Deep inside all of us want to be successful. We dream, plan, strategize, even take action and overcome obstacles. What makes one initiative succeed while others fail to deliver? Here are the top 3 roadblocks to success…
1. Assumption
Some assume that success is a given. It just happens – if you give it your best, work harder or persevere long enough. The problem is that things don’t improve if we just wait around. Nothing improves by accident. We have to be intentional!
Whether you’re leading a team, starting a new initiative or managing a complex project, you must take complete ownership of the result. If you want things to improve, you must make that a tangible target and take action toward its completion.
2. Timing
Many million dollar ideas never saw the light of the world because those who had them never started to act on them in the first place.
Statistics confirm that most of the projects fail not because they’re too early, but because they are too late. Leaders must understand the law of timing.
Most people don’t act as quickly as they should on things. And because of that, they get trapped in procrastination. As Jim Rohn puts it in his Law of Diminishing Intent, “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.”
Ideas are great, but you need to add action to turn them into results. Trust your instinct. If you “know” that idea makes sense, go for it. Don’t wait until you have all the details figured out or all the proof necessary. Just do it!
If you know that idea makes sense, go for it. Trust your gut! Click To Tweet3. Expectation
Many think that success is easy. It’s something that happens to you while you’re living your life. Like “luck”.
Problem with luck is that it doesn’t exist. What you consider “luck” took years of preparation, walking from failure to failure, consistent work in spite of lack of results, until something finally clicked.
Here are just couple examples to help you shift your thinking…
- Walt Disney was fired from Kansas City Star because his editor felt he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas” and went through a number of businesses that didn’t last too long and ended in bankruptcy and failure.
- Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts multiple times
- Thomas Edison‘s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything”
- A young Henry Ford ruined his reputation with a five failed automobile businesses
- While developing his vacuum, Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 failed prototypes and his savings over 15 years …but the 5,127th prototype worked!
- Winston Churchill struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. After school he faced many years of political failures, as he was defeated in every election for public office until he finally became the Prime Minister at 62.
- Michael Jordan was fired from his school basketball team. Here’s what he said about his success, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
- Lady Gaga got dropped by her record label, Island Def Jam, after 3 months.
- Dr. Seuss had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers. …His books sold over 600 million copies!
- In his first film, Harrison Ford was told by the movie execs that he simply didn’t have what it takes to be a star.
- And this list could go on and on…
Simply put, success in not easy.
So what does it take to experience success?
Success is more complex than many realize. It requires the following…
Preparation – You need to prepare so that when opportunity arises, you’re ready to make a step quickly.
Attitude – Bad attitude will keep you stuck. You need to turn the rejection, failure and disappointment into lessons. Embrace the bad and ugly and choose to turn it into something good.
Opportunity – Without opportunity it’s impossible to experience success. Yet, instead of waiting for opportunity to come your way, how about you create your own? When you are prepared and you have the right attitude, it is time to get up and do something with it. This brings me to the last piece of success…
Action – If you have all of the above, but you don’t have action, you won’t experience success. You need to DO something about the opportunity in front of you. You need to use your knowledge, skill and talent in order to see the results.
Success requires more than just opportunity. It requires #action! Click To TweetQuestion:
What ONE thing can you do better today to increase your chances of successful life? No need to let me know, but make sure YOU know the answer. And remember to DO IT today!
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