How to Be Successful When Success Comes Slowly

This post was originally published on https://jackcanfield.com/ 

Learning how to be successful in life can be a slow process. Sometimes it can make you feel frustrated at sluggish progress in your success journey - despite all the know-how and principles you rigorously employ.

Can success be sped up? Is there an antidote to slow outcomes despite arduous planning and actions taken? What's the secret for seeing huge results right now?

Let's get one thing straight…

When we admire someone's success, or even our own, we often focus on the end result and not so much on the effort (and time) that it took to become successful. This can cultivate unrealistic expectations, especially the idea that overnight success can happen through careful strategy and an execution of sound advice.

How to be Successful By Focusing on What IS Working 

The truth be told, success typically follows a series of little events and achievements that can seem to take an eternity, that include a few disappointments along the way, and that challenge everything about you to the core - your stamina, courage, integrity, and even your willingness to keep going.

If you focus on what's not working, guess what: You're likely coming from a place of aggravation as your mind wraps around all that is wrong.

You may even have negative thoughts like, "I'm not good enough," "It will never work," or "Something must be wrong with me."

What this mentally does is engender more of these counter-productive feelings. You attract what you are feeling. So, negative experiences, people, and results will beget more negative experience, people, and results.

There's not much success in that.

The key in learning how to be successful then, is to focus on what IS working.

Practice Journaling and Meditation

In order to focus on what is working, I recommend two simple practices: journaling and meditation.

Maintaining a journal or as I like to call it, a gratitude journal is a great way to steer your attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for yourself.

Start each day with reflections on what you are grateful for in your life (list them out!) and end each day with notes on what went right (again, write them down) however small they may seem.

Spend time each day in quiet contemplation, prayer or meditation.

Learning how to meditate can be a powerful tool for arriving at solutions to problems and shifting your attitude so you can attract success sooner rather than later.

The magic of meditation is it’s ability to essentially shut down the outer layer of your judgmental, highly-critical brain and allow your unconscious mind to take over. This is where you enter a deeper state of inner peace and joy, tapping into a higher level of creativity that will help usher in the results you want.

(If you’re new to meditation or if you’ve struggled when meditating on your own I've written a post to teach beginners how to meditate.)

Are You Taking Real Action?

Let's say you're doing ALL these things, but you still aren't happy with your success...

I'll ask you then, are you taking real ACTION?

Learning how to be successful can be pointless if it's not followed by action. 

You may be taking the actions you are used to taking. But, if you keep doing what you've already done, then you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. It's a matter of practicing some new behaviors. Shake things up a bit and see if you can take new actions or modify existing ones.

Every day do five specific things that take you toward your goal. Change up the five actions regularly and be open to feedback so you know when you're off course.

Success Takes Patience

Lastly, I want to remind you about patience.

It's natural to underestimate how long a certain goal can take, especially a profound one. When I set a goal to become a millionaire the year was 1983.

How long did it take? Eleven years. It took time for Chicken Soup for the Soul to hit the bestseller lists. You could say our tenure on the New York Times list was more than a decade in the making.

That's a lot of patience for someone who initially wanted overnight success.

Continue to Take Action

So, yes, patience is a virtue. But, keep at it, and in no time, you'll be only one week, or one day away from your ultimate success.

Remember... be grateful, reflect on what IS working and continue to take ACTION!

I want to leave you with a bit of homework to complete. Resolve to start a gratitude journal to begin steering your attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for yourself.

Do You Want to Find Success Quickly?

You have huge dreams and ambitions. It's time to take action and learn how to be successful in order to take your life to a whole new level. I'd like you to let me guide you to success, during my BREAKTHROUGH TO SUCCESS event.

During this life-changing event, you'll not only master the success secrets you'll need to rise above any limit, you'll learn how to unlock the forces inside of you to attain unimagined levels of happiness and make lasting changes.

If success is something that you truly want, it's time to take action now. Click the button below to learn more.

5 Powerful Strategies to Help You Achieve Any Goal

If you've been working toward becoming successful for a while, then it’s probably time to revisit your intentions and take stock of what you’ve accomplished so far.

Think back to a few months ago... What were the main goals or intentions you set for yourself or your business? How many have you crossed off the list or made significant progress toward achieving?

If you’re falling behind schedule or finding it hard to stay focused on your big goals, here are five of my most powerful Success Principles to help you recharge your motivation and sense of purpose – and move closer to achieving success with every action and decision you make.

Consider it a spring tune-up for your intentions!

 1. Practice Persistence While Trying to Become Successful

What’s the one common attribute high achievers share above anything else? PERSISTENCE. When they have a goal, they simply refuse to give up until they reach it – no matter what roadblocks life throws in their way.

Consider the story of Admiral Robert Peary, who attempted to reach the North Pole seven times before he finally succeeded on try number eight. Or screenwriter Craig Borten, who wrote the screenplay for Dallas Buyers Club in 1992 and struggled for 20 years to get his script turned into a movie – which became a huge success and won numerous awards, including the Oscar for best original screenplay.

You can read about them and many other ordinary people who have persevered to achieve extraordinary success in The Success Principles, Chapter 22: Practice Persistence. I encourage you to review this chapter so you can learn from their examples and be inspired by their stories. It’s a great way to reignite your own motivation!

2. Face What Isn’t Working

If you are going to become more successful, you have to get out of denial and face isn’t working in your life. Are your goals simply too big to accomplish in the time you have available? Are you lacking some essential skills required to achieve them? Are you in denial about the amount of support you need?

Successful people face these circumstances squarely, heed the warning signs, and take appropriate action, no matter how uncomfortable or challenging it might be.

Do you need to talk to someone? Ask someone for help? Find a new resource? Read a book? Call an expert? Make a plan to fix it?

Choose one action you can take and then do it. Then keep taking another action and another action until you get the situation resolved.

3. Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs

Sometimes the biggest reason we don’t move forward is because deep down we don’t think we’re actually capable of achieving or goals – or deserving of the success we long for.

If you have limiting beliefs or negative thoughts holding you back from reaching your goals, take some time to identify what these thoughts and beliefs are and then transform them into an empowering belief using these four steps:

1. Write down the negative belief
2. Describe how the belief limits you
3. Decide how you would rather be, act, or feel
4. Create a turnaround statement that affirms your right to be, act, or feel this new way.

For example...

Limiting belief: I have to do everything by myself. Asking for help is a sign of weakness.

Turnaround statement: It’s okay to ask for help. I am worthy or receiving all the support I need – and I know it will help me reach my goals faster.

4. Stay Motivated with the Masters

Motivation comes from within – but sometimes you need an external nudge to push you forward in the right direction. That’s why I’m a firm believer in reading, watching, or listening to something that motivates you every day – even if it’s only for 15 minutes. If you're serious about learning how to be successful, then incorporating this into your routine is essential.

Whether you’re commuting by car or train, riding your bike, going for a run, or simply find yourself with a few minutes in front of the computer, listening to audio or video recordings can give you the edge you need to excel in virtually any area of your life. You can keep yourself motivated, learn a language, learn management skills, learn sales and marketing strategies, learn better communication, learn about holistic health and more.

By devoting more time to developing success-oriented thoughts and attitudes, you are guaranteed to reach your goals faster.

5. Take BOLD actions to get BIG results

When you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there is usually some fear. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.

Successful people, on the other hand, feel the fear along with the rest of us but don’t let it keep them from doing anything they want to do – or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. And they challenge themselves to take bold action, trusting that they have what it takes to handle the outcome.

That’s why I dare you to think big – and act bigger. By taking a leap of faith in the face of fear, you can transform your life.

Two Things You Can Do Right Now to Catapult Yourself Toward Success

One way you could take a huge leap forward would be to sign up for my five-day personal transformation event, Breakthrough to Success. It’s the fastest guaranteed way to get clear on what you really want, breakthrough any fears, and create an achievable road plan that will launch yourself toward the life you’ve always wanted.

Or, if you dream of becoming a world-class speaker, trainer, coach, or consultant, sign up for Train the Trainer Online – and become a Certified Canfield Success Principles Trainer so you can learn my own experiential training methodologies and become a world-class human potential worker. This online program will show you how to be successful from the comfort of your own home.

So those are my five top success tips to help you recharge your intentions and keep moving closer to your ideal life with every action and decision you make. Thank you for reading.