Whatever your personal definition of success (for some it’s simply a challenge), whether we’re talking about professional success, business success, financial success or something in between, most people feel they have a certain need for achievement in their lives. But many never reach that level of success, and they don’t know why.
On this subject, Stan Bril, an editor at the well-known magazine Entrepreneur, has some very interesting things to tell us, starting with a few points that anyone can do differently to change the course of their life and get a little closer to where they want to be.
1. Stop looking for the perfect strategy
Although we talk about the importance of planning, the truth is that sometimes we can get stuck searching for that clearly winning strategy for achieving our goals, or waiting for the perfect moment.
The thing is, there’s rarely a perfect moment to do anything, just as the perfect strategy probably doesn’t exist. Most people never quite get round to doing what they know they should do, because so much planning ends up leading them to procrastinate.
In the end, when we want to do something, the perfect strategy is usually to take that first step, and as we keep taking steps we can change or improve certain things. As the saying goes, the smallest action always beats the grandest intention.
2. Stop seeing problems and start seeing opportunities
This isn’t a cliché or a cheap motivational line. If, when you have a business idea, you only start seeing the problems and obstacles, you’ll adopt a completely negative attitude that will stop you from taking those first steps that lead to success.
That’s why you shouldn’t focus so much on the obstacles, but on what lies beyond them once you’ve overcome them.
A good piece of advice that’s often given is “look at problems only to come up with solutions, and make money from those solutions.”
3. Stop the information overload
Some people spend too much time gathering all kinds of information from different media and channels about how to succeed, about a particular business, about management, and before they know it, they find themselves in what’s called information overload, which is a great mental paralyser.
When you have too much information, you can suffer from “analysis paralysis”, and all the research you’ve done can actually hurt you instead of helping.
Stock market investors know this very well: they’re perfectly aware that if they waited until they had all the information before making a trade, the trading session would be over and they’d never get to invest.
4. Stop focusing so much on entertainment
One of the most common problems that stop people from succeeding is that they spend more time focusing on entertainment than on education. Clearing your head with entertainment is very good, but when you overdo it, the good part is over.
It’s a matter of looking at how much time you spend watching television, on Facebook, playing video games, or following gossip, football or celebrity news.
Take part of the time you spend watching television and reading unproductive news and devote it to some kind of educational material that gives you something to help you improve, learn or grow (personally or professionally).
5. Stop looking only at the short term
There’s nothing wrong with focusing on short-term achievements. Quite the opposite: after all, a big achievement is reached by way of small ones. But you should always stay focused on a long-term goal, because “the short term” can vary a lot from one week to the next. As long as you’re very clear about your goal, and you know that success isn’t linear, it will remind you to refocus if you drift slightly off course.
Along the way, you’ll also avoid falling into the trap of instant gratification.
Further reading
- 25 habits of successful people
- 16 hard things you’ll have to do to succeed
- 32 rules for becoming a successful entrepreneur
Featured image: Andrew Hecker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
