A Recipe for Success

A Recipe for Success

Let’s get started today.  We first need to ask a few quick questions.
 
1.     Where do we go from here?  

2.     Do we know where here is and are we being honest with ourselves?  

3.     OK, so once we know where we are, do we know where we really want to go?  
 
I’d venture to say we could all be a little clearer with ourselves at times.  Clearer with the directions we either consciously or unconsciously give ourselves.  I know sometimes the answers to the above questions may change a little or the sands shift about, but let’s try to get some definiteness to the answers to the questions.  Try to get 100% certainty in your mind where there is no doubt left.  
 
OK, so how many of you have first planned your work (lifting, life, aspirations, etc.) so you can work your plan?  Or are you just drifting and taking what the day brings without imposing your will or insisting or triaging your time in a meaningful way to ensure you move in the direction you have sketched out.  Most people fritter away their days just going through the motions out of habit.  
 
I’d ask you to stop that.  
 
New day, new slate, and maybe we can try a new approach.  A committed approach, if you will.
 
I once read that most people will plan their vacation with greater detail and enthusiasm than they will plan important parts of their lives.  What is it about life that at times makes it difficult for us to get our arms around and plan what we want?  
 
First things first. You need to know what YOU want and that is something only you can answer.  You won’t be able to delegate that to a spouse, significant other, parent, child, vacation planner, or mentor.  You will need to figure it out yourself.  It is your life, so in the end it is your decision. If you have not already started to think about it seriously, I’d encourage you to do so.  If you have started, but it has been some time since you’ve reviewed the ideas in your mind, today is the day to return to them.
 
And while I can’t figure out what will work for you, I can give you a guidepost that many successful people have used.  They say, “Find what you are passionate about.  Focus on what you love.  Don’t pick something for the end result, but pick it for the process.” I believe if you take this advice, the end results everyone is always obsessed with will naturally come. As the acclaimed writer John Irving encouraged, “Get obsessed and stay obsessed.”  You are never too old or too young to start thinking with greater specificity, detail and goals.  It will allow you to realize much higher levels of happiness and success (as you define it), and isn’t that what life is supposed to be about. Let’s get started.  
 
Kevin’s Quick Plan to Supercharge Your Life, Workouts and More.
 
1.     Thoughts.  Realize EVERYTHING first starts as an idea and thought.  Big or Small thoughts and ideas are the trigger for events ranging from WWII to the iPad to putting a man on the moon to curing cancer.  It all starts with a thought in the mind.  Needless to say, thoughts and ideas are EXTREMELY powerful.  

Before you can become it or realize it in a physical sense, you first have to realize it mentally.  Later everyone else will see what you first created and possessed inside.  Think, meditate, reflect, ask yourself questions or whatever method you want to call it – BUT, DO Spend some quiet time figuring out what you would like to focus on and develop.  This is the first step.

2.     Create a plan to get there.  The path from A (where you are) to Z (where you’d like to be) usually consists of many different steps.  One does not usually (translate never) become Hall of Fame muscular overnight anymore than one becomes wealthy or successful in a broad sense over night.  The end result of these labels and achievements are contained in the many steps that lead to their doorstep.  This is the plan to arrive at the destination.  Map out a plan you can believe in.  Know that if you work your plan you stand a great chance of reaching your goal.  
 
3.     Take Action.  This is the Mother step. The one we all bow down to.  The one usually left out.  How many of us have studied endlessly how to do something but never done it.  There are thousands of books written on how to lose weight, many of them read each year by millions around the world who, following their reading, know just what to do – but never do it.  They fail to take the Mother step. Nothing happens until action is taken. Bottom line is action steps rule. I know talking about it can be fun, and you can continue to discuss at all stages in the game, but at some point we need to as Nike says, “Just Do It.”  Once you start taking action everything will start to become easier. You’ll have feedback and results from which to base further actions and modify them if need be.  
 
4.     Expect Failure.  I’m not being negative, but I want you to be realistic and not quit the first time you encounter a bump in the road.  Bumps are normal.  Hitting everything right the first try is very rare.  The biggest successes in life had a lot of “failure” along the way.  Thomas Edison once went through 17,000 tries until he found a method that worked for one of his creations.  He liked to say he didn’t fail, but found several methods that didn’t work. Such is life, and if you can approach it like Edison, you will undoubtedly meet with the same type of great success he achieved.  Don’t expect it to be easy (few things worth achieving ever are) and if it is, then so much the better.
 
5.     When The Going Is Tough, Keep Going. . . Success is Usually Around the Corner.  Most people quit before they even really get going.  They quit way too early.  They are impatient.  Hold the course and give it time while always applying your best effort. Remember, “Get obsessed and stay obsessed.” Many people can get obsessed. It’s the staying obsessed that divides those of us who achieve our goals from those of us who look longingly at others who do and wonder, “How did he do it?”  I’ll tell you how he did it.  He stayed obsessed.

6.     Enjoy the Results.  Yes, the results will come and when they do, be thankful for them and enjoy them.  I think a lot of people are quick to minimize their results and be quick to have their gaze focused on the next goal or achievement.  While I respect the ongoing goal setting, I also feel we should take a moment along the way to absorb and appreciate the incremental accomplishment.  
 
Anyone who climbs Everest does not go straight up to the summit.  They first go to base camp and rest, acclimate and feel good about achieving the first major step.  So on and so forth as these interval camps get increasingly close to the summit.  Each step is part of the journey of final achievement.  Each step is to be enjoyed as an essential part of realizing the final picture perfect moment.  Enjoy your steps along the way.  
 
It’s about the process.  It’s about the journey.  You’ve heard that before.  You just didn’t feel it until the first day you enjoyed your lift more than you enjoyed looking for the results in the mirror.  That was the day when you got it.  That was the day you understood. The day you enjoyed working on the project more than thinking about the money the project would bring you.  You got it.  The day you became so engulfed in the work as to lose track of time. Ahh.  You’re onto something.  

 
Let’s get started.
  Peace Kevin 

Category: Motivation