Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 35 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Ask these questions to describe your successful, ideal life
— From No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline: 21 Ways to Achieve Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy
Each one of us has a different definition of success, yet we will all likely agree that no matter what our definition is, the pursuit and attainment of that success will bring us happiness. In his book No Excuses!, business guru Brian Tracy cites Aristotle as saying that the great question each of us must answer is, “How shall we live in order to be happy?”
He goes on to say, “Your ability to ask and answer that question correctly for yourself—and then to follow where your answer leads you—will largely determine whether you achieve your own happiness, and how soon.”
And to get there as soon as possible, we can start by defining what success looks like for each of us. Tracy suggests asking the following questions and answering them as if you could wave a magic wand and make your life perfect in every way.
If your business, work, and career were ideal in every way, what would they look like?
What would you be doing?
What sort of company would you work for?
What position would you have?
How much money would you earn?
What kind of people would you work with?
And, especially, what would you need to do more or less of to create your perfect career?
If your family life were perfect in every way, what would it look like?
Where would you live, and how would you be living?
What kind of a lifestyle would you have?
What sort of things would you want to have and do with the members of your family?
If you had no limitations and you could wave a magic wand, in what ways would you change your family life today?
If your health were perfect, how would you describe it?
How would you feel?
How much would you weigh?
How would your levels of health and fitness be different from what they are today?
Most of all, what steps could you take immediately to begin moving toward your ideal levels of health and energy?
If your financial situation were ideal, how much would you have in the bank?
How much would you be earning each month and each year from your investments?
If you had enough money that you never had to worry about finances again, how much would that be?
What steps could you take, starting today, to create your ideal financial life?
Why aren’t you already as successful as you would like to be, and what one discipline would help you the most to achieve all your goals?
What one skill could you develop that would help you to realize more of your goals?
If you could wave a magic wand and be completely disciplined in one area, which one discipline would have the greatest positive impact on your life?
As you begin to lay out your vision of success, pay attention to the very last question in each category (the things that you should be doing more or less of) and the very last three questions.
Self-discipline is the key to achieve what you want; however, it’s very important to lay out a plan first, so that you can then follow it with your self-discipline. For this, Tracy focuses on the Law of Cause and Effect, or sowing and reaping: “This law says that if you want to achieve success in any area, you must determine how success is achieved in that area and then practice those skills and activities repeatedly until you achieve the same results.”
Success guru Kop Kopmeyer aptly says that you must “learn from the experts [because] you will never live long enough to learn it all for yourself.” Remember that success leaves clues!
ACTION
TODAY: Set aside some time to answer the questions above and figure out what your ideal and successful life looks like. As you answer, a clear path will emerge and you will see what you need to do more or less of to head into the direction of your dreams.
FUTURE: Once you know what success looks like for you and what direction you need to go into, figure out who are the foremost, trusted experts in those fields, so that you can learn from them and follow in your footsteps.
Please share this post with someone who could benefit from answering all these questions to define their success, thanks! Email, Facebook or Twitter.