Ever wonder why some people are successful (THEIR DREAMS COME TRUE) and some seem to always struggle? Obviously there are many reasons, but if you study the lives of successful people, and successful organizations, you will find some common denominators. I have spent my entire career studying these type people and organizations, and have found the following to be traits that we all need to apply (and reapply) to our lives. Follow your passion. One of the key elements to success in life and business is having a passion for what you do. There is no limit to what you can accomplish when you feel passionate about it. Your dreams are the fuel that gets you out of bed in the morning, helps you endure while performing tasks that you don’t consider enjoyable, and gives you the strength to successfully deal with problems and challenges. Have a clear idea about what you want. In just a few weeks most of us will do the same the same thing. Along about the time we are watching the New Year’s Day parade we will begin to think about 2022. We will begin dreaming about what we want to accomplish, how much weight we want to lose, or the relationships we hope to have formed by year’s end. Most call these New Year’s Resolutions, but by the end of the year we look back and many times realize that we didn’t accomplished all that we had hoped to accomplish.
Find a niche and be the best you can be. Booker T. Washington once said, “Do the common things uncommonly well.” John Eldredge in Wild At Heart wrote, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Both of these people give us good advice. Once you find what makes you come alive, and do it uncommonly well, you will be living your dream. Make a difference. It has been said that the only thing that lasts long after you are gone are the relationships that you leave behind. In some respects that is true. All the money you made will not be in your pocket, and property deeds will not be along side you in your coffin. However, there is something else that will continue long after you pass from this world to the next. If you look into the history books you will find people that made a difference. We still feel the impact of their existence and so will many generations to come. Keep it simple. There is an old saying that I would like to change. You might have heard it put this way; K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid. I would like to change it to be Keep It Short and Simple. Many times we make life so complicated. The secret is to do what you do best and stick to it. Don’t make things more complicated than they are. Go with your instincts. Never under estimate your instincts or intuition. If you have to work hard at selling yourself on an idea, it is probably not a good idea. Your instincts are like muscles, they get stronger the more you use them. Value your time and be a good time manager. Take Charge. Decide now that you will get on top of managing your own time. Remind yourself that poor time-management is nobody else's responsibility but your own.
Be Decisive. Don't put off decisions. Remember there's often time later to reverse an early decision, there's rarely time to correct a late one.
Prioritize. Decide what is worth an allocation of your precious time and what is not. Don't let others set your time agenda.
Plan extensively.