What we Envision takes Time
In life or business, you cannot rush enormous change or goal achievement. The only thing you can control is what you do or not do towards achieving desirable goals on a continuous, consistent basis. The reason is that real growth happens incrementally over time and becomes noticeable progress. If you try to rush the process, you end up short-changing your results with shallow change versus acquiring depth from building critical skills for long-term success.
Repetition over intensity is the nature of building skills for goal achievement. Remember the fable, The Tortoise & The Hare. The tortoise, who was slow by nature, focused on steady forward movement and won the race. On the other hand, the speedy hare was over-confident about winning, dropped his focus, and took a nap. The tale tells how the hare awoke to find the tortoise crossing the finish line. Business owners beware, don't get complacent. Stay focused; don't let this be you!
The fable also serves another purpose for us type-A personalities; we must temper our desire to expect success now. Instead, focus on constant forward movement towards achieving our highest priorities without hesitation, but take it all in stride.
Everyday Examples
Case in point, think of bodybuilding or fitness training. When working out, we are continually working within our edge of intensity, but we don't push it to the point of injuring ourselves or, worse, long-term damage. Furthermore, rest days are essential for muscle healing and progress, as anyone who has tried to skip rest days knows full well. You cannot rush significant change or achievement. Improvement results from targeted, repetitive sets (of actions) that push the edge but within reason.
When practicing yoga, we measure progress in millimeters; the focus is on repetition over intensity. It is for this reason; yoga is considered a practice, not perfection.
Learning is how we build skills and competencies
Repetitive doing is the act of learning. Discovering insight and calibrating as you go is how you develop excellence and expertise.
Surfing is another excellent example. Stay present, but also look ahead. You're going to wipe-out; whether it's horrible or not depends on your skills and what you cannot control, in this case, nature.
The Problem: Sustainable Change Takes Time
We're impatient, and perhaps we've already wasted too much time and are trying to make up for lost time. If this is the case, acknowledge the brutal truth and forgive yourself quickly. Learn from your mistake, and turn your attention to what you can do now.
Manage Expectations. Shift Focus on Building Skills
Most quick successes don't last. Think of cramming for an exam the night before; the memory evaporates once you leave the exam. Quick rich schemes rarely succeed, or if they do, the win is short-lived. We are most interested in the enormous success, the long-game.
Focus on building skills instead. Deepen your conviction, knowing full-well why building skills is essential, rather than pressuring yourself to get immediate results.
Work hard, but stay open to notice movement and the correlation between action and result. Direct more resources to activities with significant impact, and withdraw energy from those that don't.
Celebrate the small wins along the way, for this builds enthusiasm, confidence and more success.
List of Steps to Find Success
Step 1
Get clear on what your end goal is first, the one with the biggest prize. Determine the type of activities that are pivotal and how long it is reasonable to get you there. Create a tactical business plan along with timelines and signposts.
Step 2
Focus and commit to doing what you need to do to win the big race. Follow the program (do the activities) without delay, and expect challenges to overcome. You'll develop skills that lead to more success and with a more significant impact.
Step 3
Look for significant change and correlate activities that produce substantial or no impact. Acknowledge and celebrate small wins; calibrate direction and resources accordingly.
Success is a Journey; and Learning is the Experience.
Focus on the importance of building skills rather than the pressure to get quick results.
Notice change and correlate resources to activities with positive impact. Celebrate the small wins along the way, for this builds enthusiasm and confidence.
Keep envisioning, stay focused on the long-game. When you do this, success will happen, guaranteed.
The Formula for Success
linda reddin
-executive coach-
Establish Clarity > Focus > Consistent, Persistent Action > Calibrate Regularly = Success!
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