Frustrating, isn’t?
Setting a goal and not achieving the results you desire. Maybe you feel like you’re stuck in a rut and can’t seem to find a way to move forward. Maybe you feel like your peers are steamrolling ahead and leaving you behind. Or maybe, you feel as though you’re doing something wrong or not even doing enough.
We’ve all been there and probably will be there again.
Why is it that we are so infatuated with the successful? We want to know their bedtime routine, what they ate for breakfast, what type of toilet paper they use. Ok, I’m kidding, but you get the picture.
The successful have this innate ability to make everything look so effortless. It seems as though they are skipping levels as if they have some sort of a secret hack or a cheat code.
We’re probably all guilty of these common habits that hold back success; spending too much time on social media or watching our favourite TV shows or poor time management; but here are a few extra habits that the successful avoid like the plague.
- The Habit of Dabbling
“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”—Winston S. Churchill
Dabbling is when you toy with, flirt with or tinker with a new project, goal or interest. You’re only scratching the surface before moving onto the next flavour of the month like a goldfish with an 8-second attention span.
Go look in your garage/storage room. Are there any old unused fishing rods, mountain bikes, tennis racquets or golf clubs that you don’t use anymore? We’ve all taken up a hobby that has been short-lived but in your career you have to be committed.
Successful people go deep. They’re laser focused. They choose a goal and smash it. They crush it. They beat that goal into submission. They’re obsessed with it. It consumes every moment of their day. It’s as if their lives depend on it.
In layman’s terms, it means every thought and action should be geared towards moving you closer to your destination. When you’re active, you’re moving towards your goal, when you’re inactive, you’re daydreaming about your future.
Read the Steve Jobs biography or go see ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ and you’ll see a great example of what obsessions looks like.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should become so obsessed that your personal hygiene goes out the window, but the majority of your day should be spent on your goal.
Here are a few tricks the successful use to become obsessed:
1. Write out your goals every day. With a pen and paper. No typing. Once in the morning and before you go to bed. Don’t have time? Too simple to work? Is it
overkill? Not if you’re serious about becoming successful. It’s important that your goal is specific, in the present tense and is not in the negative. Bad example: I am not going to be poor. Good example: I want to earn a monthly passive income of R50,000.
- Visualisation/vision board. Seeing your future and getting emotionally involved with the pictures is a great way to kindle your desire. Here’s a great free meditation for you to use. And why not check out this great article on the details of creating a vision board.
- Goal card. Write out your goal on a business card. Carry that card in your wallet and review it as much as possible throughout your day. When you’re at a traffic light, in the bathroom, waiting for an appointment, etc.
- The Habit of Flawlessness
“F**k it. Ship it.”—Unknown
There’s a fine line between having high standards and where perfectionism paralyses you. I’m referring to the latter. I love the above-mentioned quote as it’s similar to Richard Branson’s mantra: ‘Screw it, let’s do it.’ It embraces committing to a project and then improving on your idea later even if it’s not perfect to start with.
I’ve had instances in the past whereby running the numbers on a property investment made me want to get it down to the exact cent before I could move forward. It took me a while to have the self-awareness to identify this problem and address it.
The scary part is sometimes procrastination can have different forms which may initially appear as productive tasks i.e. planning, thinking, strategizing, meetings, etc. These are all good stages to go through but beware if you’re using it as an excuse to not take any action.
Successful people don’t need to know each and every step of the process. They have confidence in their own ability to figure it out later and make it work. Please don’t mistake this for carelessness. Do your homework, but don’t spin your wheels.
- Having a Fear Phobia
“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” – Tim Ferriss
I always saw successful people as fearless warriors, as if they were born with some rare immunity to fear itself. Truth is, successful people also feel fear. The difference? They don’t let it alter their decisions or actions. They follow the fear.
Successful people know that if they’re doing something they fear, it means they’re growing. They are stepping outside of their comfort zone and that’s where the magic happens. It’s also where the mediocre people with the mediocre results never go.
Your biggest fear should actually be that you are not fearful. It’s always funny how those irrational fears never manifest themselves. Remember that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. So, feel the fear and follow it.
Conclusion
“Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.” – Seth Godin
Successful lives are built one successful day at a time. Successful days are built one successful habit at a time. So, let’s start changing the bad ones.
Stop settling for less. Stop making excuses. Stop letting yourself down. Because in the end, that’s the only person we’re competing against. That person we could have become. Our true potential.
And you know what, there’s one massive situation we should fear in life… And that’s regret. Looking back on your life, when it’s too late, and thinking of the person you could have become.
Screw that. That’s for average people. But you’re not average. You’re exceptional. So, stop messing around and start acting the part. For you, your spouse, your kids and your future generation. The ball’s in your court. What are you going to do?
Written By Hanro Roos
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