11. Accept Responsibility
You need to accept responsibility if you make a bad decision or fall behind in your plan. Let us say that you have set some firm milestones that need to be accomplished in order for you to move to the next step.
However, you got tired of working hard and took some time to play, which is fine as long as it does not affect your goals. Now months have passed and you are way behind schedule. This delay has closed several
doors of opportunities. Who is to blame?
12. Be Happy
A positive mind and happy, upbeat attitude will help you succeed. It has been proven in many studies that a person living in a happy state generally gets much further in just about everything they do. This relates to attitude. Just as bad attitude can pull you down, good attitude and a happy, healthy mind will help you meet your objectives.
13. No Shortcuts
An old cliché states, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” This should be your motto. When you want to succeed, you cannot afford to take shortcuts. Taking shortcuts leads to imperfection and inadequacies. Always strive for the best, even if it requires a little more time and effort.
14. Have Courage
Depending on what your specific success is, it may take courage to arrive at your desired destination. For example, if you have a dream of being a writer and to you, that is success, but according to your long
line of family members who have all gone on to be doctors, the only success in their minds is if you follow down the medical path. This means you will have to have courage to stand up for what you believe
and desire to do, even if it means disappointing family.
15. Be Excited to Learn
Referring back to the analogy of Edison, when asked about his failures by a young boy, Edison commented, “Young man, I didn’t fail 9,999 times, I discovered 9,999 ways not to invent the light bulb.” As you
work toward your specific success, always enjoy opportunities to learn, even if it takes longer than you think it should.
16. Share your Success
Although this may be more at the end of the process, it is important. When you finally do reach your success, use your experience to teach, guide, and mentor others so that they too might succeed.
17. Seek Input
Whatever your idea of success, conduct a “sanity check” throughout the process of reaching your goal. This should be done with someone you trust and who is themselves successful. Ask them to provide honest
feedback about your success and as you move through different milestones, bounce concerns or new ideas off them to help keep you on the right track.
18. Toxic Poisoning
No, we are not talking about actual poison but toxic people that can poison. Unfortunately, it would be great if close friends or co-workers could share in your success but all too often, there will be someone who
is either dealing with the “green monster” of jealousy or has a case of the “I knew that” syndrome. If you are serious about reaching your goal and being successful, you will need to rid your life of these people.
While you may not be able to get them out of your life completely, you should avoid them as best as possible. If this is a person, you see every day, keep your goals to yourself, and avoid that specific subject.
19. Be a Good Listener
To succeed, you need to learn how to listen first. Pay attention to other people who have enjoyed successes in their life, attend seminars given by people that can motivate and encourage, or be open to hearing that
a particular idea is not a good one. Good listening takes time to learn but in the end, it will be your greatest tool.
20. Birds of a Feather
If you have a goal of being a best-selling author, find friends and mentors who either have achieved that same goal or are also pursuing a successful writing career. It is important to surround yourself with
people that can associate with your goal and passion, people who understand the burning desire to succeed and can encourage if you meet with disappointments.
21. Little Red Engine
Do you remember the story of the little train carriage that was desperately trying to make it over a very large hill? He kept telling himself repeatedly, “I think I can, I think I can.” When you start feeling overwhelmed or
defeated, tell yourself aloud these same words. While it may seem a little awkward at first, stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself, “I think I can, I think I can.” You might even change the words to, “I
know I can!”
22. Be Proactive
While it may take time to learn how to identify ways to avoid obstacles or failures, get into the habit of tackling problems before they arise.
This will help you avoid wasting precious time on your road to success.
23. Stay Motivated
When striving for the big goal of success, it is critical to stay motivated. Find inspiring and motivational tapes, seminars, books, movies; whatever you are able to get your hands on. When you start to feel a little down and out and doubt starts to creep in, turn to these motivational tools to help you keep on track.
24. Give Yourself a Break
While being determined is important, do not be so hard on yourself that you become critical of every move you make. Give yourself some room to make mistakes and be flexible with you. That does not mean you can
miss goals but it does mean that if you do, you find out how to avoid that from happening again and then get back to business.
25. Be Passionate
Fall in love with what your success. Okay, although that sounds funny, you need to have an intimate passion with your interest. You can do this regardless of what your success is. By having passion for what you
are doing and driving toward, you will automatically put more effort into it. Passion is a good thing as long as it does not become an obsession.
