Some people go through life as if they have a big anchor behind them, weighing them down. If they could release it, they would be able to move faster and succeed more easily. Perhaps that’s you — holding on to past hurts, past incompletes, past anger or fear. Yet releasing these anchors can often be the final step you need to complete your past and embrace the future.
Forgive and bring yourself back to the present
In the world of business, in families, and in personal relationships, we, too, need to come from a place of love and forgiveness — to let go so that we can move on. You need to forgive a business partner who lied to you and hurt you financially. You need to forgive a coworker who stole credit for your work or gossiped about you behind your back. You need to forgive an ex-spouse who cheated on you, then got nasty during the divorce. You needn’t condone their actions or ever trust them again. But you do need to learn whatever lessons there are, forgive, and move on.
Are there areas in your life where you’ve left uncompleted projects or failed to get closure with people? When you don’t complete the past, you can’t be free to fully embrace the present.
Get into completion consciousness
Continually ask yourself, When does it take to actually get this task completed? Then you can begin to consciously take that next step of filing completed documents, mailing in the forms required, or reporting back to your boss that the project has been completed. The truth is that 20 things completed have more power than 50 things half completed.
Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them. They are constantly proactive in the pursuit of their chosen objectives.
The most important 45 minutes of the day
An important part of any focusing regimen is to set aside time at the end of the day — just before going to sleep — to acknowledge your successes, review your goals, focus on your successful future, and make specific plans for what you want to accomplish the next day.
Research has shown over and over again that the more you acknowledge your past successes, the more confident you become in taking on and successfully accomplishing new ones. You know that even if you fail, it won’t destroy you, because your self-esteem is high. And the more you risk, the more you win in life. The more shots you take, the more chances you have of scoring.
If you are going to be successful, you have to start hanging out with the successful people. You need to ask them to share their success strategies with you. Then try them on and see if they fit for you. Experiment with doing what they do, reading what they read, thinking the way they think, and so on. If the new ways of thinking and behaving work, adopt them. If not, drop them, and keep looking and experimenting.
Are you someone who consistently goes the extra mile and routinely overdelivers on your promises? It’s rare these days, but it’s the hallmark of high achievers who know that exceeding expectations helps you stand above the crowd. Almost by force of habit, successful people simply do more. As a result, they experience not only greater financial rewards for their extra efforts but also a personal transformation, becoming more self-confident, more self-reliant, and more influential with those around them.
Five specific things that move you toward your goal
If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax, eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down. –Ron Scolastico
The Rule of 5 simply means that every day, you do five specific things that will move your goal toward completion.
Persistence is probably the single most common quality of high achievers. They simply refuse to give up. The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favor. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist the more likely your success.
It’s not always gong to be easy
Sometimes you are going to have to persist in the face of obstacles — unseen obstacles — that no amount of planning or forethought could have predicted. Sometimes, you’ll encounter what seem like overwhelming odds. And sometimes, the universe will test your commitment to the goal you’re pursuing. The going may be hard, requiring you to refuse to give up while you learn new lessons, develop new parts of yourself, and make difficult decisions.
