₦airaland Forum

I’m fascinated with people who
experience success at what they do.
But, I’m not so impressed with the
outcome as I am with the habits and
routines they forge over a lifetime in
order to produce the outcomes they
want.

In entertainment, I think of Leonardo
DiCaprio. In the arts, I think of Steven
Pressfield. In business, I think of Mark
Zuckerburg. In spirituality, I think of
Rick Warren. In athletics, I think of
Michael Jordan.

How do people experience repeated
success over the long term?

I spend a lot of my time reading about
these people. While each journey varies
greatly, a common thread can be woven
into each of their stories: Most of them
are not born into success.

They have simply worked their tails off
to realize their successes. But, the work
they put in isn’t random or by chance.

The progress they experience over a
lifetime is rooted in habits that are
executed consistently. Fortunately for
you and I, these habits can be emulated.
Here they are:

1. Embrace daily commitment.
We all know someone who is really
committed to his or her craft. This kind
of commitment is contrary to someone
who runs on emotional motivation and
is fueled by “ra-ra” inspirational quotes
and videos.

The habit of embracing daily
commitment is more like a quiet strength
that cannot be shaken. As WH Murray
said, “Until one is committed, there is
hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.”

2. Be willing to pay the price.
It’s waking up at 4 am to write before
going to work, or speaking at hundreds
of events for free. It’s working three
part-time jobs to fund acting classes.

When you set your sights on achieving
your goal, it will take some kind of
sacrifice. It’s up to you to decide if
you’re willing to pay the price in order
to give yourself a chance to realize the
best possible outcome.

What many people don’t understand is
that the journey isn’t what it looks like
on Instagram. It’s not always sandy
beaches, or a good-looking lad sitting on
a Ferrari, sipping a dirty martini.

The middle is a dogfight. This is how the
journey to success plays out, too. It’s in
the middle where you’ll get tested. The
persistent people, the ones who are
willing to pay the price, are able to
visualize the light at the end of the
tunnel.

The pain is worth the effort, and this
enables them to keep going.

3. Engage in deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice is an activity
designed specifically to improve
performance. Most people practice by
mindlessly repeating an activity over
and over, without any clear goal of what
they want to accomplish.

Going to the local YMCA to play pick-up
basketball four times a week may seem
like practice, but it is far from deliberate
practice.

It’s mistaking activity for improvement.
If an athlete severely lacks an explosive
first step and is very weak at dribbling
with her left hand, these areas can only
be improved with deliberate practice.
Lifting weights and increasing her
strength to up her explosiveness would
target her first step. Repeating ball-
handling drills that focus on her left
hand would bring up that area.

This is deliberate practice and it can be
done consistently. It is quite contrary to
showing up and playing pick-up
basketball where she can hide behind
her weaknesses.

4. Work hard (it’s probably your only
advantage).

Will Smith was asked about his secret to
success and this is what he said:

“I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I
will not be outworked. You may be more
talented than me. You might be smarter
than me. And you may be better looking
than me.

“But if we get on a treadmill together
you are going to get off first or I’m going
to die. It’s really that simple. I’m not
going to be outworked.”

His point wasn’t to dare anyone to race
him on a treadmill but to showcase out
the fact that he worked hard and
practiced his craft.

That was the only way he could get
ahead. He knew that natural ability
could take him only so far. But with
deliberate practice, he could fulfill his
greatest potential.

5. Get good at failing.

Sir James Dyson, who created of the
famous Dyson vacuum, is no stranger to
failure. He actually embraces failure.

“I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum
before I got it right. There were 5,126
failures. But I learned from each one.
That’s how I came up with a solution. So
I don’t mind failure.

“I’ve always thought that schoolchildren
should be marked by the number of
failures they’ve had. The child who tries
strange things and experiences lots of
failures to get there is probably more
creative.”

Rather than avoiding failure, embedding
it into your plan removes the yolk off of
your shoulders. It’s relieving to know
that failure is an option.

Now, setting out to internationally fail
isn’t the advice. That’s just wasted effort.
Instead, when you set out on any
attempt, the expectation should be, “I am
going to get success or a lesson.”
Instead of linking anything less than
success with a failure, by labeling it as a
lesson, you’ll actually come out of the
other side with more wisdom equipping
you to side-step making the same
mistake twice.

6. Stay curious.

Across multiple disciplines, you’ll find
that those who experience sustained
progress in the craft are lifelong
learners.

These people have an unquenchable
thirst for knowledge and spend a lot of
time ruminating on how the knowledge
applies to their lives.

Maria Popova, the mastermind behind
the blog, Brain Pickings, spends about
450 hours a month on her site, which is
rooted in reading, learning and then
writing about it all.

As the saying goes, when you stop
learning, you stop growing.

7. Have a daily schedule.

It’s nearly impossible to be committed,
engage in deliberate practice and work
hard when you don’t know what you’re
supposed to do each day.

Neither success nor failure are typically
one-time events. They’re an
accumulation of actions. If you sit down
to write every day from 8 am to 10 am
with a 700-word count goal, in one year
you’ll have written quite a lot.

It could be a book or a blog that now has
some rich content. If you fail to balance
your checkbook for an entire year, you’ll
probably run into some sticky financial
situation.

If you show up to the gym four times a
week for an entire year, you’ll be in far
better shape than when you started.

The thing we’re all chasing is change: a
change in our finances, in our health
and the quality of our work. But, change
will never happen until we change what
we do daily.

A simple way to gain control of your
days to be as effective and efficient as
possible is to use the five-three-one
method. At day’s end, list the five most
important things you must complete the
next day. Then, finally list three things you did
well todally, list one thing you are
grateful for.

8. Prioritize sleep.

Although material affluence is rising, our
health is declining. Getting caught up in
the chase for a finish line that doesn’t
exist can send you down a path where
self-care gets thrown out the window
and sleep usually gets the short end of
the stick.

But, we seem to have some dissonance
with the concept of sleep. Sleep is
arguably the most important aspect of
your health when it comes to your ability
to function during your waking hours.

Extreme fatigue, emotional instability,
lower productivity, weight gain,
compromised cognitive function and a
higher susceptibility to illness are part of
the package when you don’t sleep
enough.

We all have alarm clocks that wake us
up, but maybe it’s time to set alarm
clocks to get to sleep.

9. Define your personal success
blueprint.

Ra Paulette is an American cave sculptor
based in New Mexico who digs into
hillsides to sculpt artistic pieces inside
the mountain.

His work attracts visitors from around
the world. He’s self-taught and never
went to architecture school. He spends
his days working on his art with a shovel
and it takes him years to complete each
project.

His current project is projected to take
10 years, which he refers to as his
magnum opus. Ra likes to work alone,
but does enjoy the company of his dog.
He doesn’t’ do it for the money, although
he has been commissioned to dig a few
caves for residents. He charged $12 an
hour for labor.

Ra has defined what success means in
his life. He’s 74 years old and says,
“When I’m working on a project, I’m
totally obsessed. I’m thinking about it all
day long. Most people who are engaged
in physical labor aren’t having the fun
that I’m having.”

He knows what success is for himself,
and because of that, he does what he
loves and he does it with excellence.

10. Remind yourself it’s not about you.
In his best-selling book, “The Purpose
Driven Life,” Rick Warren starts the
book with one sentence: “It’s not about
you.”

The book ultimately captures the concept
that the gifts you’ve been given and the
talents you develop are not intended for
your benefit.

You showed up for a purpose, one that
you and only you can fulfill in order to
serve others. When you realize this, the
mirage of achievement that can pull you
in so many ways recedes like the ocean
tide.

Life becomes simple (not easy) when you
embrace the fact that’s it’s not about you.
-Brian McFadden|Elite Daily

*modified*

Nice post, it will be nicer with proper paragraphs

flinton:
Nice post, it will be nicer with proper paragraphs

done it. do you think it could make front page so a lot of people can be enlightened?

I believe it all begins with passion. If I'm really passionate about what I do, then I won't need mantras to know I need to get better at it. Wonderful post all the same.

Jetjacky:
done it. do you think it could make front page so a lot of people can be enlightened?

It may or may not

flinton:
It may or may not

how does one make front page

Jetjacky:
how does one make front page

no hard and fast rule, create relevant thread, that is informative nd can b related to naija niche