2 Essentials for Success (SELF HELP)

J, this is for you.
The first is to decide what it is you want. Set a goal. Be decisive. Live on purpose. Identify who you are and what it is you want. All these things are the same thing: Set a goal.

The second essential for success is to find out what will be required to achieve that goal. This is also your preparation, and your planning. It's also called paying the price.

Life's Like That

The metaphor for life is going on impulse into a shopping mall. Meandering around, unsure of what you want, or how much is in your wallet. You may walk out with nothing, or you may walk out with no money and a bunch of stuff that makes you feel better for an afternoon, but you could really do without.

The Mall and Me

Approach life as you would a trip to the mall. Decide what you want. Be decisive. Choose one thing. Choose the most important thing. Make sure you can afford it. Go and get it. Don't get distracted along the way by all those other things you don't necessarily needs. Don't spend more than you can afford, and make sure there's areason why you're purchasing what you are.

Decide to be Decisive

In the same way, know why your goal is important to you being who you are.
Many many people go through life wanting many different things, and settling for a lot less than they are capable of. This is due to indecisiveness. Now make up your mind, and then move towards what it is you want. Remember we are programmed for failure, whenever we subscribe to this idea of getting something for nothing, or of somehow taking a shortcut and getting something worthwhile. Lose this bargain hunter mentality; instead steel yourself to be hard, to work hard, to graft.

Now consider that the fact that you are alive now, means you, and all those systems within, have survived some tricky scenarios. You must just make sure your programming works, because the hardware almost certainly is top notch.

Lance’s 4 Success Factors

Brad Kearns book How Lance Does It explains what it takes to be a champion

Kearns book on cycling legend Lance Armstrong has something different to offer. At the very least, it offers positive reinforcement and ultimately, is a very motivating and fresh perspective.

Brad Kearns trained and raced with Lance when Armstrong was a promising triathlete, even before ihis transformation as Ubercyclist.

Kearns posits the following success factors:

Positive Attitude: By turning every negative (even something like cancer) into a positive, you create a positive result in a positive mainframe.
Clarity of Purpose: The difference between Lance and his competitors in the Tour de France was simple single-mindedness. Lance’s goal was concrete, and simple: Win the Tour. Coming second to Lance was the equivalent of losing. That represents a high standard, but the value of this commitment lies in its hard no-nonsense simplicity.

Specialized Intelligence: Competitive advantage often lies in this area, but perhaps this is the most difficult area to develop and more important, maintain an edge. Triathletes and cyclists invest a lot of energy and resources into using the lightest and most aerodynamic technology to get on top. By the same token, whoever you are and whatever your business investmenting time and thought into strategy and software can pay off huge dividends in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Important to remember, before starting anything is to first ask: Why? And then decide How?

Pure Confidence: Belief is a great motivator, and belief tends to be bolstered by preparation. Preparation means many things: work, training, readiness, investigation, homework and groundwork. It’s all of these things of course.

Lance’s life is motivating because whether we are out of shape or depressed, we can always compare ourselves to Lance who had it all, seemed about to lose it all (to cancer) and then really came back, Living Strong, with his new lease on life. We also learn that it is the basics that count: love of sport, or love of work (but a basic love of life) that must underscore an sinpired and meaningful life.