Want Success? Here's 3* Steps To Start

Success is almost everyone's, if not everyone's, end goal. It doesn't have to be monetary, nor do you need physical evidence of it. However, the idea of achieving success is so far off for people that most of us give up before we try. So I decided to do some research on successful people, and in them, this is the pattern I have observed:

To be successful, you need to change your mindset, become more disciplined, and be very consistent.

These three things are powerful on their own but lead to a successful life when actively working together.

What I am saying probably isn't news to you. If you're anything like me, you know what it will take to reach the goal you have in mind. The problem lies in your execution, which falls short when you do not master these steps chronologically.

Remember that you must conquer one "ingredient" before conquering the next. For example, you can only be consistent if you are adequately disciplined.

So if you are tired of going in circles, then keep reading. We need to start with our mindset to get on the track to our success.

Mindset

Your mindset is the groundwork for any lifestyle you have, positive or negative. How you approach your life is detrimental to your success. So this topic will take the majority of this blog post.

I will speak in broad strokes because success means different things to different people. So, with that in mind, everyone should adopt these mindset changes.

1. Remove (or reduce) handicapping aspects of your life

Stop the negative thoughts against yourself and others. If you think you are going to fail before you have started something, then guess what? YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL. Instead, be your biggest supporter because you will have droves of naysayers as you progress, and you frankly don't need yourself to be one.

If you always have negative thoughts about others, this is a character flaw you will also need to fix. Firstly, you shouldn't be around people that make you think negatively. You also should not be the person to bring others down from what makes them happy. If you don't agree with something someone is doing, and it does not affect you, then brush it off and keep moving. Your energy will need to be spent elsewhere if you are going to have a successful lifestyle.

You will also need to remove the amount of time spent with people that tell you this change is a bad idea and reduce time spent with people who distract you from reaching the next level. These friends and family members are often comfortable where they're at and stick to the status quo. Suppose you have a goal that does not emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or physically hurt yourself and others but positively impacts people in one of those four ways. In that case, no one has the right to tell you not to go for it.

Now people who distract you are more dangerous than those who are outright with their discontent. They're the friends who say that they support you on this journey and invite you to weekend escapades when you need to focus on yourself. They make you feel bad when you decline the invitations to events that pop up sporadically and tell you that they "don't like how you have changed" a couple of months or even weeks after they pledged their undying support.

Changing how your life is led is already scary, and having people in your vicinity to sow seeds of doubt is not needed. This is why I emphasized your negative thoughts first because you are the first line of defense for people like this.

‍

2. Manifest

Manifestation is you and how you navigate the energy that comes into your life. You are always manifesting, even if you do not call it that. It could be through prayer or retweeting those tweets with rolls of money blooming out of vases for a "blessing." It's even the everyday negative thoughts that keep you stagnant.

When you are actively manifesting, you are merely making yourself aware of your goal every day. You can manifest through visualization (most people use vision boards), affirmations (when you assert that positive things are in your life, usually in one sentence), or both.

Manifestation isn't just empty words and magazine cut-outs hanging pointlessly on your wall. When you put a specific goal at the forefront of your mind daily, you are forced to think, "how do I reach this goal?" Now that you have planned the endgame, you're more likely to take the steps needed because it is more evident.

3. Learn

‍

To get to the next level, you need to ask yourself some questions:

‍

What habits are holding me back? And who are the individuals that have reached success in the field in which I want to be successful?

‍

Once you figure out the answer to those two questions, watch videos, read books, and listen to podcasts by those people and/or that aim to rectify those bad habits.

When you pinpoint people leading the life you want to live, you need to find resources about how they started. You may have the ability to start doing what they did or something similar. Look for a podcast or video that focuses on the mistakes they made and that you should avoid. Conversely, are there any resources that tell what they did correctly? What is it that accelerated their success? This is how you should admire an eminent person instead of mindlessly watching them, which does nothing for your growth.

‍

Discipline

Now that you've removed negative thoughts and people from your life, you've begun to manifest actively, and you're soaking in information like a sponge, you are ready to build your discipline. Discipline is pure "mind over matter" (hence mindset being the first ingredient). To be disciplined, you need attainable goals and a plan to reach them.

If you struggle here, here are some ways to help you get closer to your goal.

1. Reward System

The reward system is meant to motivate you to accomplish the goals you set for yourself. This is to give yourself rewards when you reach a goal. For example, if you want to be successful in your fitness journey, you may want to get better-fitting clothes when you hit a goal.

A tip with this discipline tool is to refrain from rewarding yourself with items that might cause you to slip back into bad habits. For example, I rewarded myself for losing 40 pounds and went to eat out as a reward. Let's just say it was the start of a slippery slope to gaining it all back. This was not the proper reward for me, but it may be the appropriate reward for someone else. Learn to be hyperaware of your capabilities to set the right rewards for yourself.

2. Eat That Frog!

The term above (most famous for the book of the same name by Brian Tracy) is about reducing procrastination. Therefore, if you often say, "I'll do it later" or "in an hour" for five straight hours, this is for you.

Eating the frog means doing what you don't particularly want to do, but you know you have to before anything else in the day. This usually means taking care of said task first thing in the morning or just after you wake up.

3. Accountability Partner

The last thing you can do is have an accountability partner, although I recommend this the least. An accountability partner is someone who you're going on the journey with. The relationship can be as lax as just checking in with each other or as hands-on as having a person who completes the routine with you. It depends on what you and your accountability partner(s) decide.

If you go this route, please get someone you know is more disciplined than you are. If you rely on someone with the same temperament as you or less, you will most likely hold each other back.

The accountability partner is low on this list because it relies too heavily on another person for your improvement.

Try to depend on yourself the most on your journey.

‍

Consistency

ROUTINE! ROUTINE! ROUTINE!

Having your day planned out is the best way to stay consistent. You're going to have to get a planner, but don't be like me and get the most expensive planner you can afford. Unfortunately, spending more money does not increase your chance of utilizing a tool. So grab a planner that's $5 or less, and let's build the habit.

1. Type A

You can go the Type A route with resources like a planner or Google Calendar. You can set up your day out to the tee, equipped with alarms and reminders to keep you on track. This route is a good way for you to maximize how productive you are.

The drawback is how overwhelming having your entire day mapped out can be, and planning for it to be done doesn't mean it gets done. Also, planning every minute discourages creativity, and the best ideas are born from imagination. So if you choose the Type A planner, block off some time for free thinking.

2. Type B

I prefer the Type B route. I have about three to five essential things I want to be done by the end of the day, I usually have them completed as early as possible, and the rest of my day frees up for whatever I want. The positive is that I don't overestimate what can be done in a day or leave room for things to pop up.

The drawbacks of the Type B day are that I probably underestimate what I can get done and leave things on the table.

*Pro-Tip

My biggest recommendation is to do similar things every day to begin working on muscle memory. For example, you can go to work and complete spreadsheets one day, then the next day, you would strategize a new campaign, and then have team meetings/breakout sessions the next. Although you did different things each day, there is one overarching detail connecting all these activities: you're at work.

A theme or setting that stays constant daily will increase the likelihood of meeting goals.

Practice

Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is an excellent place to start that allows you to improve your mindset with a set plan and routine. Elrod states that you can complete the most impactful morning in six steps or S.A.V.E.R.S.

• Silence

• Affirmations

• Visualization

• Exercise

• Reading

• Scribe (Journaling)

Many articles go into the routine, but I always recommend reading the source material.

Some background information, I usually woke up and would lay in bed for an extra 10-30 min, brush my teeth, and then stand in the shower for another 30 min. Then I would rush to put on clothes and catch the shuttle to campus to browse social media until class started.

That's 2+ hours spent doing things that I can do within 45 minutes or less, and I was utterly underutilizing my free time.

After reading, I increased my productivity tenfold in the morning. I get ahead on my reading and homework to satisfy the reading and scribe portion of the routine. I wake up 4 hours earlier than when I need to be present for class. I'm up early enough to go to my apartment's gym when no one is there, allowing me to say my affirmations out loud while I work out and not look crazy (affirmations and exercise). I then go to my Pinterest boards to remind myself of what I want quietly before going home and starting my day (visualization and silence). My routine is done within 2 hours and clearly out of order. With this in mind, organize the Miracle Morning in a way that works for you.

If you're looking for impactful reads after Miracle Morning, look to my Reading List (coming soon). It has all the books I have read up until this point that focuses on self and business improvement.

I also created a Miracle Morning tracker that you can get sent to you. Just drop your email here, and I will send it your way!

‍

Conclusion

Once you change how you think, improve your discipline, and complete a daily routine, the path to success will be more clear. Just remember, it's okay to mess up and not be perfect because the best lessons come from your mistakes.

Comment below if you have any tips that have worked for you or any questions you want me to answer; I'd love to hear from you!

Signed,

‍