So many of us today are trained — by the media, by our parents, by our schools, by our culture — to have limiting, “it’s not possible, I don’t deserve it” beliefs. This early conditioning is often so ingrained that it takes continual external motivation to overcome the decades of negative effects and move toward more success-oriented thoughts and attitudes.
Attending a weekend workshop isn’t enough. Neither is reading a book or watching a training video. What truly successful people do is listen daily to audio programs from the world’s most renowned motivational masters — in the car, at home, and at the office — even if it’s just for 15 minutes each day.
People who have more information have a tremendous advantage over people who don’t. And though you may think it takes years to acquire the knowledge you would need to become supersuccessful, the truth is that simple behaviors such as reading for an hour a day, turning television time into learning time, and attending classes and training programs can make it surprisingly easy to increase your knowledge — and substantially increase your level of success.
Commit to lifelong learning
Realize that the amount of knowledge and information available in the world is growing at a mind-numbing pace. In fact, it has been said that all human knowledge has doubled in the last 10 years. Don’t expect this trend to slow down.
In life the spoils of victory go to those who make 100% commitment to the outcome, to those who have a “no matter what it takes” attitude. They give it their all; they put everything they have into getting their desired result — whether it be an Olympic gold medal, the top sales award, a perfect dinner party, an A in microbiology, or their dream house.
The “No-Exceptions Rule”
Successful people adhere to the “no exceptions rule” when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out.
Your habits determine your outcomes. Successful people don’t just drift to the top. Getting there requires focused action, personal discipline, and lots of energy every day to make things happen. The habits you develop from this day forward will ultimately determine how your future unfolds.
One of the problems for people with poor habits is that the results of their bad habits usually don’t show up until much later in life. When you develop a chronic bad habit, life will eventually give you consequences. You may not like the consequences, but life will still deliver them. The fact is, if you keep on doing things a certain way, you will always get a predictable result. Negative habits breed negative consequences. Positive habits create positive consequences.
Many of us have beliefs that limits our success — whether they are beliefs about our own capabilities, beliefs about what it takes to succeed, beliefs about how we should relate with other people, or even common myths that modern-day science or studies have long since refuted. Moving beyond your limiting beliefs is a critical first step toward becoming successful. You can learn how to identify those beliefs that are limiting you and then replace them with positive ones that support your success.
How to overcome any limiting belief
Here is a simple but powerful four-step process you can use to transform any limiting belief into an empowering belief.
Research indicates that the average person talks to himself or herself about 50,000 times a day. And most of that self-talk is about yourself, and according to the psychological researchers, it is 80% negative. We know from the research that these thoughts have a powerful effect on us. They affect our attitude, our physiology, and our motivation to act. Our negative thoughts actually control our behavior. They make us stutter, spill things, forget our lines, break out in a sweat, breathe shallowly, feel scared — and taken to the extreme, they can even paralyze or kill us.
Change is inevitable. At this very moment, for instance, your body and cells are changing. The Earth is changing. The economy, technology, how we do business, even how we communicate is changing. And though you can resist that change and potentially be swept away by it, you can also choose to cooperate with it, adapt to it, and benefit from it.
How to embrace change
What happened once you surrendered to the change? Did your life actually eventually improve? Can you look back now and say, “Wow, I’m glad that happened. Look at the good it eventually brought me.”
If you are going to become more successful, you have to get out of denial and face what isn’t working in your life. Do you defend or ignore how hostile and toxic your work environment is? Do you make excuses for your bad marriage? Are you in denial about your lack of energy, your excess weight, your ill health, or your level of physical fitness? Are you failing to acknowledge that sales have been on a consistent downward trend for the last 3 months? Are you putting off confronting an employee who is not delivering at an acceptable standard of performance? Successful people face these circumstances squarely, heed the warning signs, and take appropriate action, no matter how uncomfortable or challenging it might be.
