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Success is simple. Just be clear
about what you want and go after it. That and a few million
details and you've got it made.
Let's assume that you already
know what you want in your life and what it would take to make
you feel successful.
But how do you make that happen?
It takes a clear and impassioned
focus on your dreams and constant and diligent attention to what
you do, how you do it and ways in which you can do it better.
Sounds simple, doesn't it?
It is, but it's not easy.
I remember a conversation I had
with a friend awhile back about reaching a financial goal. I was
undecided about which of many projects I should focus on--which
one should get my limited time and energies. He looked at me
very calmly and said,
"Follow the money."
I thought, "Gosh, that's
good advice."
It made total sense. It was a
goal that involved finances, so why not go for the projects that
produced the most bucks. It was simple. It was right on. And I
wasn't seeing it because I'd lost my perspective. I was too
involved in busyness instead of paying attention to business. I
was caught up in the thick of thin things.
It's not uncommon. It's easy to confuse activity with
accomplishment. Unless we're really paying attention, we can be
very busy doing the wrong things. As we dig our hole deeper and
wider, we often find out later that we've been digging in the
wrong place.
What was right yesterday, what
worked last year, what was innovative a month ago may very well
be obsolete today. If you can't pick your head up and survey the
landscape once in awhile, you're going to get beaten by a
competitor who does.
Our most valuable commodities are
time, energy and knowledge. How we apply these is critical to
our success.
Make a list of everything you do
and what your intended results are from those efforts. You'll
find the 80/20 Rule alive and well. About twenty percent of your
efforts will be producing eighty percent of your positive
results. Look for ways to reduce or eliminate the other eighty
percent and do more of the
twenty.
Some things we do produce no
results at all. We just keep doing them because we've always
done them and didn't really question their usefulness.
Question everything! If you had
to justify your investment of time and energy to a boss or a
board of directors, could you? Are you sure?
You wouldn't invest money unless
it was giving you a return. Why should your time and energy be
any different?
Persistence is a great virtue,
but it must be balanced with the ability to see a better plan
and put it into action. Learn to cut your losses.
We're not entering the
Information Age, we're already in it. It's not enough to work
hard. We have to work SMART. Being a good steward means making
good use of the talents and resources we've been given. It
requires thinking. It requires close attention.
It's up to us--and only us--to be
consistently analyzing our actions and the results they produce.
Do it, dump it or change it.
Do what works and stop doing what
doesn't.
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Copyright Michael Angier & Success Networks.
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