Think about a major goal you have.
It may be a monetary goal like achieving a six-figure income at the end of the next five years.
It may be to reach international trading status or become an industry expert.
Whatever it is, hold it in your mind, think about it and put all of your focus into it.
Can you truly see yourself in that position, whatever it may be? If you can’t, you need to analyze why that is.
Believe me when I say this: Anything is possible in business. When you hold that as a strong belief, then you’ll always have a base point to fall back to. You can always reassure yourself that you are heading in the right direction and that what you want is possible.
A lot of the time people base their beliefs off what is possible, because of what others have done before them. If you do this, understand that this limits what is possible for you because you will always be striving for what other people have done.
There is greater stuff inside you.
1. Learn How to Train Fleas
You have to become a flea trainer. This was best illustrated by Zig Ziglar in his most famous seminar that he ran for more than 30 years. It’s called Born to Win, and it’s something I highly recommend.
So what is a flea trainer? If you trap some fleas in a jar and put that lid on tight, the fleas will keep on jumping and hitting the top of the jar — you wouldn’t believe how many times they hit it.
But eventually they jump a bit less high. Why is this? They have become conditioned to jump only as high as the environment allows them to.
Human beings are exactly the same. The environment we grow up in, and the people we grow up with directly affect our beliefs. We quickly become conditioned to believe that we can only earn so much, achieve so much, etc.
A flea trainer is someone who jumps out of the jar — someone who has the belief and the confidence to say, “What’s next? I know there is more to life than just working the daily grind for a bit of money.”
Because let’s face it: Most people spend their lives not chasing their dreams because they are scared. They are scared that they will fail, and people will see their weaknesses.
2. Put in the Hours
The thing to understand is in order to succeed, you need to fail again and again and again. Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, missed more shots than any other player on the team. Why?
Because he knew that with each shot he could refine his technique. He knew that each shot presented a chance for him to score, and the more shots he took, the higher the chance of succeeding.
Not only was he getting better with each shot, but he looked at it with the attitude that if he threw enough muck at the wall, some would stick.
In many cases, you just have to put in the hours.
- Stay late at your business
- Get up early and send those emails
- Write that blog post
- Make that connection with that decision maker
If you are giving more than everyone else — if you’re applying the effort when everyone else has gone home and finished for the day — that’s the sign of a successful person. You have broken the mold, and sometimes that’s all it takes to become greater than you ever thought you could be.
3. Follow Through
Don’t ever think it’s going to be that easy though. To think that is naive. Don’t think that because you put the effort in all the time that you’ll get the reward. It often doesn’t work that way.
This is the cold truth, but it comes down how you handle it — how you see it. You can quite easily become discouraged by it, and give up when it gets hard, like so many people choose to do.
But if you shoulder your weaknesses and your failures, create something out of the hard work applied, if you stick with it, you will feel an even greater sense of pride and achievement. You just need to realize that your greatest hour will come right after your worst hour — you just need to ride the waves.
A lot of people are unhappy, but they don’t do anything about it. So just ask the question: Are you all you can be? Are you getting exactly what you want out of life?
Because there is no reason you can’t have everything that you want. Don’t lead with the talk of intent with no action to back it up. All that does is reinforce a habit of not following through on your endeavors.
If you make a claim that you are going to do something, tell as many people as you can. It’s easy to give up on yourself, but the risk of being humiliated in front of a lot of people can trigger the fear to get going!
Behind every fear there is something worthwhile, so face those fears, and don’t let them control you!
4. Never Say “Enough”
Don’t be satisfied with “good enough.” Good enough may not always mean enough. There are people out there who are striving for something beyond that. They are willing to make it great.
Go into any endeavor with the attitude of “never enough,” and I promise you, from that moment on you will always have enough.
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Your goals and passions are worth pursuing. Don’t say no to yourself. Follow these tips to help you live your dream.
(Photo by Jill Wellington / CC BY)
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