Tag: Success

Ripples of Success

   Balance is essential in the pursuit of success. As we grow, we need to make sure our life’s pillars, the foundations that support our success, are strong. This ensures that instead of reaching for success over the precipice of cliffs, we have a firm place to stand as we reach for success.

   Achieving this balance sounds on the surface like a lot of work. Devoting time to our financial well-being, career advancement, physical fitness, mental or spiritual soundness, strength in our relationships, and love in our romantic pursuits. With a list like that, it is easy to become overwhelmed and forget one or two of our pillars. Fortunately, there is a way forward. As Mark Twain put it:

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.

   Taking one small action helps us start down the path. Continued by another action, and another. And the good news? These small wins enable us to win at other areas in life, almost without thinking about it. Like a single drop in the middle of the lake, our success ripples out in all directions.

What does this look like in practice?

   We start by walking around the block. And we do that simple, small action every day. Before too long, we start to feel stronger in our legs, our heart, our lungs. That physical win is noticeable. Before long we start to realize that we have slightly more energy at work, simply because we have better blood flow. The result is we get a little more done each day, nothing crazy, just an extra few minutes of productivity. Soon enough those extra few minutes mean we stop working late once or twice a week, and get to spend more time on social activities, and we’re still home in time for an extra meal or two with our loved ones. And we’re still walking around the block, so if we’ve taken that first step of getting moving, feeling healthier, we might just change our diet a little bit. Since we have extra energy at work, we cut back on that caffeinated soda at lunch in favor of water. After all, it’s healthier, and we feel great. 

   The above example is very real, I’ve seen similar results in my own life, where one small change seemingly changed the world. With the ripples of success washing over each other, it’s possible to see these incremental improvements. Seeing growth is both comforting and inspiring, which motivates us to keep going, and strengthens our own sense of self-worth.

   As our success ripples outwards from one small change we can make today, our entire lives are strengthened. These ripples of success lead to more balance, and a firmer foundation to stand upon as we reach for future successes.

   It’s your turn. What one small positive change can you make today, and stick to, that will start the ripples of success improving your life?

Dissect your Successes

Dissect your Successes, Identify what is working, and what is not.

   Setting goals puts us on the right road. This we know. Success only ever lies down a path we choose to walk. But once we achieve those initial successes, the journey is far from over. There are two essential elements that must follow each achievement, Celebration, and Dissection.

   Taking time to celebrate our successes adds to the reward of achievement, and helps motivate us to continue achieving so that we can continue celebrating. And celebrations are fun. The road to success is often difficult, grueling, exhausting, and sometimes demoralizing. Pausing long enough to smell the roses and raise a glass to our accomplishments helps us to center ourselves for the next challenge.

   The other element is dissection. As iconic billionaire investor Warren Buffet has been heard saying, we need to dissect our successes, and failures. The dissection process shines a spotlight on what went right, and what didn’t. This learning helps us understand what we do well, where our skills and abilities are strongest, and what needs to be improved. This dissection of our successes leads us to capitalizing on strengths, outsourcing or improving on weaknesses, and ultimately leads to more success.

   But how do we dissect our success? If you have a Success Coach, talking through the challenges and obstacles will help you process your efforts, your accomplishments. Regular check-ins will keep you focused on the important elements, identify strengths and weaknesses, and put together an action plan to perform optimally.

   Our Business Minded coaching program has the touch points and insights to help dissect your successes, to set yourself up for even more accomplishments in the future.

   Even if you don’t have a Success Coach, you should still be dissecting your successes and failures. At regular intervals, you should pause and reflect, writing down the challenges you are facing, and the progress you’ve made towards your goals. This focused journaling will help you structure your thoughts, letting you objectively look at the challenges you’ve faced and those you are still facing. And why write this down? Even if you never plan on reviewing your notes, the process of writing causes you to slow down. If you’re anything like me, your mind can race ahead at a million miles a minute, and at that pace it’s very hard to pick up on the small details, the small wins and losses you see during every step. The forced slow down with a pen and paper, or even the rhythmic keystrokes, will apply the brakes just enough to see some clarity while you dissect your successes.

   Like anything, this process gets better over time. The more you practice, the better you become at learning your own strengths and weaknesses. Armed with these insights about yourself, obstacles become easier to overcome in the best way for you. Those achievements start becoming more frequent, giving you more to dissect, and perhaps most importantly, more to celebrate.

   Dissecting your successes and failures helps illuminate your strengths and weaknesses. Spend time with your success coach, or grab a pad of paper and scalpel, or pen in this case, and begin dissecting. As you practice, you sharpen your skills and abilities, bringing more success into your life.