Getting Serious About Success

Or perhaps, you are like most people, things aren’t all that bad……there is not too much to complain about….overall you are really grateful for what you have but things could definitely be better…..a lot better perhaps?

You know, we all start out life as being quite ordinary….don’t we?

I mean, there was nothing spectacular about the circumstances of our birth.
When we came out of the womb, no one held us with arms outstretched to the heavens as the throngs below cheered and celebrated our birth. There were no grand announcements No breaking news ticker streaming across the television screen.
Twitter sphere didn’t blow up News of our birth didn’t go viral across the ether.

And then, we needed to be fed and cleaned and taken cared of just like the next person.

Ordinary….very ordinary!

And yes, of course, life happens, some of us were born on the wrong side of the track, some had all kinds of terrible experiences befallen them but even with all of that at the core of who we were when we came out of the womb, regardless of the events we experienced and the people in our lives who impacted us , at the core of who we were when were were born, I believe we are still the same person and quite similar to the next.

On one hand, quite ordinary but on the other equipped with the tools to push ourselves to become quite extraordinary.

But here is the curious thing…..even though we are all so similar in so many ways, some people have been able to push themselves to achieve astounding success while others have not.

isn’t that interesting?

Why do you suppose that is?

Why have some people been able to enjoy tremendous success while others are

still longing to drink from the fountain of achievement?

I will share some thoughts on that in a minute but when we speak of success the tendency of many is to immediately think of someone’s net worth. Many people see and think of success only in terms of the size of your bank account and yes, for sure, that is one way to think of success. But your finances is only one aspect….one dimension of your life.

You might be surprised to know that not everyone places the same value on financial success.

Success means many different things to different people and there are so many

factors to consider when deciding whether or not someone is successful including who is actually making the judgement and against what yardstick is the judgement being made.

So for some, having close, loving, intimate relationships is far more valuable than all the money in the world, for others it is their health, or their spiritual life and still for others it is their ability to give back to their community. They find success and purpose in trying to leave the world a better place than they found it. That is what makes them feel alive, accomplished and fulfilled.

Now, if I asked the question, ”Do you want to be more successful?”

I have no doubt that you would probably do a double take. You’d probably look at me quizzically and asked, what kind of foolish question is that?

“Of course I want to be more successful”

“Who doesn’t want to be more successful?

And you know what? I’d agree with you. Everyone wants to be more successful.

But here is the thing….

Your career or business might be on the right track but your marriage,….for example or your relationship with your significant other could use a little work.

You might be reaching your financial goals….you might be kicking butt and taking names as far as your sales goals are concerned but your health could use some improvement

So yes, you are right, Everyone wants to be more successful and chances are there is at least one area in your lives where you could be more successful in.

And if that is true….

If the answer is absolutely yes,, I can be and want to be more successful….then it begs a follow up question…..why aren’t you ?Why aren’t you more successful right now,this very minute

You should be asking yourself…..

Why is my marriage or my relationship with my significant other my parents, or whomever not better?

I have been carrying around these extra 20 lbs for the last few years……why haven’t I lost them?

Why is my blood pressure or my cholesterol level not where it ought to be?

Why can’t I rev up my career or my business into high gear?

Why can’t I kick this smoking habit, or this drinking habit, or this drug habit?

The questions go on and on and there could be as many reasons as there are listeners to to this program.

But I think it comes down I think to this idea……and here it is…..

Regardless of which area of your life or areas of your life….. (some of us do have more work to do than others)…..so regardless of what area of your life you need to work on, it comes down to the fact that you need to get serious about success.

Which is what we are going to talk about today.

Getting serious about success.

Isn’t that true though?

Don’t most of us really need to get serious about succeeding?

Many people when they think about the reason they failed to achieve something or are simply not as successful as they would have liked to be or could have been, they immediately think in terms of the lack of resources.

They attribute their failure or the feeling….the perception that they are not quite where they want to be, to the fact that they didn’t have enough money, or time,  they didn’t have the right connections, they weren’t able to solicit the support of others, there was an important piece of information that was missing.

You get the drift, right?

And I am not saying that none of these things—the resources aren’t important. I am sure the fact that you did not have all the resources you needed at your disposal impacted your ability to achieve the level of success you desired.

But when you get serious about success, you will find that it is not so much about he resources.

Chances are you will never have quite enough time nor money.

There will be people who will simply be unwilling to help for whatever reason.
Some will offer to help but fail to deliver on their promise.

You will not always have all the information you need.

So no, the fact that you are serious about success doesn’t mean that all the resources you need will just suddenly show up.

Its not about resources….its about resourcefulness.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am nor suggesting that resourcefulness is simply a means of coping with with lack, hardship and deprivation.

It is about your ability to get the most from yourself in every situation. Yes, that might mean achieving your goals by doing more with less. But more than that it means going beyond your natural skills, becoming creative and innovative in order to make the most of the resources you have in order to solve the problem at hand or when the resources are not available as they so often are…..acquiring the relevant tools and knowledge being willing to see things from a different perspective and trying different approaches that might help you achieve your
goals.

Its almost like you flip a switch on the inside and you dig deep.

When you get serious about success and you tap into your resourcefulness…….
Your attitude changes, your outlook changes, your approach changes.

When you get serious about success, you have more confidence, you become more resolute, more determined, you simply don’t take “No” for an answer,you decide that you wont be denied.

Just think back on your life for a minute. Just reflect on your life.

And think back to a time when you wanted something. You really wanted something. It wasn’t something that would be cool to have. It wasn’t something that would be nice to have. It was something that you absolutely had to have!

Do you remember that? YES

Well you see that feeling? That one that you are feeling right now? That’s coursing through your body?
That’s what it feels like when you are serious about success!

So let’s talk then, let’s talk about how you can get down to business and really get serious about success.

 

1. DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT

Vague desires lead to vague outcomes. Vague desires lead to vague outcomes.
Uncertainty about which path you should take, most of the time results in you taking the one that is most expedient or comfortable and that may not be where you really want to go.

So you have to decide. You have to decide on what you want. You have to be clear about it.

Successful people have clarity. They know what they want.

You may have heard the story of H. L. Hunt.

H. L. Hunt was a bankrupt cotton farmer who became a Texas oil tycoon. He was once asked about what it took to become serious about success. And this is  what he said and I quote:

“There are only three requirements for success. First, decide exactly what it is you want in life. Second, determine the price that you are going to have to pay to get the things you want. And third, and this is most important, resolve to pay that price.” end quote

So, HL Hunt states that there are three requirements for success and for him the first one is clarity . It’s deciding, exactly what you want in life.

I believe that the lack of clarity about your goals is responsible for more frustration, more headaches, more feelings of bewilderment and getting stuck. It is responsible for more underachievement than perhaps any other factor.

As noted speaker and author Brian Tracy once said and I quote: “Clarity is everything. To perform at your very best and double your productivity, you must be absolutely clear about what it is you want to accomplish” end quote

Yeah man, clear goals and objectives are essential for success in every area of your life. Whether you want that beautifully sculpted body, successful business, or spectacular career, failing to take the time to be clear about exactly what you want to achieve means that you are doomed to wander aimlessly or achieve results you don’t feel great about.

People who are not clear about what they want will spend a life time doing everything right. And by right I mean, they are disciplined, they are focus, they are committed….all things we are going to talk about a little later in this program, they push themselves past the obstacles, they do everything right, climbing the  ladder of success only to get to he top and realize that the ladder was leaning against the wrong  all.

Yep, they achieve all the trappings of success but in the end they feel unfulfilled,

empty, wondering; “How on earth did I get here?”

Well, they got there because they were not clear about what they wanted!

So, if you are serious about getting serious about success, ask your self

What is it that I really want?
What do I want professionally?
What do I want Personally?

What do I want for my family?

Take the time to ask and honestly answer those questions:

It is really an important step in achieving clarity about what you want.

If you’ve been running your career, your business, your life in an unfocused, haphazard way, if you have been waking up in the mornings with no particular plan, just kinda waiting to see what happens….

It suggests to me that you are not serious about success at all. But if you decide that it is time to get serious; its time to get serious about this serious business of success, then it is time for you to figure out exactly where you want to go and what you want to do, and have.

So, yes, you should be asking yourself:
What is it that I really want?
What do I want professionally?
Personally?
What do I want for my family?

And THEN, you should be writing down those answers.

Put them on paper. Put them on your laptop. Put them on your phone. Write them down.

Writing these ideas down is really important because they crystallize your thinking.

I mean, how much longer will you continue to climb the ladder of success, only to discover that it was leaning against the wrong wall.

Here is an example of what I mean by the wrong wall.

Your goal was to get a house on the water but because you weren’t clear about what you wanted you ended up with a house on a busy beach instead of a quiet lake.

Or you wanted to work with young children so you spent all these years studying to be a pediatric nurse only to discover that what you really wanted is to be a teacher.

I am sure you know people in your life.
Perhaps you know them intimately?
Perhaps you see them in the mirror everyday?

They refuse to commit anything in writing because they want to “keep their options open”.
They want to go with the wind. They don’t want to feel like they are tied down.
They want to remain flexible.
But think about this logically for a moment….

Well, first of all… I am not SAYING that you can’t change your mind about a  particular goal you are pursuing. Of course you can!!
Its your life! You can change your mind. You reserve the right to do that but think about this:
What if you always kept your options open and never made any firm commitments, what would happen?

You’d never get promoted, start your own business, get married, have a family, move to that new home, etc,etc.
None of that stuff would happen, except to the degree that someone else made that decision for you. So yes, you need to decide what you want. You need to be clear.

Let me share two quick things about clarity:

1. Clarity makes for easier and better decisions.

The truth is often hard to hear but look…
Your life, —personally and professionally is a reflection of the decision you have made up to now. I don’t care how you try to dice this up, how you try to justify it …but this is how it is man.…the decisions you make are reflected in the life you  are living right now.

The quality of your decisions profoundly affects the quality of your life and work.
Therefore, if you want to make quality decisions, you need to know exactly what you want to achieve. It makes sense doesn’t it? Being clear definitely makes for easier and better decisions.

 

2. Clarity leverages resources

It empowers you in your personal and your professional world, in your business in your company and on your team. It empowers those who are supporting you, it empowers them to be more creative, it allows them to innovate and to come up  with solutions that will help you solve the problems that are preventing you from achieving your goals.

In essence, clarity leverages both your internal resources— your will power, determination your ability to get it done as well as the external resources— the people, time money and so on that you will need to get it done.

 

That leads me to my second point. If you are going to be serious about success, you must be focused.

 

2. FOCUS

 

Steve Jobs once said, ”People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is  saying no to 1,000 things.”

I believe that what Steve Jobs is describing in that quote is the behavior or predisposition of someone who is serious about success, someone who is clear about what he or she wants.

What he is saying is that being clear about what you want doesn’t mean that  you wont always have other opportunities. There are tons of distractions that quite frankly will only waste your time and pull you off course but what Steve Jobs is saying is that in addition to those distractions that will pull you off course— genuine , plausible opportunities with tremendous potential can have the same effect.

You know, when when we lack clarity we become tempted and distracted by every shiny object that catches our eyes. When we lack clarity, we become  unfocused and people who lack focus find themselves hopping from one idea to the next..

They dabble into many things. As the old saying goes—they become a jack of all  trades but a master of none.

That is a clear example of someone who is not serious……really serious about  success. You see, people who are unfocused…..people who are not serious about success are not intentional…..they are not prepared to invest the
inordinate amount of time required to master their craft and truly become  proficient at what they do.

If you look across the field of human endeavor, what you will find is that those who are at the top of their field demonstrate that they were serious about success by how focused they were.

Their skills and abilities were developed and enhanced in their one particular  area of interest and in the end they achieved high success. Not only did they work hard and made numerous sacrifices but they also understood that there were many things that they had to choose not to do.

The bottom line is that if you are serious about success then you’ll need to  radically exclude all the seemingly endless enticing distractions.

All the things that would be cool to do or fun to do. if they are not getting you closer to your goals, don’t do them!

Now I am not talking here about achieving balance in your life. That’s not what I am talking about. For sure, you do have to take a break from your career or business goals to invest in your important relationships or your physical well being but what I am talking about here is pursuing activities that will not satisfy the needs of any of the important goals that you have but yet take up significant portion of your time.

You have to be willing to commit to what needs to be done and not waver. Being focused means being willing to do whatever it takes as well as to say no to whatever won’t move your purpose forward.

So, as Steve Jobs suggests, when you are able to say no to 1000 things, even though they may look great, even though they might show tremendous potential, it allows you to focus your talent and energy on the things that are going to lead you to your goals.

In every single area of your life, success is determined by the ability to focus on the  few critical tasks that will generate the most results.

As Bruce Lee once said,“The successful warrior is the average person with  laser-like focus.”

The bottom line is that those who focus better achieve more.

So focus, man….focus!!

Create a laser like focus on what you want to accomplish.

See the end goal clear in your mind.

Concentrate on what you need to do.

And then do it. Do it every single day, no matter what.

And then, the third thing you have to do if you are to get serious about success is to BELIEF.

But before we get into that, let’s take a short break.
You’ve been listening to Keep On Pushing radio and we’ll be right back.

 

Thanks for staying with us….you are listening to Keep On Pushing radio and
I am your host Devon Harris.

By the way I want to invite you to check out my website…www.devonharris.com

If your organization or company is looking for a keynote speaker, a seminar leader……I would love to discuss those needs with you……just email me at Devon@devonharris.com. thought I’d make it easy for you to remember…..devon@devonharris.com

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So just stop on by….www.devonharris.com

We are talking about GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SUCCESS

 

Oftentimes when someone fail to achieve a goal, when they end up with the feeling that they are not as successful as they need to be, they blame it on them lack of resources— money, time, the support of others and so on.

And even though those things are important; I want to make the argument that  your lack of success oftentimes comes down to a lack of resourcefulness not a  lack of resources.

What I am talking about here is your ability to get the most from yourself in every situation.
Becoming creative and innovative in order to make the most of the resources you have in order to solve the problem at hand.

Acquiring the relevant tools and knowledge being willing to see things from a different perspective and trying different approaches that might help you achieve your goals.

People who are clear about success are resourceful and they are clear about  what they want to achieve.

They know that vague desires lead to vague outcomes so they invest the time to figure out

What is it that they really want….personally and professionally

What is it that they really want for their family and so.

That then allows them to really focus on what they are working to achieve.

Now, staying focused is not just about avoiding the distractions—every little shiny thing that might show up and pull you away from your goal.

Staying focused is also about saying no to the many many great, wonderful opportunities that will come along as well.

So in order to get serious about success you have to be focused. You have to radically erase all of the enticing distractions that will pop up.

And we were heading into break, we were about to examine the third thing that you will need in order to get serious about success and that is Belief.

 

3. BELIEF

What do people who are serious about success believe?

(i) They believe in themselves

“Working hard is important. But there is something that matters even more.
Believing in yourself”

That is a direct quote from one of the great philosophers of our time, Harry Potter.

The French novelist and playwright,Honore de Balzac, also chimed in on the subject of believing on yourself when he said “When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”

People who are serious about success believe in themselves. They believe in their ideas, their effort, their resolve. And the fact of the matter is that there is no other way. To live the successful life you are capable of, you must fully believe in yourself and your abilities and the possibilities.

Make no mistake about it, people who believe in themselves fail from time to time, they probably fail far more often than you think but regardless of the obstacles, the frustrations and disappointments,the power of their belief in themselves help them to keep on pushing until they had their breakthrough.

That brings me to the second thing that people who are serious about success believe:

(ii) They believe in creating their own luck

When you see someone take their business, career, their ideas, and so on and transform them into something remarkably successful, in addition to obviously applying or following the many principles of success; they also took advantage of and in fact created opportunities that paved the way to their success.

Interestingly though, many people will call these folks lucky. They were lucky to have met such and such a person who helped them in a major way or coincidentally this thing happened over here and they were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and now they are on easy street.

But my friend that could be further from the truth. When are serious about success you generate your own luck.

Being lucky is never about relying upon pure random-chance. lucky people create their own luck by being assertive and proactive. They make positive, sustained, efforts towards their goals. A really good friend of mine would always say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

So, consider this scenario….

This person,we’ll call him John , did in fact meet an influential person who made a tremendous difference in his career or business. Because of this encounter, he was able to “blow up” as they would say. Of course, people would witness his break out his explosive growth and say he was lucky. But did this happen just by random chance or was it a case of preparation meeting opportunity.

The challenge is that what most people really notice is the point from which he took off.

They don’t see the months perhaps years he spent volunteering, going to networking events, generally getting his name out there and then one day, he met someone who was able to help him in a significant way.

John got “lucky” because he didn’t sit around waiting for his proverbial ship to come in. He was proactive. He created his own luck

We will talk about mindset a little later in the program but creating your own luck is a mindset that says there’s far more in life that is for you, than against you.
That allows you to take control of your life. It allows you to be far more receptive to opportunities that come your way paving the path for you to achieve your dreams and aspirations.

And if you believe in creating your own luck….you will also believe in

(iii) stepping out of your comfort zone

Fear is one of the biggest things that hold people back so when we think of the comfort zone, its is not just about being in a space that is familiar and safe and comforting. It is about breaking the chains of fear so that you can grow into the person you need to become in order to achieve your goals.

You have to understand that there is no success without growth. You can’t equip yourself with the tools you need to reach your goals from within the comfort zone.

We were just talking about creating your own luck.. It is only through your willingness to bust out of your comfort zone that you will be able to see and take advantage of the opportunities that life presents you with.

So what else do people who are serious about success believe in”

(iv) They believe in Taking action

The famous painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Action is the foundational key to success”

And you know what….. he was right!

He was right, man!

One of the simplest and most important secrets to success in any discipline, in any endeavor is action— taking action.

No matter what your ability or skill set is—it is effort—it is the action you take that will ignite your ability or your skills and transform them into accomplishment.

Those who are not as serious about success sit around waiting for the perfect time.

They’ll have a project or a business idea and they put it off, waiting for the right time. And even after they have spent all the time in the world doing their research, coming up with the perfect plan, getting all their ducks in a row dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s— they still don’t take action, or by the time they do,they opportunity has passed. Those are the people who claim that they are unlucky.

But they created that! Didn’t they?

As I said earlier, we all create our own luck, whether it is good or bad.

People who are serious about success understand that if you do nothing; you get nothing

So as that popular AD, challenges, admonishes and encourages, ”JUST DO IT!”
And stop Making excuses—the fourth key to getting serious about success

4. STOP MAKING EXCUSES

I am curious….

How many times have you caught yourself making excuses when things didn’t  turn out the way you expected them to?

We were just talking about taking action. How many times have you failed to take the actions necessary to achieve your goals?

Did you come up with an excuse for that as well?

Did you try to avoid taking personal responsibility?

Were you able to come up with all the reasons why you didn’t, couldn’t, or shouldn’t ?

Did you blame circumstances or events in your distant past or perhaps you just pointed to someone else ?

Is that what you did?

All of this speaks to the fact that you might be living a life full of excuses.
Excuses that are preventing you from achieving your goals and reaching your full potential.

Excuses that are demonstrating that you are not as serious as you thought you might have been about success.

Let’s face it, if you are dreaming big enough, your goals and dreams can seem daunting. You are reaching out, striving to achieve, become, create, do or have something you’ve never had before.

And at the outset, those targets always seem beyond your reach and you no doubt can find reasons—sometimes good reasons; sometimes good, plausible, practical reasons why you should not even think about such a goal.

But I promise you, you are not the first and you certainly will not be the last goal seeker who finds themselves in such a predicament.

I promise you, there are scores of people who have faced faced similar if not even tougher circumstances that you might be currently facing and yet they were able to push past those challenges to enjoy amazing accomplishments.

The thing is, we can always find a way to justify why we couldn’t or shouldn’t do something.

As human beings, we have an uncanny ability to convince ourselves of almost anything.

Yeah man, we tell ourselves that we’re just being sensible and smart…realistic, responsible, and practical.

“Its just common sense!”, that’s what we tell ourselves.

And when we make our half hearted attempts and things don’t work out, we convince ourselves that it was probably for the best. We say things to ourselves like, ”Nothing ever happens before its time” But that is such a cop out!

That is such a cop out. That is lame!

That is such weak a weak attempt to justify your lack of effort.

Drop the excuses, man!

That’s just you trying to rationalize and trying to make yourself feel comfortable with your decision not to take action.

You know, when we crashed that sled during the third heat of the 4 man bobsled event back in Calgary 1988, that was definitely one of the low point of our bobsled adventure. I mean, we had failed, spectacularly, in front of the entire world! Not only that, but in our minds, we had let down and embarrassed an entire nation.
And we fully expected that people were going to be upset and disappointed that they would have no problem telling us about it

 

But boy, were we wrong! They were so supportive of us.Making the argument that we did exceptionally well, considering the fact that Jamaica has no snow and ice.

Needless to say,I have heard this from many people around the world in the ensuing years. And of course, there is truth and logic to it. It makes a lot of sense! But the truth is that we never once saw those facts as reasons or excuses for not doing well

So drop the excuses. They are rationalizations, we make to ourselves about the people, events and circumstances in our lives.

They are inventions, man! Inventions we come up with to defend our behavior or our negligence in taking a particular kind of action. We create excuses as a means of defending our lack of courage to launch and go after our dreams or to negate, to absolve ourselves of any personal responsibility for where we are in life.

So again, STOP making excuses.

Excuses are for people who don’t want it badly enough.

Its time to start fighting and pushing forward

That takes me to my next point….people who are serious about success…embrace change

 

5. EMBRACE CHANGE

Let me ask you……what do you think differentiates winners from losers— those who are serious about success from those who are just kinda hanging around the periphery?

Why are some people so successful in reaching their goals while others can’t achieve them?

What attitudes do successful people espouse that others don’t?

This is not a fair question is it?

I mean,you could come up with a myriad of answers!

You could say they are dreamers. They set big goals. They are persistent, they have faith, strong work ethic. Yes all of that is true, but those are not the answers I am looking for.

The answer I am looking for is “Change”. …They embrace change.

People who are serious about success are willing to change. They are willing to change something about themselves, about their environment. They are willing to change something about their outlook on life, their routines, their habits, their behaviors, their attitudes. They are willing white frankly to change some of the people they hang around with all the time. The thing you have to realize that everything you know and do has brought you to this point in your life and for you to get to the next level, something has to change.

Something has to change because if nothing changes; nothing changes

And, one of the first thing that people who are serious about success change is their mindset.

When we talk about mindset, we are talking about an understanding that nothing can stop you if you refuse to stop. Nothing can beat you until you give up. No circumstance can truly get the better of you if you don’t let it.

It has nothing to do with what you may or may not have to start the journey.
What it has everything to do with is a belief that with effort and perseverance, you can grow, you can broaden your skills and in the process broaden yourHORIZON— broaden what is possible.

And that involves change. I said it earlier, you must change in order to grow.
Success entails you gaining new knowledge or figuring out how to apply what you already know. It involves you acquiring new skills or improve your existing ones. And if you do that it means that you would have changed.

And by the way,this is not just hyper.bole, this is a mindset.
If you are going to getting serious about success you have to change your mindset.

 

And that includes changing how you see failure

Understand this, failure is not a stumbling block. I know it looks like one. I know it feels like one sometimes, but if you are serious about success, you have to start seeing failure as a stepping stone to success.

When they fail, people who are serious about success don’t see themselves as failures, they see the results as a failure. To them failure is an event an opportunity to learn and grow and get better in order to get the results they really want.

If you change your mindset— how you approach your goals and how you view failure, you are also going to change some of the people you hang out with.

Additionally, your commitment has to change.

We spoke about commitment earlier. Your lifestyle has to reflect a radical commitment to achieving your goals.

You’re either “all in” or not in at all.

I read this funny but true statement about commitment a while ago and it goes like this….

“In a breakfast of eggs and bacon, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.”

You can’t be merely involved in your success, you have to be committed…you have to be the pig …you have to be all in

That level of commitment also gives you a different outlook on failure.

 

The people you spend the most time with have a significant impact on your life.
They are an integral part of your lifestyle and your beliefs. Unfortunately, some of those people could be dear friends that you grew up with— the guy who you  played ball with, or the girl you hung out with almost every weekend since middle school or even a family member. And sure, you cherish those relationships….but at the same time they impede your growth, they obstruct your progress, they dampen your enthusiasm.
The conversations they engage in, the beliefs they espouse,none of that is progressive,its not uplifting, it is not empowering.

And as someone once said,”You are only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with so be brave enough to let go of those who keep weighing you down.”

That is true no matter who they are and how much you cherish those relationships. If you are serious about success, you have to cut them out of your life. Not it a calculated, callous way. These are people that you have a meaningful relationship with. You have to find a way to love them from afar.

 

So yes folks, that is the thing that makes the difference between winners and losers. That attitude shift is what separates successful people from everyone else. Successful people know that it’s not good enough to just do different things.
You have to become a different person.

Well, let me put it this way…..

In order to do something you’ve never done before, you need to become someone you never were before. So, yes your mindset has to change and with that your intensity has to change. Your daily habits, your daily regimen, your everyday actions has rot change.

And finally, if you are going to get serious about success, you must show persistence.

 

6. PERSISTENCE

Here is the thing….most people think the journey to success is a linear.
They don’t realize that it is filled with twist and turns. It is filled with peaks and valleys. They don’t realize that sometimes you have to blaze your own trail because the route that leads to your goals has never been used before. Yeah man, sometimes you have to blaze a new trail.

That requires persistence.

The road to success is not a linear route. It’s not a short journey. It is a long strenuous journey.

Sometimes you feel like you are making progress. Yes, it is an uphill climb but you are making progress even if its just an inch or two at a time. It is a long, slow slog but at least your moving forward, right? But then there are other times you feel like you’ve plateaued, You feel stuck despite your best efforts.

People who are serious about success knows that that is par for the course.

This is the journey, man. This is to be expected, and there are plenty of examples of folks who have succeeded and went through the same thing.

People who are not serious about success, when things get tough, or shortly there after, maybe they hang in there for a minute or two but not long after it gets rough they give up. They Throw in the towel. They turn their backs on the goals and dreams.

 

But as I said earlier, nothing can stop you if you don’t and so when you get really serious about success, you find a way to keep on pushing…you have to find a way to keep on keeping on

 

people who are serious about success believe that if they just keep at it; if they persist and persevere, they will win.
Other people may be smarter, better connected, more talented, have way more financial resources, but they know how to persist….they know that persistenceb pays

 

As I close, let me leave you with this story about Socrates.

Well, actually it a story about one of his students.

One day, one of his students, a bright, ambitious young man, hungry for success approached Socrates.

“Teacher,” he said, “I have studied many years with you and even though I have  learned many things I still have not learned the secret to success or what it really takes to be successful. Please train me in this mystery.”

Socrates looked at his student with a thoughtful expression and after a long  pause, he responded. “My son, the secret is within each one of us if we only truly want it. If you walk with me, I will take you to the river of life and show you.”

They walked side by side in silence until they got to the river. Once there,
Socrates motioned to the young man and they wade out into the water until they were chest deep.

Socrates took him by the neck and plunged his head into the water. After only a few seconds (that felt like eternity to the young man), he started struggling to get  his head out of the water. He writhed under the grasp of Socrates, gasping for a breath but Socrates was a big fellow…..a strong man, so he was able to easily hold the young nan under the water

Desperate for air after a few minutes, the young man mustered the energy to push himself out of the water.

After a few precious gulps of air he turned to Socrates who was already wading towards shore.

“Wy did you do that” the student angrily blurted out

“Why did you do that!” , demanding a response.

Socrates turned to him and calmly asked, “While your head was underwater, what was the one thing you wanted more than anything in life?”

“What was the one thing you thought about the most”

“Air”, he responded.

“All I could think of was air”

Socrates responded, “That is the secret to success. When you want success <as badly as you wanted the air, then you will be successful”

So, folks, that’s what this program has been about.

When you desire success, when you get serious about success with the same intensity as you want a breath of air if your head was being held under water, you’ll definitely will be successful.

 

Thank you for tuning in.

You have been listening to Keep On Pushing Radio.

I am your host, Devon Harris.

And as always,

Keep On Pushing!