Have you ever wondered as to why some people are extremely successful in whatever they do but some are destined for failures? I am sure that just like me, you would have wondered over the years as to what is keeping Virat Kohlis, Alia Bhatts and Sachin Bansals successful.
Agreed each one of them mentioned above are talented and put in long hours of time in their respective professions. Am sure you would have read/watched what each one of them do on a consistent basis to stay at the top.
However, have you ever wondered as to what they do not do?? Yes, the key in being successful is also in not doing certain things which can derail your trajection and progress.
Working with some of the most successful executives, CEOs and business owners over the last one decade has given me some deep insights on the things which you should not do if you are looking at being successful. Let’s dive in straight away without any tyre kicking.
Find Your Own Luck
Always remember that for you to be successful in any endeavor, you need not wait for the lucky break, connection or even time. Lady luck does not wait for anyone. However, the more you do the leg work the more chances you are giving yourself to become luckier.
Yes, the lucky break always does come to people when they leave the safety of the harbor and move into the choppy waters. If you must swim against the tide, paddle your way through or even just swim with the sharks so be it. When you believe in yourself and keep going you are more than certain to embrace lady luck in the journey.
Get Beyond The Limitations
All of us are conditioned by many factors in terms of how much we can or can’t do. These limitations within us will eventually make us stand out if we persevere with your goals. Each of the persons I had mentioned earlier at the beginning of this article went through their own journey of working through their own limitations.
The only effective way to work beyond your limitations is to first exactly know what you want to be. Once you are clear with the end goal, then it is that much easy to work towards it by conditioning your mind on a consistent basis to help you get to your goals.
This is where Visualization does come into play and I am one of the biggest advocates of powerful visualization to break through any limiting beliefs. Visualization has worked like a charm to me and to hundreds of my own clients over the years.
One of my previous blogs does focus on how to break limiting beliefs.
Stop Being An Excusionist
Yes, I did coin that word. I call a person an excusionist when he/she has all the excuses in the world for not doing the things which they want to do or what can go wrong or they are simply lazy. What I have noticed over the years is that people who are good at giving excuses will eventually get better at this.
Working on coming up with an excuse is easy, try for once from today to stop yourself in this habit and you will notice the world around you does begin to change. Let me help you to move in the right direction
1.Start working on updating your LinkedIn Profile today.
2.Begin to sleep one hour early from today.
3.Stop spending hours in front of the television and give yourself an hour everyday to learn
4.Begin your day with a healthy breakfast
5.Stop dwelling on negative thoughts
I am sure each one of you would have tried to work on at least one of the above-mentioned points at some point of time in your life. However, remember that actioning on each one of them is in your absolute control and only you can take the first step.
Marty Nemko Ph.D, talks about curing the excuse-making syndrome in this article.
Stop Living In The Past
If you are always thinking of your past, then remember that you will only end up being there. The more time you spend everyday living in the past, then you are giving yourself that much less opportunity to live in the present and build your future.
I remember working with Stephanie Saravanakumar couple of months back. Stephanie was in the Sr Leadership role in a large MNC.She had a good shot at the corner office within the next 6 months and for someone in her early 40s, getting to the C suite level was a great accomplishment.
However, Stephanie was living in the past of her failed marriage of 2 decades. Even though she was from the outside very placid, she was been troubled from the inside. This was derailing her thoughts on a consistent basis and draining her precious energy.
She knew she had to fix this if she had to exponentially grow professionally. However, she did not have a clue where to begin.
This is when Stephanie got to know me through a friend and we quickly began to work in this area. Yes, it did take time for me to help her to completely move away from the past. But once she accepted her shortcomings it was just in weeks I did see her completely transforming to a Stephanie 2.0. Now, I am not taking credit for any of these shifts in her. I just facilitated and nudged her to move in the right direction.
So, Stephenie must be given all the credit for moving away from her past and commended for the effort and perseverance she did put in her effort
Make Time Count
How you value your time goes a long way in how successful you will become. Always remember people value your time as much as you value theirs. Giving your time for someone must be something which you are in absolute control of. The more frugal you are with your time, the more space you will create for doing the things which are going to be important for you.
Just like you I also have only 24 hours in a day and I am extremely conscious of this and never allow myself to get distracted by time vampires who can show up as friends, social media or even acquaintances. The more you value time, people around you will realize this and eventually respect you for that.
I have walked this path and believe me, it is worth in gold – the amount of time you can save by making this a top priority.
Failure Is Only Temporary
Every success does have hundreds of failures. Nature does teach this every day and somehow not all of us are good at accepting this. When we fail at any aspect in our life it does not mean it is the end of the road. It does mean to get back on our feet, brush ourselves and keep going forward.
As a child all of us would have failed hundreds or even thousands of times while learning to walk. Why do you think we did not give up? It is because our parents did not allow us to give up. Yes, they might have seen you on the ground wailing, they would have picked you up but not one of them would stop you and me from not trying once again.
This according to me is one of our biggest lessons which we do not refer to when it comes to failure in other areas of our life. You might have failed a hundred times in some aspect of your life. So what? Get up on your feet and give it another shot. For all you know that was the perfect time for trying and everything does fall in place.
Not giving up and getting back on your feet every time you fail is one of the most important traits for any leader. The good thing about this is that this is a habit which anyone of you can learn and become good at.
Be A Great Cheerleader
This world is a big place. So, if people around you are wining it does not mean that you are losing. So, stop thinking small and wear your cheerleader cap and walk across to people to pat them on the back if they are doing a good job or at least trying. It might not cost you anything but for the person, it does really matter.
When you acknowledge other people’s wins you are also giving yourself the permission to win by thinking positively. Now stop giving excuses as to how will I find people every day to cheer them on. If the intent is there believe me, you will create opportunity.
Be a genuine cheerleader and over a period, this will become second nature for you which I will guarantee will help you win big than anybody else around you.
Originally published at satishrao.in