WEEK 116: SUCCESS IS MECHANICAL

Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, create a life you do not want to escape from.  Seth Godin

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): I saw the quote this week and it was so powerful.

This week I want to write to you about some powerful insights I am learning about success, so you can close the gap between where you are and achieve your dreams so you can do just that...create a life you do not want to escape from.

Success, a much sought after thing, yet most of us have no real way of knowing how to achieve it on a consistent basis.

Similar to the mythical unicorn, everyone says they have seen it from time to time, but only a select few know where they can find it on a consistent basis.  

Now, in the past I have talked about the idea that success is mechanical. What I mean, is you are at your current place of success or failure, due to the consistent actions you take on a daily basis. (Lead Indicators). 

For example, if you are in the best, or worst, shape of your life it is because of what you do on a daily basis, not what you do every once in a while.

Today, I want to take this a step further and connect it to some DEEP insights I have lately.

What I have already shared is very powerful, yet what I am going to explain next is similar to seeing the rest of a partially submerged iceberg in its entirety. Mind blowing.

Like I mentioned above, success is mechanical. 

Now this requires you to take consistent, daily action to achieve it. Additionally, you will need to autocorrect and take the the appropriate actions frequently in order to make the necessary changes to move closer to achieving your goals.

Autocorrecting involves the integral task of separating FACT from opinion. This is so important, as if we let our opinions cloud the situation, the actions we take can lead us astray.

For example, you study for two hours for an exam, only to get a C. Your opinion is studying for long hours does not make a difference, thus you decide to study less for the next exam, which produces an even lower grade.

Or, you could have separated FACT from opinion first to produce a more favorable result. In the case above, you could have analyzed how you spent those two hours and eliminated things which did not help you (chatting on social media) and replaced those with more beneficial actions. 

This process of autocorrecting and taking action is similar to how a plane gets from one location to the next. We often times feel we get into the air and then it is a linear path to our destination. Where as, in reality, we are constantly zigging and zagging according to the elements in the air, so we can arrive at our destination in the shortest amount of time.

Now the opinions which could our judgement usually show up in the form of negative emotions. Frustration, aggressiveness, insecurity...take your pick.

Often times theses feelings have a negative connotation as they take us out of our comfort zone. Thus, we try to avoid them at all costs if we encounter them, which often times means you quit. 

However, these negative emotions are actually an inherent part of taking on a meaningful goal, for example, closing the gap between where you are and achieving you dreams. 

Furthermore, they warning signs telling you need to plot a new path to achieve what you are trying to do. It is your automatic success mechanism, or ASM, saying you are heading in the wrong direction.

Now we all feel frustration and these other negative emotions, no one is immune. I mean NO ONE. The Pope, Richard Branson, everyone. However, the most success people on the planet are those who can identify these negative emotions as what they are...warning signs to analyze the FACTS and then to take corrective actions.

This process of reading negative emotions properly involves three steps:

1. Awareness. You need to understand no one is immune and will feel these emotions on the path to closing the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams (or any other worthwhile endeavor). They are inherent part of the process and signaling you to autocorrect.

2. Understand at a deep level fostering or magnifying these negative feelings (doubt, fear, anger, aggressiveness, insecurity...)  do not help you in solving your problems. 

It is like when a child throws a tantrum and just cries louder and louder to get a toy. It might of helped you when you were younger, but this infant like behavior will not serve you as you get older. Life will not come with a gentle hand when you cry LOUDER and complain when you do not achieve what you want. Understand it does not work!

3. Read them properly, as warning signs to take corrective action. Separate FACT from opinion and then use that truth to take the appropriate actions moving forward.

Thus, know success is mechanical and you will encounter negative feelings on the path of closing the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams. 

However, be vigilant to identify them properly so you can AUTOCORRECT and ACT accordingly!

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Listen and implement ideas from the life hack podcast! Growing in my relationships daily.

2. Listen and implement actions from audible. Such powerful insights about success learned and being implemented. 

3. Being disciplined to keep zen for my body. More energy, more time to devote to my LP, so many benefits!

Biggest lessons and learnings?

CVVCR...Choices Validate Vision and Create Reality. I will write about this later, but it is huge!

What are you grateful for?

Optimal health. I am now at 67.5 kilos (148.5) pounds and reached my target weight in less than 2 months time. Yet, the most incredible thing is I have the CLARITY on how to stay here for the rest of my life!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST