Pop Quiz: Can success be sped up? Is
there an antidote to slow outcomes despite arduous planning and
actions taken? What's the secret for seeing huge results right now?!
I get versions of these questions frequently from
people who feel frustrated at sluggish progress in their success
journey - despite all the know-how and principles they rigorously
employ.
Let's get one thing straight...
When we admire someone's success, or even our own, we
often focus on the end result and not so much on the effort (and
time) that it took to get there. This can cultivate unrealistic
expectations, especially the idea that overnight success can happen
through careful strategy and an execution of sound advice.
The truth be told, success typically follows a series
of little events and achievements that can seem to take an eternity,
that include a few disappointments along the way, and that challenge
everything about you to the core - your stamina, courage, integrity,
and even your willingness to keep going.
If you focus on what's not working, guess what: You're
likely coming from a place of aggravation as your mind wraps around
all that is wrong.
You may even have negative thoughts like "I'm
not good enough," "It will never work," or
"Something must be wrong with me."
What this mentally does is engender more of these
counter-productive feelings. And given what we know about the Law of
Attraction, you attract what you are feeling. So negative
experiences, people, and results will beget more negative experience,
people, and results. There's not much success in that.
The key is to focus on what IS working.
To do so, I recommend two simple practices: journaling
and meditation.
Maintaining a journal (I call it an Evidence Log,
Results Journal, or Gratitude Journal) is a great way to steer your
attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for
yourself.
Start each day with reflections on what you are
grateful for in your life (list them out!) and end each day with
notes on what went right (again, write them down), however small they
may seem.
Spend time each day in quiet contemplation,
prayer or meditation.
Meditation can be a powerful tool for arriving at
solutions to problems and shifting your attitude so you can attract
success sooner rather than later. The magic of meditation is its
ability to essentially shut down the outer layer of your judgmental,
highly-critical brain and allow your unconscious mind to take over.
This is where you enter a deeper state of inner peace and joy,
tapping into a higher level of creativity that will help usher in the
results you want. (Don't know how to meditate? Lots of books and
materials are available to guide you through this practice. It's
easier than you think. )
Let's say you're doing ALL these things, but
you still aren't happy with your results...
I'll ask you then, are you taking real ACTION?
You may be taking the actions you are used to taking.
But if you keep doing what you've already done, then you'll keep
getting what you've always gotten. It's a matter of practicing some
new behaviors. Shake things up a bit and see if you
can take new actions or modify existing ones.
Remember the Rule of 5.
Every day do five specific things that take you toward
your goal. Change up the five actions regularly and be open to
feedback so you know when you're off course.
Lastly, I want to remind you about patience.
It's natural to underestimate how long a certain goal
can take, especially a profound one. When I set a goal to become a
millionaire, the year was 1983. How long did it take? Eleven years.
It took time for Chicken Soup for the Soul to hit the
bestseller lists. You could say our tenure on the New York Times list
was more than a decade in the making. That's a lot of patience for
someone who initially wanted overnight success.
So, yes, patience is a virtue. But keep at it, and in
no time, you'll be only one week, or one day away from your ultimate
success.
Remember... be GRATEFUL, reflect on what IS working and
continue to take ACTION!
