Make it happen part 2
I want to change 2
In the previous module we looked at five key factors that will help you get to where you want to get – to remind you they were:
- Determine what you want –and see the result – “powerfully imagined”
- Preparation and planning
- Confidence or belief
- A commitment of emotional energy
- Being consistent, stubborn and persistent
In this module we continue with a further five factors, starting with:
- You need to demonstrate the kind of integrity that inspires trust and gets people pulling for you.
There’s nothing quite like having a strong social support network or even one person you respect and perhaps admire, rooting for you and helping you through. It could be a friend, spouse or coach.
When people who believe in your goal and in your ability to achieve it, see you as honest and as having integrity, their support will be invaluable.
For some people, this is the one thing that gets them through the difficult times.
- Work rate & effort –
Successful people are willing to work extra hard to achieve their success. The main difference between clients who come to see me who win a slam or a gold medal and the rest is usually the work they are willing to put in. Quite simply the more successful are willing to work harder. Much harder. I look at it as the ‘price tag’ of success. The bigger the prize, the bigger the change, the higher the price tag.
Barcelona and Argentina legend Lionel Messi is one of many successful athletes who understand this – he said “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it”
He went on to say…
“Every year I try to grow as a player and not get stuck in a rut. I try to improve my game in every way possible.”
Multiple gold-winning Olympian and now a jockey, Victoria Pendleton summed it up when she said ”Succeeding in sport is about how much practice you put in”
When looking at the changes you want to make, ask yourself what you are willing to do to achieve the success you want. A regular reminder that you’re working really hard and it’s going to be worth it is useful. Remind yourself of things you’ve done in the past that took hard work and effort, and how you managed to get through.
- Attitude and acceptance
These are two more essential elements in your quest for change – your attitude should be one of ‘can do’, and you’ll need to fight the negative thoughts and limiting beliefs that will invariably come your way – our modules on negative thinking will really help in this respect.
Acceptance is probably one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself – people who constantly judge themselves, others and the world set themselves up for a lot of disappointment – they feel that nothing is ever quite right, things go wrong, the goal-posts move; things are never fair. Hey, that’s life. The more you accept what happens without too much judgment, the happier and more successful you will become. Don’t be one of those people with a story for why they didn’t succeed.
- The ability to respond well to whatever happens.
This leads on from, acceptance. In many situations, you won’t be able to control what happens to you – the one thing you can always control, however, is your response to what happens. Every time you’re confronted with an obstacle, rather than get despondent, simply work out the best route to take around it.
- Enjoy the process of getting there.
Inevitably, the time it takes for change to happen or to reach your goal can be significant – it could be three months to change a habit, four years to prepare for an Olympic Games. By understanding it’s a process and not an instant success, you can look at ways in which to enjoy the journey. One good strategy is rewarding yourself for every short-term goal you achieve.
If you can’t find satisfaction along the way, there’s a high risk that you simply give up – particularly if the goal you set is a long-term one. By breaking goals down, as Leicester City did in their extraordinarily successful Premier League campaign in the 2015/6 season, you’ll constantly be hitting small targets, getting high satisfaction and more confidence, and then being motivated and energised to take that next step forward.
If you want to take your change seriously, start looking at these ten elements as non-negotiable – if you want to succeed, you need to incorporate these into your everyday life.
Some people are fortunate in that they seem able to set themselves a goal, and then do everything quite easily to achieve it – including finding the resources they need and getting help from those they need help from. Remember, however, that we don’t always see what goes on behind the scenes.
Most people who come up with goals find it difficult to take the action they need to bring the goal to life and therefore don’t even get past GO – or if they do, they can’t find that something extra to pursue the goal when the going gets tough. It’s generally much easier to give up than to push forward – but that’s part of why achieving any level of success can be so rewarding and satisfying.
Think of a goal you had that in the end you just pushed to one side because you either didn’t think you had the ability or resources to pursue it, or couldn’t figure out the best way to start. Bearing in mind the ten factors I’ve shared over these two modules, how might you change your thought process and approach your goal next time?
So to summarise these first two modules
There are a number of key factors that will help you achieve your objective – it’s useful to use our ten-point list as a guide to the main factors that are going to help to get you to where you want to be.
- Determine what you want – and see the results “powerfully imagined”
- Preparation and planning
- Confidence and belief
- A commitment of energy
- Be consistent, stubborn and persistent
- Have integrity that inspires trust
- A willingness to work very hard
- Your attitude and acceptance
- The ability to respond well to whatever comes your way
- Decide to enjoy the process of getting there
The Mynd app will look at every one of these attributes in detail in different modules and help you improve the way you do them, giving you the best opportunity to get to where you want to be.
In the next module, we’ll take a look at the ten most common obstacles that keep people from achieving their goals.
Your Mynd Activity
Knowledge is power.
Knowing the elements needed for success can help guide you through the challenges that inevitably come when pursuing something worthwhile.
Add these five qualities to your list and put your finished ten-point list somewhere you’ll see it every day.
By developing each of these ten skills or attributes, you’ll give yourself every possible opportunity of successfully achieving your goal.