Have you ever wondered why some people keep achieving at a high level again and again? No matter what they put their effort and energy into, things seem to keep working out for them.
Have you ever experienced success in a certain area only to fall short in others?
Why do things work out so well for some and not so much for others? If you believe luck is the only thing that makes the difference, you are sadly mistaken.
Successful people have simply made a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. Those productive habits create the consistency needed to achieve good outcomes over and over again.
It’s not that high achievers don’t experience setbacks and failures, it’s just that their mindset around these events is completely different.
For example, when something doesn’t work out for them, high performers will not blame others or beat themselves up, which, by the way, is the path of least resistance. Instead, they see these events as learning opportunities and take the time to extract meaning and value from failure rather than letting it define them.
Also, when they feel they are getting off course, they have developed strategies to make course corrections sooner rather than later to get back on the path toward their intended goals and outcomes.
Becoming self-aware of your patterns and tendencies, when things go both ways, is the first step toward making success in your life a consistent pattern rather than a freak accident.
Success leaves clues, and those clues are the key to getting good results on a consistent basis.
Start by making a quick assessment of where you are today. Would you say that you are on track, energized, and moving at a good pace towards your intended goals and outcomes?
If you are, then ask yourself: what are the circumstances that have led up to this amazing feeling? Think about your patterns and routines over the past few days and weeks. What have you been doing or not doing that has created this set of circumstances?
Maybe you’ve been eating right or exercising? Maybe you have spent time with people or been places that inspire you and put you in a positive state? Maybe you’ve simply been getting enough sleep or doing things that you know recharge your internal battery? Whatever the case, this state you are in isn’t an accident; it’s the result of a very unique set of events that have placed you in this positive and productive state.
If you happen to be in a bad place. Ask yourself the same questions. What set of circumstances have led you to this state? What patterns and habits have you fallen back into that you know aren’t good for you but seem to have found yourself anyway?
Take a look back at the past few days or weeks. What triggering events set you on this path of mediocrity and unproductive behavior? Maybe someone did or said something that started this cascade of negativity. Maybe you are simply not taking care of yourself or neglecting your health and well-being. Maybe it’s just been too many cloudy days in a row. Whatever the case, just like the clues that have led to your success, the same clues will be evident in your negative state, too.
Once you become self-aware of your patterns and habits, you can start tracing these events and, more importantly, develop proactive strategies you control 100% to make the course corrections needed to achieve success again and again in your life. Just like those “lucky” people I discussed earlier who perform at the highest levels.
Success isn’t an accident. It’s the result of being intentional about the habits and routines that make what you want happen. Success leaves clues, and so does non-success. Start paying attention to them today and watch what happens next.
Thoughts for the week:
Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken. -Warren Buffett
If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you either need to change your habit or change your dream. – John Maxwell
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. -Aristotle
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. -Jim Rohn
We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. -John Dryden
First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you are inspired or not. -Octavia Butler
Nothing needs so reforming as other people’s habits. -Mark Twain