The 7 Tips to Transform Your Way to the Top

Why do setbacks strike at the moment you are supposed to cross the finish line? 

Finding success has a multitude of meanings depending on the person defining it, yet common themes emerge: accomplishment, achievement, sense of purpose, feeling of worth and reaching goals. Peace, happiness and pride. Some successes are fleeting – we win only to return to the field to play again and again. Others recognize a body of work or year in the life. Signs of success can be tangible like a trophy or a physical creation or they can be intangible like the impact and inspiration one can conjure for another. 

Many successful people do not deem themselves successful because they are consistently in search of their next goal to achieve. There is absolutely a celebration in each milestone but they are continually in search while racking up the unique triumphs. Far more decide to stop and forego continued pursuit of a goal for a variety of reasons – some very close to the finish line. Regardless of the loftiness of our goals or the tenacity we have for conquering them, adaptation and transformation are imperative to success. There is not a Point A to Point B; there are quite often numerous detours and unexpected twists. How we cope and respond and learn will define the result and the success is not always what we initially envision it to be. The success can be the experience, the survival, the surprising benefits of new skills gleaned along the way. 

Paramount to success of any brand are the following: 

1. Define clearly stated goals. What do you want the end result of this experience to be? What do you define success to be, and what do you want to get out of this endeavor?
2. Define clearly stated process. What steps do you foresee it will take to achieve the success you desire? What failsafes will you employ if commonly known hurdles present themselves? Don’t over-think, but absolutely prepare enough so you have a foundation toward the success.
3. Execute. There is no way to win the game without putting the ball in play. Whether it is getting outside of your comfort zone or it’s trekking on similar terrain, you have to take the first step(s). The proper process will lead to results, and you have charted that course (unforeseen variables notwithstanding). Often, this step does require silencing inner doubts and simply doing what you know needs to be done.
4. Focus. Maintain your course and stay focused on goals and process. You identified goals and what it took to get there; like a new workout regimen or diet, it’s quite easy to launch them Day 1 and continue with the initial momentum out of the chute. It’s another issue entirely on Day 10 or 20 or even 50 when you become bored with the routine or want to splurge. So often, this is where people derail and they just stay off the rails… which is why we must…
5. Adapt. Rarely, if ever, will the path proceed as you initially intended or envisioned. This is also not a bad thing – some of the best relationships and most enriching experiences can come in these moments of taking the road less traveled. They broaden your horizons. Workout routine is stale? Modify it. Add to it. Find others to work with and share ideas with. Diet is too restrictive? Research. Change it up. Recognize that going off the path for one day doesn’t mean you have no chance of redemption. It’s all process, it’s statistics, it’s odds and it’s math. It’s the sum of the parts. A piece of a process breaking down one day doesn’t mean you cannot patch it and address it and tweak it and move forward stronger with more resolve. Adaptation will single-handedly be your most vital attribute in the plight for success. It will be what determines if you stay in the fight after your current approach is failing. It is what will force you to look for different ways to deliver more effective results. It will challenge and change you to become better.
6. Be consistent. Consistency in results hinges on consistency in process. You can’t start off adhering to the process you acknowledged will give you better results only to face some obstacles and then go back to “comfortable ways of failing or mediocrity.” You made a goal and had legitimate reasons for selecting this process: it gives you better statistical probability for success than the previous methods that were leading to frustration and losses. Life’s all about probability and odds – give yourself the best probability at success by following the process you felt would give you the edge, even if it didn’t result in immediate turnaround or success as quickly as you would like.

 7.  Embrace the learning you receive from challenges and stay in the game. Adaptation may be critical, but perseverance is the kicker. You’ve invested in a stock (your own betterment) and need/want it to rise. To date, it’s had its ups and downs. Perhaps, today it’s down. Are you going to bail on your goal? Or are you going to ride the process until the stock reaches its high? It’s tricky, because the odds of things always going according to plan are miniscule if not nonexistent, and it’s tempting to cut bait and go home. You can fold and you lose no further, right? Yet you miss out on any potential gains, and that’s the risk. The people you deem successful – and the successful version of you that you envision – had a risk pay off. It’s why people pay the lottery!...and their probability of success are far less than yours at whatever you are seeking! They are risking a few bucks, though, while you are risking comfortable ways of failing or mediocrity. You are risking failure. But you can’t find success without that risk. 

Take each and every decision and challenge and day one at a time while staying focused and true to the big picture and the goal and the process. It sounds too simple, but if you apply this method to everything in your life it makes the lessons easier to swallow and any temporary setbacks make more sense against the ultimate success. Don’t worry so much about decisions you aren’t even facing yet – focus on the matters at hand.

Transforming yourself and your approach to life – one decision and one moment at a time – helps simplify your own process, curbs any overwhelming chasm currently between you and your goal and helps you continue making steps toward them one at a time until you get there no matter what you encounter in between.

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Carson V. Heady has written a book entitled "Birth of a Salesman" and sequels "The Salesman Against the World" and "A Salesman Forever" which take the unique approach of serving as sales/leadership books inside of novels showing proven sales principles designed to birth you into the top producer you were born to be. If you would like to strengthen your sales skills, go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICRVMI2/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_yGXKtb0G

Heady posts for "Consult Carson" serving as the "Dear Abby" of sales and sales leadership. You may post any question that puzzles you regarding sales and sales leadership careers: interviewing, the sales process, advancing and achieving.

Question submissions can be made via LinkedIn to Carson V. Heady, this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carson-V-Heady/125078150858064?ref=hl , Twitter via @cvheady007 or e-mail at [email protected] or you may post an anonymous comment as a reply to my WordPress blog at the bottom of this page: https://carsonvheady.wordpress.com/the-home-of-birth-of-a-salesman-2010-published-by-world-audience-inc-and-the-salesman-against-the-world-2014/