"SUCCESS IS HOW HIGH YOU BOUNCE WHEN YOU HIT THE BOTTOM!!!!!"

Success in life has no traffic jam but is full of challenges which requires a lot of hard work and determination. On the highway, you have no choice but to be innovative and to think outside the box in order to overcome the daily challenges. The motivation for hard work is the satisfaction you receive after achieving success. You have to complete the journey at your own pace and it doesn’t matter how long  the journey takes you. The most important is to successfully complete the journey.

STEP on the First Step of Your Journey to Success

“No guts, no glory” – Frederick Blesse

No amount of success can be achieved without the sacrifice and pain one has to endure along the way. If you want to achieve your personal goals this year in any endeavor for that matter, there are no shortcuts. But the very first step how this adage works is to have the courage to get into the battle and not run away from it.

I used to fall into the cycle of fear – I want to start something but I do not have the confidence to do so; I want to have confidence but I do not want to take risks… and it went on and on.

Then I realized this cycle made me worse each time. Hence, I decided to step out of that cycle and do what I had to. One bold step at a time.

To become the type of success you are setting out to be you have to start at the beginning, just like in the alphabet you start with the letter “A.” Success is not an event, it is a process. To finish any great endeavor you must first start. This may not be the start of a new business but could simply be the start of a new idea, a new path or a new way. To be a standout success is to take each new beginning and follow it through to the end.

The success journey is the process of working through each step to arrive at the next one, with each step motivating and inspiring you to press on without fail. “Z” may look far away from the vantage point of “A” but once you master “A” you will see “Z” gleaming out on the horizon. The beginning of any process is the most creative. Let’s start with “A.”

1. Awareness.

Always be striving for more, always be building and expanding your career and yourself as a person, not just as a success. The more you grow yourself, the more you grow the totality of your life. Hold an image of where you are in any given area of your life, right now. Now envision where you want to be: happier, richer, more successful, fit, healthier, in love.

To get from where you are to where you want to be, become acutely aware of the choices you make each day that lead you away from your desired goals. Become conscious of every single choice you make today, so you can begin to make choices that fall in line with the direction of your dreams for tomorrow.

2. Action.

To win you have to begin. Map out the circumstances you need to get ahead in your life m. If you cannot find them, make them. Take initiative. If you don’t see the door to your success, build the door yourself by taking actions in the direct pursuit of your goals. When you are passionate about what you want nothing will stand in the way of you getting it.

List the action steps you need to take to get to where you want to go, to do what you want to do. Make these goals as tangible as possible. One successful goal achieved will build your motivation to achieve the next goal in front of you, and so on. Will these steps all be the right ones? Maybe and maybe not. But you won’t know for sure until you start moving forward. Once you start putting yourself into motion all steps taken are a gift because each right or wrong step will provide you knowledge and direction.

3. Accountable.

Few things prompt a person to follow through like accountability. You have to create ways to make yourself accountable and to push through any habits of laziness or doubtful thinking. One of the ways you can do this is to share your goals with others who can help motivate you to stay on task. When you tell others about what you intend to do, it puts a more intense pressure on you to keep working at it. Another option is to get a business coach who can request evidence of your weekly progress. Pairing up with someone acts as a living deadline to keep you moving.

Track every action that pertains to an area where you want to see progress, whether it relates to finances, health, career, or relationships. Whether you are working with someone or going at it independently write everything down, every day without fail with no excuses or exceptions. Tracking your progress and missteps is the path to building success. The process forces you to be conscious of your decisions.

4. Attraction.

Once you have become aware of the steps you must take to do what you want to do, and are taking action, and are being accountable you will begin to produce the behavior you desire. You are moving towards realizing your desires and objectives. This type of movement results in producing a very powerful side effect. You start attracting like-minded people into your life and into business ventures and ideas. The Law of Magnetism says, “who you are is who you attract.”

If you want to be around growing people become a growing person. If you’re committed, you attract others who are committed. If you’re growing, you attract others who are growing. This puts you in a position to begin building a network of like-minded people who help each other succeed. Your greatest growth will always come as a result of finding people ahead of you who can show you the way forward.

5. Accomplishment.

Get committed. Be willing to pay for your personal growth, financially and otherwise. Be consistent. Keep your every thought, word and deed focused on accomplishment. Be creative. Visualize your desired outcomes at all times. Involve yourself in multiple forms of personal development to feel a sense of accomplishment in every tangible area of your life. Study the people in business you admire. Read their books, attend seminars, hire a business coach, see a therapist and employ a personal trainer. Try and meet with those whom you admire in person, if possible. These people and the knowledge they have are gifts to your personal growth.

Spend time each day in preparation for these meetings and interactions. Reflect upon the interactions you have with all of these people you’ve sought to be a part of your personal development team and be thankful for every opportunity created for your learning. There is nothing more telling to the levels of success you can achieve then possessing a teachable spirit. 

6. Authority.

When you do what you want to do it will be more difficult than you ever imagined. You have to be the authority over your own emotions to make success happen. You may have had no idea how much time it would take for you to be effective. You may not have expected to have as many demands placed upon you or your life as there have been, or you may not have realized how long you would have to keep paying the price for your success. You may not have fully comprehend how much your energy level would go down as a result of your commitment.

Great successes have the deep belief that the payoff of their success will make the times of great sacrifice well worth it. When you do what you want to do it will be better than you ever imagined. The compounding return of investing in your personal growth will be astronomical. You will be blown away by how much fun you have doing what you want to do and succeeding at it. Once you are in the fun place of experiencing your success, own it and revel in it. You deserve it... then start a new journey with a new beginning starting with the letter “A” that you can nurture all the way to “Z.” You grow each time you go through this process. You grow in the ideas you hold of yourself, your life and your continued success. Success… doesn’t really have an end.

HOW TO STIR UP OUR CONFIDENCE

You and I have one thing in common: We want to constantly improve our lives and be the best version of ourselves. But unfortunately, many people have lived their lives pretty much the same way for a very long time.

You are capable of making the biggest transformation of your life. Significant, lasting changes shouldn’t take you years. But it means stepping beyond your current way of life and embracing new habits. To create the level of life you ultimately want, you have to change something you do daily.

Your life is your signature creation. It is your duty to live true to yourself, with authenticity. Your life’s mission is to express yourself boldly, create what you love and love what you create. It’s about expanding and living your vision of yourself — until it is the greatest possible expression of who you are.

The most important step to change anything in life is this:

You must first make a commitment. You have to decide that you really want to make a change or transform your life this year, and that it’s more important than almost anything else. And find the things that eat up your time that are less important than the changes you want to make.

Find your why

“He who has a why can endure any how.” — Frederick Nietzsche

Everyone craves clarity. It’s the only way to reach deeper into yourself to find out what makes you come alive. We all start from somewhere confusing, because you probably like to do a lot of things.

Most people’s lives are still not perfectly clear. It’s a struggle almost every adult goes through. “What do I want to do with my life?” “What do I not suck at?” Millions of people have no clue what they want to do with themselves. And that’s okay. Self-discovery is a journey.

Curiosity, being open to explore the unknown, ready to embrace the surprises that come along the way, are essential attitudes for self-discovery and for gaining clarity about your own life purpose.

Margie Warrell, Author of Brave said:

“Knowing your why is an important first step in figuring out how to achieve the goals that excite you and create a life you enjoy living (versus merely surviving!). Indeed, only when you know your ‘why’ will you find the courage to take the risks needed to get ahead, stay motivated when the chips are down, and move your life onto an entirely new, more challenging, and more rewarding trajectory.”

If you are feeling unmotivated, unsure of yourself, aimless, can’t find anything or work that makes you lose yourself, you’re not alone — most people are in the same boat.

Start spending time with positive influencers

“Through the right people focusing on the right things, we can, in time, get on top of a lot if not most of the problems of this world. And that’s what a number of us are trying to do.” — Richard Branson

If you are to succeed in life, you need to recognize that your level of success, and satisfaction will often depend on a lot more people who may or may not have direct impact on what you do or how you do it.

Albert Einstein had Max Talmud, his first mentor. Max introduced a ten-year-old Einstein to key texts in math, science, and philosophy. Max took one meal a week with the Einstein family for six years while guiding young Albert.

Mozart’s father, Leopold, who was a noted composer himself, is believed to have greatly “helped” the child with his early compositions.

Oprah Winfrey credits her father, and the time she spent with him and his wife, for “saving” her. She once told Jill Nelson of The Washington Post Magazine, “If I hadn’t been sent to my father, I would have gone in another direction.”

Start obeying your gut

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life”. — Steve Jobs

It takes courage to challenge the ideas and practices that make us successful. But in a world that moves and changes so fast, holding on to conventional wisdom is no more the best option.

No matter how noisy the world gets, no matter how busy you become, there would always be something inside you — a small voice that whispers in the quieter moments of life, taunting you with the shadow of the unlived life. If you listen hard enough, you can still hear it. When you decide to follow it, you will be fighting against conventional wisdom.

When you make a decision to go against what society expects of you, and trust your gut, you will be choosing an uncomfortable and even painful journey that will be worth your while. The burden will be so enormous that you will have three options every step of the way: give up, give in or give it all you’ve got. Choose the latter.

Going against the current is tough. When you start doing something different, you’re pointing out where other people are going wrong — so they may get angry and defend why they do what they do. But it pays to obey your gut if you have the grit to finish what you start.

So, starting now, listen to that little nagging bit of doubt in your head about some piece of conventional wisdom that you’ve always secretly questioned. Try the exact opposite and see what happens?

When was the last time you questioned the default or tried to improve it?

Pick yourself: Be your authentic self!

“Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others’ prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Many gifted people are playing it small and not getting their message out there or benefiting from what they are good at. You have unique gift and the world needs to know about it.

Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing and wherever you are going, you owe it to yourself, to your art, to the world to do it well without fear of ridicule, criticism or failure.

You can be as big and successful as you can possibly imagine. You just don’t trust yourself enough yet. No matter who you are or what you dream of becoming, remember this:

No one ever came to this planet to take a back seat, play second fiddle or make it small.

You have everything you need to make an impact in the world. You don’t even have to start your own business. What you need is something you can you can emotionally and deeply connect with.

Don’t think too far into the future. Use what you have right now at where you are and witness themagic of creative work. If you’re thinking about it too much, chances are you’re killing it.

It pays to create yourself

“Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.”— Bradley Whitford

You don’t have to but should you decide to accept a wrong role just because you need it, think about how long you will have to endure the pain of doing what you really don’t want! There is always a much better way to manage a round hole if you are a square peg. If you can’t find what you want, create it.

Showing up is not sufficient. Make an impact. Take every opportunity to show up but reset expectations. Leave a mark. Show your most amazing work. Make bold challenge to pursue what you really want.

Don’t expect total acceptance of your ideas, prepare to be pushed, but don’t fall.

“Be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” ― Henry David Thoreau

There will always be rules and limit, but guess what limits can be stretched. Every thing you are using right now has been improved upon. Think Apple, think different. What can you improve this year. What can you do better in business and career. Ask the right questions about why the rules exist, but not just any question.

You may have been asking the wrong questions all this while.

Can you create your own path? Yes you can! You think you are not capablebut you can do more than you think you can. Don’t trust the system to take care of you. Create you own system or rules and find a way to make it work. Stick to the bigger picture but be prepared to embrace change along the way.

— Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” — Steve Jobs

Following instructions is no longer sufficient for your success.

The important thing about any journey is the courage to get back up and continue. There are countless stories about entrepreneurs who failed multiple times but still pursued their dreams in the midst of the stumbling blocks.

What is stopping you from trying out one of the many ideas in your notepad. Don’t fear to fail, if you are failing, fail fast and move on but whatever happens don’t give up on the bigger dream.

The path could change but the vision should be clear throughout the journey.

Don’t give in to the relentless pressure to get a job if you really want to create or start something on your own. What can you do next or better still what are you going to do next! It’s about time you made your first innovative step. Take that bold step now! You don’t have to be right, you just need to start.

Fear is only as deep as the mind allows. — Japanese Proverb

Thoughts like “nobody will like it” “my friends will think I am crazy” can deter you from making any step into who you actually are or what you can accomplish.

Put your mind to getting things done instead of focusing on all the things that could go wrong.

Don’t escape from fear; embrace your deepest fear and fight it to overcome it!

Almost everyone can sprint. The road to mastery requires consistency. Everything meaningful in life is a marathon. Give yourself the permission to think and act. Choose to do your most amazing work without anyone’s approval. Choose yourself today!

You’ll suck at most things in the beginning. It takes time, persistence, and patience to create anything worthwhile. Keep on trying. Keep doing what you love, even if no one buys it, sponsors it or shares it. It matters that you show up. The magic will eventually happen!

“Don’t dare to be different, dare to be yourself — if that doesn’t make you different then something is wrong.” ― Laura Baker

Express yourself. Don’t hold back

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. “— Bruce Lee

Stop questioning yourself. Stop listening to everyone else. The world is waiting for you to start something. Waiting to hear what you have to say.Waiting to use your creative product or service.

Waiting to share your ideas and original work. Remember the dream you were too scared to chase? It’s still not too late to give it a try. We tend to think that we’re not good enough, and give up before we even start.

The self-criticism and self-doubt will always be present, and the only solution is to just act in spite of them. Your first ebook, article, song, podcast, freelancer work or creative work never will not be satisfying and perfect, and it’s okay.

When we express ourselves in a way that brings out the best in us, we’ve already succeeded. Step by step we improve. That’s what matters. It matters that you persist.

Give yourself permission to screw up. And it’s okay when you do. Your next action is the most important step you will have to take after you screw up.

Picasso never achieved full mastery. Mozart never achieved full mastery. Kobe Bryant did not achieve full mastery. Nobody can achieve perfection. It’s humanly impossible. But they showed up everyday to share with us. They never withheld back. Perfect lets you stall, ask more questions, safe it up and generally avoid doing anything that might fail.

Technology and everything that makes it insanely easy for us to share our work were made by people who are no smarter than you. You can add to it.You can change it. You may not be able to predict the future but you can help to shape it.

Take advantage of the enormous opportunities the information age presents. You have everything you need to go make something meaningful. Something you deeply care about. You don’t have to be right when you start. But it matters that you begin.

And when you start, respect yourself and your work enough to spend yourself fully on the problems solve.

Don’t allow complacency to rob you of years of engagement and fulfilling contribution.

Start facing your obstacles head on

“The only use of an obstacle is to be overcome. All that an obstacle does with brave men is, not to frighten them, but to challenge them.” — Woodrow Wilson

Write down all your obstacles. Reflect on those failures, and figure out what stopped you from succeeding. Write down every obstacle that’s happened to you, and others that are likely to happen.

Then write down how you plan to overcome them. That’s the key: write down your solution before the obstacles arrive, so you’re prepared.

It doesn’t matter what has happened to you in the past, what is happening to you now or where you came from. But it matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.

In the “Obstacle Is The Way,” Ryan Holiday makes a profound statement:

“All great victories, be they in politics, business, art, or seduction, involved resolving vexing problems with a potent cocktail of creativity, focus, and daring. When you have a goal, obstacles are actually teaching you how to get where you want to go — carving you a path. “The Things which hurt,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “instruct.”

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You are stonger than your weaknesses.

Just start! You will never be ready

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. — Paulo Coelho

The bulletproof way to miss out on a career that means the world to you is to wait for the perfect moment. Your brain will always convince you into believing that you are never ready.

Never ready to take a step. Never ready to start a healthy habit. Never ready to start a passion project. Never ready to love again. Never ready to launch that project on your mind.

When it’s time to make the most out of your time, there are only two states: doing nothing and doing something.

Because doing something might be extremely uncomfortable for us we create a third state of mind, a slight nuance between the two predefined ones. We call it “almost ready”.

Don’t feed your insecurities. Perpetual cycle of helplessness can kill everything and anything you’ve ever dreamed of doing!

If you focus 100% on output without zero input you might just be fooling yourself into thinking that you are moving forward while in fact, you are spinning in circles.

The difference between those who start before they’re ready and those who wait is that the former knows you won’t know what you can do until you do it. Do not miss the train. Opportunities are often late, but they always go away fast.

Your journey of transformation starts now! Welcome to feeling fully alive. Good luck.

Determine where you want to go and your fear will be clouded by inspiration.

What is your dream? What do you want to be? What legacy do you want to leave?

It does not have to be just about you. It can be doing something for others.

Once you know where you want to go, be clear about this with yourself. Write it down, talk it out with someone or make a dream board to help you visualize what you want to do.

This will keep you focused and away from the emotion called “fear”.

Study the risks you need to take and plunge in

What’s in it for me if I do this? What will I gain? What will I lose? Which one has a heavier weight- the advantage or disadvantage?

Calculate the risks you are going to take by understanding the pros and cons. Write them down and compare.  Think about it, exercise judgement call using your experience and advice from a trusted person.

Nothing can be sure as there will always be a grey area. Decide, dive in and do not look back.

Look for a model of success and copy shamelessly

Throughout your life, consciously or unconsciously, you had great models of success. Who inspired you about the work that you like to do? Who do you look up to when it comes to handling interpersonal skills? Who do you admire best on the image of a father; boss or leader?

Be intent at looking for people you can copy success from – public figures, parents and other family members, work colleagues or even drama characters. These are the ones who have paved the path of success and you just need to follow. Also learn from their mistakes.

Build success in small acts and persevere with strong will

Are you overwhelmed by the large amount of task at hand? How do you manage? Do you know the steps behind the big work?

Look at the small parts of the big task. Check the details and review how it can be executed. Do them with care, patience and perseverance.

When challenges come, persist and go against the grain. Strong will power is not built in big boulders. It is built upon small stones put together in the form of discipline and self-sacrifice.

Be visible in the right time and place with confidence

When there’s an opportunity for promotion, who will the boss think of? When a customer decides to buy a product, which salesman will he contact? When there’s a great work assignment that has great perks, who will the board think deserves it?

Does it go to the most deserving person or the one that comes to mind as the most deserving? These are two different things. But you can be both.

Get yourself noticed. Speak up and make contribution in meetings. Have initiatives that are relevant to the team. Go around and let yourself be known to the big guys.

Visibility in your environment takes an important role in grooming your career. You have to get noticed in order for you to get support not only from your circle of influence but from those who make the decision who should get the reward. Visibility is a show of confidence.

Find balance of work and love by standing for them

What does a successful career worth if you lose your time for your loved ones? What does achieving goals mean if you do not have inner peace? What does a lot of money means if you are not really happy?

Balance your priorities towards work and family. Work hard but leave quality time with your loved ones. There’s a time for work, a time for family bonding, a time for a romantic date, a time for friends. Know when to say no to work. Know when to stop play and start work.

It takes balls to stand firm on commitments both for work and personal time.

Do you have what it takes to be great?

Everyone is born equal. All it takes is determination. In every step of the way, you need to save a lot of boldness – to start a dream, to keep going in spite of challenges, to stand by your choices, to shine in front of everyone and to balance well your time for the most important things and people in your life.

I myself had been there almost drowned in fear. But I made a decision to get up and believe in myself. What I have learned is that being bold makes you bolder. You only get better each time you try. That is why each time someone asks for advice on how to crush fear and be confident in whatever he or she wants to achieve, I always say: Take small bold steps and you will get there!

Now I want to ask you: Do you have what it takes to be great and successful?

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.” -Jim Rohn

Success isn’t complicated.

But like financially illiterate individuals can’t understand how to become wealthy, or health-illiterate individuals can’t understand how to lose weight, success can look impossible to achieve.

But success — true, lasting success — is within your grasp. It is possible. It is available, to every person, at this moment.

Right now, you can make a decision to become a student of success. You can start on a journey that will take you to a future where everything you want is possible.

The principles to get there aren’t easy, but they are simple.

If you want to achieve true, lasting success in your life — the kind of success that will be the foundation for your life’s legacy — you need to master these 14 principles first.

Most People Will Never Be Successful.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” -Jim Rohn

Sadly, although anyone can choose to become successful, most people never will.

This is because when it comes down to the final word, most people will choose comfort over growth. Ultimately, they see the price for true success and say, “no thanks.”

This is one of the most important characteristics of the “mediocre majority” — they are unwilling to trade comfort and stability for the pain of wild growth.

Success costs you.

To reach higher function, you must be willing to become a child again, to learn and grow in new avenues. You must constantly be willing to become a small fish in a big pond again.

Most people simply aren’t willing.

The simple truth is, everyone could become healthy, happy, and fulfilled, starting right now, as you’re reading this. It is a choice that is available at all times. Yet, most people never take it.

In the words of Warren Buffet: “That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”

The choice to become 100% financially independent is available now.

The choice to have extremely rewarding and intimate relationships with your friends and family is available now.

The choice to become fit, active, and healthy is available now.

The choice to experience intense and complete emotional healing is available now.

But most people won’t take it.

Each of these avenues has a high cost. They require you to change your life. To shed old habits and adopt new ones. To sever ties with toxic individuals. To admit “I don’t know.”

Benjamin Hardy put it this way: “Anything is possible if you are willing to pay the price.”

Many people make these decisions every day, and change the trajectory of their lives, and their family’s lives, forever.

But many, many more people never make this choice.

They continue to live in ordinary, average lives, just like everyone else around them.

And in the words of Seth Godin:

“Is there a difference between ‘average’ and ‘mediocre?’ Not so much.”

Evolving is Painful. That’s Why Most People Don’t Do It.

“Arrogant or critical people are often people with low self-esteem who are afraid of taking risks. That’s because if you learn something new, then you are required to make mistakes in order to fully understand what you have learned.” -Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad

Evolving is painful.

Becoming a better version of yourself requires time, energy, humility, and study.

Evolving means constantly becoming a child again. You must become a young, teachable student again, over and over.

You must constantly be admitting, “I don’t know.”

There is so much you don’t know that will be revealed to you over the course of your studies and self-discovery. And the most helpful way to “grease the wheels” of this journey is to remain humble and open to correction and teaching.

The worst thing you can do is insist you already know everything.

Michelin-star chef Gordon Ramsay had a show called Kitchen Nightmares where he would audit a struggling restaurant’s food processes.

There was a particular episode where a failing restaurant was led by a stubborn and arrogant chef who refused to change his menu or learn new tricks.

Ramsey came in and began cooking marvelous new dishes for the restaurant. He prepared a particular sea bass dish for the owners, which they loved.

However, the chef refused to try the dish. “I already know what sea bass tastes like,” he argued dismissively. “I’ve been cooking for 38 years.”

Instead of learning a free, valuable lesson from a world-class expert, this man chose pride over growth.

This is how most people react to criticism — defensiveness and immaturity.

Instead of humbly admitting they don’t know everything and gratefully accepting wisdom and teaching from experts, they choose pride and stagnation over humility and massive growth.

Evolving is painful. Most people simply choose not to do it.

But once you decide to become someone who is open to correction and teaching, you become an unstoppable force.

If you shift your mindset into being an open, thirsty mind that is hungry for knowledge (and humble enough to accept correction), you’ll become more capable than 90% of the population to achieve massive success.

“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.”-Leonardo DiCaprio

What got you here won’t get you there.

Mastering success means mastering the art of constantly becoming a better version of yourself.

This is done through slow, deliberate choices, and is sped-up exponentially through being humble enough to accept correction and teaching.

The Obstacle is the Way.

“Within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” -Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is the Way

The ancient stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus all ascribed to learning how to turn challenges into triumphs.

It was Aurelius, emperor of Rome who first penned the thought, “the obstacle is the way.”

Aurelius had to deal with problems you and I don’t typically face — assassination attempts, betrayals by his top advisors, and the incessant efforts of his enemies to overthrow Rome.

What he learned through all of this was not to run from problems; in fact, they are exactly where you should go.

It is through solving difficult problems and overcoming frustration and fear that allows you to develop patience, poise, and peace in the most dire of circumstances.

The reason so many NFL teams, CEO’s, and personal development coaches have been studying the philosophy of Stoicism in recent years is because solving these obstacles directly (instead of running away) is exactly how to become a stronger, faster, smarter, and more poised person.

Becoming successful often means an entire transformation in many parts of your life. The relationships, finances, health, and personal habits of successful people often look radically different the the average person’s.

This change is difficult. Evolving is painful, so most people don’t do it.

But for those who truly desire to become successful, the obstacle — fear of rejection, frustration, setbacks, anger, impatience…

This is exactly where you need to focus your efforts.

Growth and Comfort Cannot Co-Exist.

“You can either step forward into growth, or backwards into security.” -Abraham Maslow

Growth means learning. It means working, doing, creating, resisting, failing.

Comfort means safety. It means stability, protection, pleasure, and feeling good.

Growth cannot happen as long as you choose comfort over learning. Growth and evolution are incubated in pain and discomfort.

Most people choose comfort over pain, and so remain in average, mediocre lives.

If you want to succeed and experience true, lasting success, you need to know that all the necessary growth and evolution you must experience cannot happen while you’re comfortable.

There is so much you need to know and need to learn. The path to success is paved with obstacles that can only be overcome by reading books, gaining mentors, failing and trying again, and learning from your mistakes.

These cannot happen if you continue to mindless numb yourself through TV and drugs, sleep in longer than you should, or cling to what is “easy” instead of what is “challenging.”

Growth and comfort cannot co-exist.

If you want to become a new, better, healthier, richer, stronger, smarter person, it cannot be achieved while you choose comfort over growth.

Become Extraordinary by Giving Up a “Normal” Life.

“If you want to live an exceptional and extraordinary life, you have to give up many of the things that are part of a normal one.” -Srinivas Rao

If you want to experience true success and become extraordinary, it means you must give up many parts of a “normal” life.

Nowadays, “normal” means a lot of things.

“Normal” means buying things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like with money you don’t have.

“Normal” means binge-eating an entire pizza while binge-watching an entire season of a TV show.

“Normal” means sleeping in as late as you can. It means doing what others tell you to do. It means following conventional advice, never leaving the safety of the herd.

Normal is “the way things have always been done.”

But “extraordinary” is something quite different.

If you want to live an extraordinary life, that means you’ll have to start acting very differently from how everyone else is.

One of the most basic tenets of becoming extraordinary is simply having the courage to go against the tide.

In the words of Benjamin P. Hardy, “Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning.”

Extraordinary means buying books, online courses, and conference memberships instead of buying alcohol, doodads, and luxuries you don’t even need.

Extraordinary means saying “no” to merely good opportunities and waiting for the truly great ones.

Extraordinary means investing your money in assets, not liabilities. The wealthy don’t become wealthy by sitting on their hands — they spend enormous amounts of time becoming extremely financially literate and make their money work for them.

Extraordinary means becoming fit and healthy so your body and mind are able to function at extremely high levels so you can produce work that can truly change the world.

Extraordinary means devoting the majority of your time learning and investing in personal development.

Most people don’t prioritize the characteristics of the extraordinary lifestyle. Being extraordinary means doing things others won’t.

“Would you be as successful if you followed all the rules and always behaved and never took chances? No, you’d be just like everyone else, scared about failing and worried about being liked.” -Tim Grover, personal trainer of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

Willpower Doesn’t Work.

“Most people approach goals and personal improvement the hard way. Rather than changing their environment, they strive to overcome their current environment.” -Benjamin P. Hardy

Most people are terrible at achieving goals.

As much at 92% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions just a few weeks into January.

When asked, most overweight and broke people declare they would like to become fit and financially successful.

But they continue in their unhealthy habits and foolish financial decisions.

Most people are terrible at achieving goals because they rely on willpower to do so.

A simple secret about success is that willpower doesn’t work.

Commitment does.

According to the latest psychological research, your willpower is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more tired it gets. Essentially, willpower is a finite resource that becomes depleted with use.

As a result, your willpower is nearly gone by the end of your long, strenuous days. Suddenly, you don’t even stand a chance resisting that junk food and watching TV.

Commitment is something entirely different. Commitment goes above and beyond your energy, stamina, or how you feel, even after an extremely strenuous day.

If you’re truly committed to something, in your mind, it’s as though you’ve already succeeded. All doubt and disbelief are gone.

“When you commit to an enormous goal that far exceeds your current capability, willpower won’t solve your problem. Rather, you’ll need a new environment that organically generates your goals — a context that forces you to become more than you currently are. Once you design the right conditions, your desired behavior naturally follows.” -Benjamin Hardy

As long as you rely on willpower alone to accomplish your goals, you will never succeed on truly enormous levels.

It is only through an unwavering commitment to a new lifestyle that truly allows you to accomplish extraordinary things.

Consistency Beats Intensity.

“Long-term consistency beats short-term intensity.” -Bruce Lee

In 1974, boxer Muhammad Ali was scheduled to fight George Foreman. Foreman was considered by many observers to be the favored to win the fight due to his superior punching power. He was stronger and more experienced than Ali.

Rather than try to match Foreman at his own game, Ali adopted a different tactic, which became famous in their “Rumble in the Jungle” fight. It was called the “rope a dope” technique.

During the fight, Ali put himself in a protected stance, put his back against the ropes of the ring, and let Foreman punch him relentlessly.

At the time some observers thought that Ali was being horribly beaten and worried that they might see him get killed in the ring.

But the ropes on Ali’s back allowed him to absorb the punches without taking a lot of damage. While Foreman exhausted himself fruitlessly attacking Ali, Ali was waiting for the moment to strike.

At the end of the 8th round, Ali knocked out Foreman and won.

Often, the stronger and faster opponent gets beaten by a weaker, slower adversary.

How?

It’s because in the long run, it’s not about intensity — it’s about consistency.

This is the essence of Angela Duckworth’s groundbreaking book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In short, it is not the individual with the greatest starting position or motivation that usually wins — it’s the person who has the most “grit.” The person who can last the longest.

The individual who is able to make a stronger commitment to maintaining their course despite whatever happens…

This is the person who will reach their goal.

Will Smith, critically acclaimed actor and producer, was once asked about his motivation and how he got to become to successful.

“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill,” he explained.

“I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories.

But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die.”

Success is all about consistency.

It’s not about never falling down — it’s about getting up every time you fall down.

“You will fall. And when you fall, the winner always gets up, and the loser stays down.” 

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

Most people rely on short, intense bursts of inspiration and motivation in their attempts to be successful. Maybe they read an inspiring weight-loss story, or just watched Gladiator.

After this inspiration, they act like a crazy person — they work tirelessly, day and night. They go to the gym 6 days in a row for two weeks, they write 5,000 words for their book, they throw out every piece of junk food they have in their house.

But what usually happens to these people?

The same fate that befalls nearly 92% of individuals who make New Year’s Resolutions: they give up a couple weeks later.

Enthusiasm is common.

Endurance is rare.

“Fall seven, rise eight.” -Ancient Japanese Proverb

Success Means Choosing Education Over Entertainment.

“Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.” -Hal Elrod, The Miracle Morning

Choosing to learn instead of being entertained is a trademark characteristic of successful people.

Mastering success means learning to love being a small fish in a big pond. Most people don’t want to admit those three little words…“I don’t know.” Instead of choosing to learn, they reject the opportunity and instead go back to entertaining themselves.

But achieving your ultimate life requires a tremendous deal of learning. It requires an intense dedication to gaining knowledge, learning important lessons, and receiving teachings that add to your wisdom, experience, and education.

Some of the greatest and most successful minds of our time are also voracious readers. They make time for their education.

Warren Buffet (worth $74.4 billion) advocates to read hundreds of pages a day.

Mark Cuban (worth $3.4 billion) dedicates three hours a day to reading.

Bill Gates (worth $90.2 billion) reads 50 books a year, nearly a book a week.

Elon Musk (worth $15.2 billion) is an avid reader that claims he learned to build rockets by reading books.

The most successful people of the world don’t spend their precious and most potent time binge-watching TV, playing excessive video games, or partying into drunken oblivion.

The extraordinary people of this world dedicate massive amounts of time and money into investing in themselves.

This is done through reading books and blogs, attending conferences, seminars, webinars, and trainings, participating in “Mastermind groups,” collaborating with others, and working with several mentors.

Successful people choose education over entertainment.

Odds are, your life’s greatest work requires you to close the wide gap between what you know and what you don’t.

In the words of Benjamin Foley, “The goal of life is not to relax on the beach, sipping mojitos all day. The purpose is to find something you love that also adds value to the world.”

If you want to find that purpose, and actually start creating and doing work that impacts the loves of thousands…

You’ll need to get educated.

If you want to be extraordinary and successful, choose education and learning over entertainment.

Everyone’s First Draft Sucks.

“The first draft of anything is shit.” -Ernest Hemingway

I have seen my friend who is writing a novel.

It’s her first novel, and he works very hard on it. In fact, he’s been working on it for years. Sometimes I check in with her to see how it’s going. It’s usually going “alright.”

Here’s the thing he doesn’t understand:

“All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.”

Many individuals became great alone, in practice, every day, for years. Over, and over, and over.

“Champions aren’t made in the ring. They are merely recognized there.” -Joe Frazier

Everyone’s first draft sucks.

Get over it, publish it, and try again. Your second draft will be better.

How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything

I used to juggle being an entrepreneur on the side while working full-time.

I used to believe that even if I slacked off all day at work — scraping by, just doing the minimum to not get fired — I could switch gears from the lazy, unmotivated worker I was to a disciplined, creative entrepreneur when I got home.

But that never worked.

How you do one thing is how you do everything. If you spend all day being bored, lazy, and irresponsible, you can’t simply “flip a switch” and become a truly responsible, disciplined, hard worker while at home, in your relationships, your finances, or your health.

Many people think they can compartmentalize their discipline and effort — working hard in some areas but not in others — but you can’t.

When one area of your life is suffering, all the other parts suffer. Conversely, when you develop one part of your life, all the other parts benefit too.

Are laziness, irresponsibility, and avoidance normal parts of your day? Even if they’re in areas you don’t deem worthy of your efforts — are they there?

If they are, they need to be changed. The whole cannot become healthy if there are still toxic areas that remain unaddressed.

Like a broken ankle or a dislocated shoulder, the entire body will suffer if even one part remains broken.

You Can Become Anything If You’re Willing to Pay the Price.

“How much you improve is up to you.” -Anders Ericcson, Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise

In the words of Benjamin P. Hardy:

“You can learn, have, or be anything if you are willing to pay the price.

You can be a millionaire in not a long period of time.

You could be an established expert on any topic.

You could be a successful business owner.

You could have deep spiritual understanding.

You could do an Iron Man triathlon.

You could be an empathetic, caring, and loving person.

You could have beautiful and meaningful relationships with your romantic partner, business colleagues, mentors, and other people who inspire you.

You could be the person you know within yourself you can be.

You can live the life you know within yourself you are meant to live.

But you have to pay the price.”

The price for being extraordinary is a high one. It means severing ties with toxic individuals. It often means waking up earlier, eating healthier, and saying “no” to things you used to say yes to.

The truth is, there are probably dozens of daily activities you do that don’t serve you. They only serve to distract you, bring you down, or keep you “busy.”

Paying the price of success means changing these behaviors. The choice to become extraordinary is not unlike the addict who knows he has to quit to survive; do you keep doing the same things, or are you willing to change everything to transform?

For many people, the answer is no. They see the price tag for a truly successful life, and suddenly they’re hesitant and reluctant.

But if the prospect of the reward — becoming extraordinary and truly successful — is worth it to you…

Then you need to start paying the price.

When you’re with your loved ones, do you look at your smartphone or pay the price?

When you have 5 extra minutes, do you “zone out” or do you pay the price?

When you have a choice between the easy and comfortable path or the difficult and challenging path, do you pay the price?

When your alarm goes off in the morning, do you just press “snooze” or do you pay the price?

You can have anything you want. But this success requires a heavy price.

Are you willing to pay?

Success is a Lonely Road.

“The more bold you are, the more rejection you’ll experience.” -Todd Brison,

The thing about becoming truly successful is that most people never do it.

The world is full of members of the “mediocre majority.” Most people will never be successful. They may try, or claim they want to, but in reality, it never happens.

This reality becomes all the more keen for the few individuals who actually choose to become truly successful and extraordinary.

It’s lonely. There’s not a lot of company.

Only those who have reached the top of the mountain know how few tracks are up there.

If you want to be truly successful, you need to understand this road will probably be very lonely, for a time.

Even the most well-intention-ed people around you may begin to disparage and discourage you from leaving the safety of the herd. Family, friends, and loved ones all may not understand your choice to go on a new path.

In some cases, they may even become resentful and hurtful.

This is because since many people never reach their dreams, they don’t want others to reach theirs. In order to prevent the reality that you achieved your goals while they did not, they strive to keep you in the herd, or ostracize you when you leave.

If you want to reach new heights and achieve success unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, it will likely involve loneliness, rejection, and ostracism.

If It’s Not a “Hell Yes!” It’s a No.

When my wife and I were still living in San Diego, I was extremely busy. I had written an eBook, started a podcast, gotten a craft beer certification, and read 30 books, all while in full-time grad school and full-time work.

When we moved to South Korea, our lives became extremely simple. And I began saying “no” to almost everything.

Some of these opportunities included:

• Overtime at work
• High-paying private tutoring
• Youth basketball coach
• Remote data administrator
• Podcast co-founder

I said no to all of them.

That’s because I realized they were all “good” opportunities, but not “great” ones.

None of these opportunities made me think, “Hell yes!”

From now on, if any opportunity doesn’t make you say, “Hell yes!” you must say no.

Most people are stuck in obligations they don’t even like, simply because they didn’t have the courage to say no. As a result, their days are spent doing things they don’t like that suck precious time and energy that could be spent on building their legacy.

You need to say “no” more.

In the words of Warren Buffet:

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

When you say yes to the “kinda-good” opportunities — the ones that make you say things like, “Sure, that could be fun,” or “Alright, that sounds interesting” — you forfeit your chance to say yes to amazing opportunities.

Your life’s legacy requires your best work, and a lot of time to do it.

You can’t create a legacy if you’re always distracted with good-not-great opportunities, even if you’re making a few extra bucks.

Acting “As If” Becomes Acting “As Is.”

“Act as if you are already the healthiest person you can be. Do not wait until you feel better about yourself or until you believe you have what it takes. As if you are self-actualized and your beliefs will follow suit. Act while you fear rather than waiting until you feel unafraid.” -David Richo, How To Be an Adult

One of the most important factors about becoming successful is self-belief. In other words, your level of how successful you will be is generally accurate.

This sentiment has been echoed throughout history.

Said Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

In a letter to a struggling friend, Bruce Lee said, “What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.”

Do you believe you can win? Can you envision yourself with your goals completed? Can you see yourself with everything you’ve ever wanted?

If you can’t, you’ll almost certainly never.

What you focus on, expands. This is why most critical, judgmental, and negative people invariably have negative, toxic lives.

If all you focus on is how much of a victim you are, you’ll always be a victim. If all you can see is how unfair your circumstances are, you’ll be doomed to stay in your stagnation.

Winners become winners by acting like one.

Acting “as if” can be a playful game, where you toy with the balance of shedding off who you were or are, and instead don the costume of who you want to be. It may sound silly, but this is a powerful exercise for your mind.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the acclaimed finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad, recounted a time when he had lost a large amount of money, leaving he and his wife broke.

“I’m a rich man,” he would tell himself. “And rich men don’t do that.”

Even though he had literally lost all his money, he still acted like a rich man. He still donned the “costume” of a wealthy, financially secure individual, and so that’s what he became.

If you’re rich, you don’t make bad investments or foolish financial decisions.

So act like you’re rich.

If you’re a healthy, fit individual, you don’t eat garbage. If you’re a loving, caring husband, you love and serve your wife. That’s just what you do.

Even if you’re not there yet, don the costume. Acting “as if” will eventually become acting “as is.” This is how people become truly successful, especially if they or no one else around them has ever done so — they imagine themselves as that person. Then they act accordingly.

And in the words of Paulo Coelho:

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

If you’re broke, overweight, unhappy, or stuck, act as if you’re not. Act as if you’re a rich, fit, content individual with a purpose.

You’ll become that person.

But you have to believe it.

“One will never get more than he thinks he can get.” -Bruce Lee

In Conclusion

“Where you are is a result of who you were, but where you end up depends entirely on who you choose to be from this moment forward.” -Hal Elrod

Mastering success isn’t easy, but it’s simple.

Success isn’t mysterious. It’s not a magical puzzle that only a select few have the ability to solve.

It’s available right now.

But mastering success requires you to become a more open-minded and humble learner than you ever have been before.

You must learn from the experts. You must admit you don’t know.

You must recognize reaching new heights requires an entirely different you.

This is good news. We were not meant to stagnate or remain in comfort for long. As anyone who has chosen comfort over growth for too long knows, that very comfort sours and becomes a prison of fear, shame, and isolation.

The real, fulfilling life is waiting for you on the battlefield.

It’s not easy out there. But the rules are simple.

Follow them, and you’ll become wildly successful....AWAITING FOR YOUR REFLECTIONS!!!!!!!!