It’s easy to get caught in drifting along in life, doing the same things over and over, hoping to achieve new results that bring success. We can exhaust hours, days, weeks, months, and even years doing the same unproductive routine, hoping, wishing and praying for success, but end up with the same tired results.
I learned years ago that this is insanity. If we want to experience the success we desire, then we must take new actions that bring the right results. Becoming more successful requires you to use the skills, talents, and abilities that are within you.
Success is possible for everyone. It is not distinguished to only a select group of individuals. It is not based on your family background or what side of the tracks you come from. Success has been achieved by some of the most unlikely people.
There have been individuals who achieved great success despite their background, education, and experience. They were willing to put forth the effort and do what it took to succeed.
We see the glitz and glamor of celebrities, athletes, and CEO’s and think that is real success. We see people around us who seem to achieve great success with marginal skills and abilities. It’s the reason why so many people search for a “secret to success”.
They’re looking for an easy path; a magic pill that will solve their problems and release them from past pains and give them great success with minimal effort. Well, I have some sobering news for you.
No Magic
Many men are looking for an easy path; a magic pill that solves all their problems and gives them great success with minimal effort.
There is no magic pill. There is no smooth, paved road to success. There is no special three or five-step plan that gives you automatic success. If you desire real and lasting success that stands strong when things don’t work out or when things fall apart, your definition of success must change.
5 Truths to Success
Success is a marathon, not a sprint. As you strive toward accomplishing your goals and dreams you need to know that there are no secrets to success! Here are five hard truths to face if you desire success.
1. Hard work
I have read hundreds of success stories and most of them had one thing in common, hard work. There is no getting around it. If you want to own a successful business, you must be willing to get up early and go to bed late.
If you want to write a book, you must put in the hours of work writing. If you want to have a great marriage or train up productive children it takes consistency, commitment, and hard work.
There are no free lunches. There are no such things as an overnight success. It may look like it from the outside. But, behind every seemingly overnight success lie years of sweat, sacrifice, and hard work.
2. Laser Focus
Every day, we are bombarded with hundreds of tasks, messages and people all competing for our time. You must be clear on who you are, what you want, and what you need to do. Your ability to focus single-mindedly on the most important thing and stay at it until it is complete is an essential prerequisite for success.
You need a written vision plan that helps you focus your direction in every area of your life (spiritual, relational, physical, mental, social, financial, and professional). You need a clear vision that laser focuses your daily life, motivates you and those connected to you to do the hard work necessary to achieve real success.
3. Real Courage
Courage is standing when everyone else wants to run, speaking when everyone is afraid to speak, acting when everyone is paralyzed by fear, taking action in the face of danger, holding one’s character and moral uprightness when everyone else is tempted to compromise theirs.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “All great successes are the triumph of persistence.” Many men will not have the courage to pursue a difficult goal, break an old habit, or move in a different direction.
To live successfully, you must have the courage to begin, develop a plan, move out of your comfort zone, and go in the direction of your goals and dreams. Please know that when you decide to move forward there will be opposition, obstacles, and failures, but you can overcome them if you stand in courage and fight through.
4. Right Thoughts
Your thought life determines your success. Negative thoughts can make you feel that you can’t live pass yesterday’s problems, today’s circumstances, or tomorrow’s challenges. Negative thoughts will bombard your mind with doubts and fears encouraging you to give up on your dreams.
The only way to reach true success for your life is for you to make a commitment to change the way you think. You don’t have to give in to negative thinking. You have the power to change the way you think. Make it a priority to properly align your thinking with your purpose. It won’t be easy, but you can do it.
5. Consistent Action
The most outwardly identifiable quality of a successful person is that he or she takes consistent action. You cannot take action for one month, miss two months, then do something the next month and think everything will work out. You are only fooling yourself. You must take consistent daily action to make your dreams a reality.
Your dreams are waiting for you to live them. There are enough dead dreams in the graveyard people did not take consistent action. There are dreams that you must release from your life. If you do not, yours will be another casualty in the graveyard of dead dreams. If you are reading this, join me in living out your success by taking consistent action.
There are no secrets to success because success is available to everyone. Do not let others define what success means to you. You define what success means to you and start living it out. By applying these five truths today, your life will change dramatically and success will be within your grasp and you will make a difference.
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” Pablo Picasso
Question: What is your definition of success and write it out?
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Photo Credit: @zacdurant on Unsplash
