Presignify

I’ve heard it said that 85% of success is showing up. While that’s true, in the words of radio commentator Paul Harvey, here’s the rest of the story.

If 85% of success is showing up, then in order to do better than 85% of the other folks, all you have to do is show up.

That’s fairly easy.

To do better than 90% of everyone else, show up, and be on time.

Still not too tough.

To do better than 95% of everyone else, show up, on time, with a plan.

Getting a little harder here.

To do better than anyone else, 100% of everyone else, show up, on time, with a plan, and follow through with the plan.

Ouch. Now this is really getting harder, isn’t it?

Have you noticed how the last five percent of something is usually the hardest? Take working out with weights for example. The first of ten reps are usually the easiest, while reps 8, 9 and 10 are usually the hardest. Do you also know which reps do you the most good? That’s right, eleven and twelve.

So it is with following through. In my experience, both personally and professionally, this is the hardest part of being successful. And therefore the most important and beneficial.

So what makes it so hard to follow through? The biggest hindrance for most people is putting action off, the deadly disease of procrastination.

Here are two sets of deadly procrastination words.

“I’ll do it later” - What “I’ll do it later” really means is that we have done two interesting things in our brains. We have linked more pain than pleasure to getting something done and we have linked more pleasure to putting something off than to doing it now. Simply stated, when we say “I’ll do it later” we mean that it feels better to put it off than to do it now.

“I forgot” - Sometimes we do honestly forget. Most of the time, what “I forgot” really means is that we did not believe something was important enough to do. It’s another excuse for procrastination.

So how do we beat the disease of procrastination? Nike had it right with it’s slogan “Just Do It.” I realize that I’m quoting a sneaker company here, but I guess you find your wisdom where you can.

The main reason why the just do it slogan works so well is because the smallest action is better than the best intention. All the best intentions in the world can’t stack up against even the smallest action.

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The first of January and September, as well as our birthdays seem to be the times in a year when we focus on the gulf between where we are and where we would like to be. By now, many of you have already given up your New Years Resolutions and settled back into the comfortable routine of last year. Before you get too snug, dust off your dreams and look at them again. Let’s make this year a year to be proud of. Let’s make this the year of personal reinvention, to do the things that we have always wanted to do, and to become the women we have always wanted to be; doers, not just dreamers.

The dreams may be made about the books we would like to read, the projects we would like to complete, the weight we would like to loose, the trips we would like to take, the degrees we would like to have after our name, the business we would like to start, the houses we would live. The dreams that women have are as diverse as they are, they range from personal to spiritual, from familial to professional. None seem too big, and on the flip side, none are too trivial.

Here are some steps that may help you turn your dreams for the upcoming year into attainable goals.

1. Write your dreams- Moving your dreams onto paper is the first step from bringing them from the invisible realm of the mind or heart to a tangible form. You need to see your dreams on paper.

2. List your goals as affirmation statement- refrain from using the term “I would like to” or “I want to” and use strong affirmations. “I will” or “I am going to.” Somehow with just that shift in words the dream becomes just that much stronger, a promise to yourself.

This year I will ___________________________.

In the next three months I will have _____________________.

3. Set limits to your goals - Put values and limits on your goals and be specific. The more general your goal statement is the less likely you are going to reach it.

An example of an abstract goal is, “I want to lose some weight this year.”

A specific goal would be, “I will loose 25 lbs in the next six months.”

4. Think from the end- Project yourself into the future. Picture yourself with all of those goals accomplished. What are the steps that had to be taken to get you there?

Some things are easy to figure out, for example:

- To lose 25 lbs in the next six months you must consistently loose a bit more than one pound per week. This goal is doable.

- To read the Bible in a year, you must read only 3 chapters a day.

To start a business or organize your home, get out of debt, or write a book, the steps are more numerous, and perhaps more complicated, but when they are broken into small bite-sized manageable tasks, to be accomplished weekly or daily chunks they don’t look so daunting.

5. Hold yourself accountable- This is the thing that separates the doers and the dreamers. Do something every day and each week towards reaching your goals. If we really want it we must be willing to work for it, to invest time to it. Some may find that they work best with an accountability partner, others, realize they owe it to themselves, and themselves alone, to succeed.

I challenge you. Put your dreams into writing, then work to make them reality.

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Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.

-Denis Waitley

Pamela is a freelance writer, teacher, and workshop facilitator addressing the needs of women who juggle homes, families and careers. Pam has been teaching and facilitating workshops for women for almost twenty years through business organizations, women’s groups and churches both in Canada and the United States.

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“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will
not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is
full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the
problems of the human race.” Calvin Coolidge

I have worked with many successful people; people who have achieved the
kinds of lives they have dreamed about. I have also worked with many people
who are not anywhere near where they want to be in life. Many times those
who are not successful resent those who are and believe that somehow success
was handed to those who have achieved much.

What I have found however is that actually the reverse is true. Those who
have achieved much have worked much HARDER than those who are not
successful. You wouldn’t believe the stories of struggle that I hear from
those who now appear to on “top of the heap.” Yes, they are successful, but
no, it wasn’t handed to them! And I find that most of the unsuccessful
people who come to me actually haven’t been tenacious at all. I find that
with many of the people I speak to who complain about their lack of success
simply haven’t persevered and been tenacious. When I ask them questions I
usually get excuses. Yes, there are exceptions on both sides, but I find
this to be almost universally true.

If you are one who finds yourself dreaming of a better life, or looking at
someone who “has it made,” I would ask you to take a long, deep look inward
and at your life to find whether or not you have actually been tenacious in
pursuit of your dreams. How long have you gone for it? Many people who
achieve much go for YEARS before they achieve what their hearts long for?
How hard have you gone for it? Most people who achieve much have given up
much. They have sacrificed much. They strive valiantly for what it is that
resides deep in their dreams. They just plain ol’ work hard!

So what are the principles of tenacity? What do you need to know in order to
take your turn at the tenacious? Here are some thoughts to start your fire
and get you going!

1. Sometimes you just have to outlast the others.

“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let
go.” William Feather

I have found that many people start on their dreams but most never finish.
Then those who stop resent those who make it. The truth is that most people
who become successful have simply mastered the art of keeping on keeping on!
I myself can remember early on in my career when I would get discouraged and
I literally said to myself, “One more week. Just give it one more week.”
Quite frankly, this is what got me through a couple of years of my work
early on. I hung on as others let go.

It is easy to get disheartened. Ask those who have achieved success if they
ever got disheartened and you will find some of the most amazing stories you
have ever heard. Give it a try: Go to the most successful person you know
and ask them if they ever thought about quitting. Ask them how they kept on
going. You will be amazed at what you hear.

2. Sometimes you just have to hold on at the end.

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” Franklin
Roosevelt

I wonder how many people have quit just as they would have begun their
entrance into success? Sure there are many who quit at the first sign of
hard work, but what about those who, after the tenth time of trial then give
up, just as fate would have seen them go through one last hurdle and then
into the promised land? How many people were on their last hurdle and
decided not to jump? How many people had just one more mountain pass to go?
Or just one more river to cross?

Of course we will never know, but certainly some of the people who quit are
doing so on what would have been their last trial, right?

So what does this mean for you? For me it means I do not quit because I
would hate to find out later that all I needed was just one last effort and
I would have achieved my goal. What if it isn’t my last trial? That’s okay
because as long as I keep going, eventually I will get to my last trial, I
will overcome it, and I will enter the Winner’s Circle.

3. Sometimes the most beautiful results come from dull things under
pressure.

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.”
Malcolm Forbes

If coal wasn’t an inanimate object it would certainly scream, “Stop! I want
out!” But that coal, when facing incredible pressure, is turned into one of
earth’s most precious possessions. Ugly, dirty old coal is transformed into
beautiful diamonds.

Instead of looking at pressure and trials as the reason to quit, get
tenacious and see them as the very thing that will make your life the
beautiful thing that you desire it to be. See it as your opportunity to
learn, to grow, and to be transformed. See these trials as the very things
that will enable you to have the life that dream of!

Trials will surely come. Life will get hard. You will want to quit.

Then you will have a choice: Will you give up? Or will you take your turn at
tenacious. The choice you make will determine much of the rest of your life.

My advice? Take your turn at tenacious. You will become stronger, and you
will end up living the life you dream of!

About The Author:

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of
Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn
their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and
achieve their dreams.

To see Chris “live” at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on
the subject of Secrets of Influence go to
http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/ or call 800-929-0434.

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