There is no Magic Bullet
Most people know what they want for themselves but they either don’t know how to go about getting what they want, they think the task at hand is too great, or they are simply too lazy to put in the work to make it happen.
There is no magic bullet that will bring about your success. It requires dedication, will, perseverance, tenacity and a belief in your abilities; a belief in yourself.
You don’t have to be the person who simply waits and wishes for luck. You can be the type of person who identifies what they want and then goes about getting it.
You are in control. The quality of the work you produce can attract success into your life. Your work is a direct reflection of who you are personally.
Invest in Yourself
By investing in yourself financially (10% of your income is a good place to start) you assign a value to what you are about to undertake to begin your transformation. If something is free, we tend to assign a very low value to it.
The process to reach your dreams and goals must be valued highly and this includes an investment in yourself financially. Investing in yourself will result in a huge return on that investment.
Mentorship can be the difference between success and failure at this juncture of your transformation. The best mentors are the ones you pay for.
By investing in a mentor and paying for it with hard-earned cash, you will pay more attention to what is said and taught. You will respect the process more highly. The consequences for failure will be much, much higher.
Beyond mentor relationships, you should be investing in online courses, books, and other quality items such as healthy food, exercise and good sleep.
If you don’t have a lot of money to spend then invest in books, both hard copies and the digital eBook variety. If you find you are spending money on entertainment and leisure, clothing and food you probably shouldn’t be eating then surely you can afford to invest in a book or two a month. It is simply a matter of prioritizing the things that are most important to you.
By investing financially in yourself you will determine the level and quality of work you produce and ultimately, the level of happiness you possess.
Invest In Learning
Most people don’t create, they consume. By investing your time, rather than consuming it, you will realize a large return on that investment.
Consuming time on social media sites results in time that you can never recover. It has been consumed. It is gone forever. Consuming time in this manner leaves you worse off. By investing in your time learning, you are better off.
The world’s most successful people are those who put a high value on learning. They read voraciously. What they learn determines how well they view the world around them. This results in an increase in the quality of their relationships and in the work that they produce.
If you are constantly consuming your time with mind-numbing, worthless, junk media, how can you ever expect yourself to produce work of high value? That which you consume directly affects that which you produce.
Rather than working only for money, strive to work for learning’s sake. Successful people work to learn. The rest work for money. You will continue to become a better, more capable person; a better communicator, a better mentor, employer, husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, friend.
You will become a much better creator and producer. They quality of that which you create will skyrocket.
Knowledge is worthless unless it is applied. There are a million things you could learn. But if you don’t put that learning immediately into practice is becomes very shallow. When you learn something, you should always look to receive a return on that learning.
If you aren’t applying what you are learning, you are then just consuming and all the time has been wasted.
Become Motivated By Giving Rather Than Getting
Most people are focused only on what they can get out of life. As you become more self-aware, as your world-view shifts from one of scarcity to one that is based in abundance, you will become aware that it is far more gratifying to give than to get. Once you reach this point you will become driven by a cause that you truly believe in.
In a relationship defined by transaction, the goal is what can be gotten out of a relationship. This is rooted in a scarcity mentality. In a relationship defined by transformation, the goal is focused on giving and being grateful for the opportunity to help make the world a better place. This is grounded in an abundance mentality.
As you move from a scarcity driven, transactional mind frame into an abundance drive, transformational one, you will begin to attract like-minded people into your life; those dedicated to a success driven process for realizing their fullest potential.
You will begin to attract situations, events and opportunities into your life that you weren’t aware of previously. Your awareness will be raised and you will begin to recognize these opportunities as they present themselves to you.
You will begin to think differently and more positively. You will have more thoughts about how to improve the lives of those around you. You will begin to contribute more to your community, which will then result in more opportunities coming your way.
Others will begin to love and trust you more deeply. You will be motivated by a higher cause and your work will be more inspired and impactful. This will be recognized by others and the cycle of continued success will strengthen.
Recognize Your Dependence On Others
Far too often we are afraid to ask for help. But all of us are highly dependent on others in our lives. Rather than viewing this as a weakness, recognize it as a strength.
While acknowledging your dependence on others is key, remember to constantly express your gratitude and appreciation to other’s roles in your life.
Being “self-made” is an illusion. We are all influenced, helped by, guided by and motivated by other people in our lives. Gratitude for this condition is paramount to your success. Living in a state of constant gratitude moves us closer to the font of a creativity and way from the depressing state of competition. It comes down, once again, to a world-view of abundance rather than scarcity. Abundance equals creativity, scarcity equals competition.
In synergistic and healthy relationships, each member in the relationship invests and contributes an equal share of time, learning, growth, experience and contribution. As each member gives and receives, the relationship is allowed to grow more deeply and in the direction of strength and success.
Create Partnerships Whereby Everyone Wins
Collaboration is far more valued than competition. Competition is focused solely on the self, where collaboration’s focus is on the team. Collaboration creates unique connections working alone never could.
You possess knowledge and skills that make you highly valued in your particular field. Others are likewise gifted. Their knowledge and skillset probably lies outside your current awareness. You possess assets they don’t and they have assets you don’t have.
Developing a “win-win” mentality when it comes to partnerships and collaboration fosters an environment where all parties feel empowered to do what is best for the project, rather than to do what is best only for themselves.
The transformation that occurs through collaboration can never be realized by those who work alone and are stuck in their narrow world-view and agenda. You will find that via collaboration, your goals will change. They will become different from what could have been achieved alone. They will become bigger and better.
Partnerships and collaboration must be viewed with the long term in mind. Only then will the mind-set move from a transactional awareness to a transformational awareness. Do not seek transactional relationships. Seek only relationships, partnerships and opportunities for collaboration that are transformational in nature.
Face Your Fears
Most likely, you don’t know what you don’t know. This requires education to overcome; education concerning how you could conceivably achieve your goal. You will need to get bolder about the work you are doing. You will need to create more, which leads to opportunities to fail more often. Failure is an integral part of success. Embrace it, learn from it, and grow from it. Face failure head-on. Face your fear and you will succeed!
