learn from your mistakes
- a clear way of measuring your success
- a willingness to celebrate your successes – Oh yeah!
- the ability to work on your own and make your own decisions
- the ability to work with and learn from others
- great self-confidence
- a willingness to take some risks
- a desire to achieve excellence!
Now, that’s quite a list, isn’t it? If you have all those qualities in abundance, you have no real need to read this article! However, my guess is that you probably have some of them, but in varying degrees of abundance! What that means, is you’re probably getting some successes in your life, but with a little bit of work on yourself, you could achieve so much more! So, if you want to achieve incredible success, read on and we’ll take a look at how to start work on the things you need to improve.
Create A Vision Of Your Perfect Life
This is crucial to your success! How can you achieve something, if you don’t have a clear picture of it in your mind? Think of it this way. If you had a bow and arrow in your hands and a target somewhere in the distance and you were then blindfolded and spun around a few times, what would be the chances of you hitting the target? Pretty slim, I’d say! Take your blindfold off, pick out the target… aim… fire… bullseye! OK, so you may need to learn some lessons before you hit the bullseye, but don’t forget, that’s what successful people do all the time… so get some lessons booked!
Set High But Achievable Goals
I strongly suggest you do this with the help of a good coach. A good coach will help you set goals appropriate to your skills, goals which are challenging, but achievable. It’s important not to limit yourself by setting easy goals, but it’s equally important not to set goals that are out of your reach, because you’ll soon become disillusioned and will then give up on your dreams.
Look, if I was to set myself the target of running 100 metres in 5 seconds, I’d be setting myself up for a fall. If I was to set myself a target of running 100 metres in 20 seconds, it would be way too easy… even for me! The secret is to come to a target that challenges and pushes your limits, but gives you hope of success. That’s where a good coach will help, by asking pertinent questions to enable you to set the right goals for you. If we continue with the analogy above, 20 seconds may not be a challenging goal for me, but for others it would be just right and for some it would be downright impossible!
A Desire To Be Or Achieve The Best
Look, we all know that everyone can’t be the best! The idea here is to achieve the best you possibly can! That makes you a winner. That makes you an incredible success! If you have the desire to achieve incredible success in everything you do, then that’s exactly what you’ll achieve! Second best just isn’t even an option, because, if you do fall below your high expectations, you’ll learn and improve… and keep improving until you’ve reached your goal!
Look you’re not aiming for perfection here, but you’re aiming for pretty damn close to perfection! As a golfer, you’re never going to get a hole in one on every par 3 hole you play. You’re probably not going to land within 5 metres of the hole every time, but you can set yourself a target of hitting the green just about every time. Now, we all know that every so often you’ll miss the green, but by setting the goal high, you’ll hit it more often. Each time you miss, you learn a lesson, so you can do better next time.
Believe In Yourself
One things for sure, if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will! I’m not talking about being boastful or arrogant here, just being confident in your own ability to “get the job done”. If you go around telling others how great you are, you’ll lose a lot of friends and make even more enemies! So don’t go there! Listen, just because you shouldn’t go around boasting about you talents to others, it doesn’t mean you can’t tell yourself exactly how wonderful you are! Don’t go over the top though, well not too much, just keep it at a level that builds you up so you know you’ll be successful.
Certainly, it’s extremely important not to be critical of yourself. That’s just a recipe for disaster and will almost certainly lead to failure. Nothing more needs to be said on that… do not put yourself down… ever!
You Control Your Own Destiny
OK, I’m going to offer my apologies to anyone whose religious beliefs suggest that life’s all mapped out for us and that we simply have to tune into “God” and He’ll lead the way. I’m sorry, I just don’t see life like that! I do believe in a greater power, a creator if you like. We can call this creator, “God”, “The Universe”, maybe. It doesn’t really matter.
Everything and everyone is linked by a force, which is why The Law of Attraction works so well. But, we control how The Universe works for us by our thoughts and actions, not the other way round. Why would we need free minds, if our future was mapped out already? You better believe you control your own destiny or someone else will do it for you! And that would not lead to incredible success!
A High Level Of Drive And Energy
If you have a clear vision and have set yourself challenging goals, this will come naturally. You’ll leap out of bed raring to go each and every day! Well maybe, but I reckon there are other things that need to be worked on here. Sure, your drive will be improved with a clear vision and challenging goals and to a certain extent this will energize you. However, you’ll also need to work on the physical side of things. A good dose of exercise, relaxation, sleep and a healthy diet are all essential here! In short then, look after both body and mind if you want to Achieve Incredible Success!
Strength Of Purpose and Motivation
When you’re creating your vision and setting your goals, it’s vital they fall within your beliefs and values. This is vital to becoming successful. If you set goals that fall outside your core values, then you’ll lack the motivation to see them through.
Let’s say one of your core values centres around your family and doing lots of fun things with your kids. If you then set yourself a goal that takes you away from home for 4 days each week for the next three years, then that goal’s in conflict with your core values, meaning you will create inner conflicts as you strive to achieve success. It’s almost inevitable that you’ll fail to reach you goal in this sort of situation.
The Ability And Willingness To Learn From Your Mistakes
OK, this is easy. You make a mistake – we all do that from time to time – you learn from it, try again and hey presto you get it right! Yeah, right! Look, that may happen once in a while, but generally life isn’t quite that simple! So you’re going to need to be prepared to try things a few times before you get it spot on, and each time you make a mistake, you’re going to have to analyse what you did and improve on it next time. You’ll need real stickability and you’ll need to be able to learn new skills as you go along.
To be honest, that’s no problem… learning is so much fun! Especially when it takes you nearer to achieving your goals!
A Clear Way Of Measuring Your Success
This sounds easy… and to be honest it is! Provided you set the right goals! OK, here’s the deal. Each time you set a goal, you ask yourself this simple question, “How will I know when I’ve achieved my goal?” At work, that may be when you’re made a Director of your company. At home, it may be when you’ve finished building an extension on your house.
The next question’s maybe a little more difficult to answer. “How will I know if I’ve been hugely successful?” OK, this is s bit more subjective. At home, you may decide that your extension needs four walls and a roof that doesn’t leak to make it a successful achievement! OK? Does that make sense? To create incredible success, you’re going to have to achieve your goals with style and flair!
A Willingness To Celebrate Your Successes – Oh Yeah!
This one’s so much fun! Every success has to be marked with a celebration or reward. It may be a simple reward like a bar of your favourite chocolate or even something like a cup of coffee. But for major successes you’ll need to think of a special celebration! Maybe a meal out in the best restaurant in town, or tickets to a show… your choice! But, whatever you do, celebrate every success, no matter how small… and celebrate in style!
The Ability To Work On Your Own And Make Your Own Decisions
If you’re going to become a hugely successful person, you’ll have to make decisions and you’ll have to make them, sometimes, on your own. You see sometimes, others will disagree with you, they’ll advise you one way or the other and sometimes you’ll have moral dilemmas or maybe even social issues to consider. But, what you have to consider, is that the decision ultimately has to be made by you, for you! So make it! Then live with it!
You’re also going to need leadership qualities, which will mean working on your own at times. Doing what you think is best. Doing what you want to do. Doing whatever it takes to move yourself forward in the direction of your goals. Look, you’re pulling the shots… it’s your life. So you’re going to have to take control, make decisions and get out there and do it when you don’t always feel like doing it!
The Ability To Work With And Learn From Others
The one thing about becoming incredibly successful that many people learn the hard way, is that you cannot do it on your own! Every hugely successful person has had support, help, advice, coaching and much more from others as they’ve strived for excellence. And each and everyone of them will acknowledge that they couldn’t have achieved their success without the help of others.
So, learn to work with other people. Listen to their advice… you don’t have to take it… but listen to it… consider it… then either take it or discard it. Find people who have qualities and skills that you need. Learn from them… and teach them your skills and qualities. You must give as well as receive.
Find a guru, coach, a mastermind group, a support group, anything or anyone that’ll support you. Find people who are like-minded, people who want you to succeed. Network with them, build contacts, support each other. Give and you will receive. Receive and you will give.
Be open to ideas from others. Consider them. Modify them. Use them. Give ideas to others. As you do that, your subconscious mind will create other ideas for you to use. Everybody will gain.
Great Self-Confidence
I could write a book on this one… well actually I have… well almost! I’m adding the final touches right now… so look out for it very soon! Look, this is a huge area and one that needs a lot of discussion. But for now simply work on building confidence by celebrating every success. As you do that, you’ll realise you can do things well, very well and that will build your confidence.
You’ll also find some articles on this site to help you build your confidence… just click on the confidence link on the left of each page. I’ll be adding lots more soon. The thing to remember here, is that without confidence, you’ll limit your success levels drastically. So, if it’s a problem with you, find a way to boost it as fast as you can.
A Willingness To Take Some Risks
Now, this may sound like a contradiction, but believe me, this is one of the most important things you’ll have to learn to do! You can achieve limited success by taking the easy route, by making the easy decisions, by plodding along. But, if you want incredible success, you’ll have to take some risks… calculated risks of course. Some of them will come off, others will fail, sometimes miserably. But you’ll learn when they fail and you’ll grow so much faster when they come off!
With all risks, calculate the possible return if they succeed and the downside if they fail. Then visualize and focus on success! Easy!
A Desire To Achieve Excellence!
Now this may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people are scared of success. You see, the more success you have, the more people will expect you to succeed. And that brings pressure. Or at least it can bring pressure.
Just remember, you’re doing this for you. Not for anyone else… for you. So their thoughts and expectations are irrelevant! Your thoughts and expectations are the only ones that count. Whether others perceive you as a success or a failure doesn’t matter in the slightest! There you go… pressure relieved!
OK, to finish off then… aim for excellence in all you do. Do the best you possibly can. Always want to be the best. Always want to do your best. Aim for the stars, always. Look, if you aim high and don’t quite make it, you’ll still have achieved incredible success! And that’s what you’re aiming for… isn’t it?
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Make every day a great day!
Keith L Jones
Life Improvement Coach
Helping You Achieve Incredible Success!
