There are three types of people in the world—those who think about achieving a goal, those who talk about achieving that goal, and those who do something about achieving that goal. I have ten steps to help you become one of those people who actually achieves their goals.
Step 1: Be hungry.
You can’t wait around for your goals to be realized— you have to go after them with everything you’ve got. Take all your capabilities and pursue them relentlessly. By now, you’ve probably thought about your goals and talked about them endlessly but have not yet made a move towards action. This first step is to have a deep hunger to achieve your goals and your grand vision. And you can nourish this hunger by imaging the reward that you’ll get from reaching that goal.
Step 2: No excuses.
Like it or not, you are 100% responsible for your life. Everything that is happening to you right now is your own fault. It sounds rough, but it’s true. It’s your fault if you haven’t achieved your dreams or are not where you want to be with your business. It’s your fault if you don’t have enough time or feel overwhelmed, overscheduled, or frazzled. Everything in your life has been created by either what you did or what you did not do. Are there things you could have done to push your business forward that you know you should have done but you didn’t make the effort? If something bad happens to you or your business, you are responsible for how you respond to that thing, even if you aren’t directly responsible for the bad thing itself. Achieving your goals is your responsibility. The only factor to whether you will achieve them is you. No excuses.
Step 3: Have a ridiculous work ethic.
There’s no shortcut—you have to work hard to achieve success. You have to push yourself and have an outrageous work ethic. If you want to conquer your goals while everyone else is coasting along, you’re going to have to out-hustle everyone else.
Step 4: Be an early riser
When you get a jump start on the day, you’re setting yourself up on a path to success. I’m not suggesting that you sacrifice your sleep, but you do need to adjust your schedule so that you can get up early. When you shift your time from night to morning, the worst of your habits disappear, like wasting time on Facebook or watching TV. When you get up early, you’ll want to pray, meditate, or read something inspirational, do some exercise, and eat well. Then you can focus on your high priority activities with fresh energy. This is a huge step toward conquering your goals.
Step 5: Maintain your physical health
People who meet or exceed their goals do so because they have the energy and vitality to do it. Getting into great physical health is essential if you want to achieve success. It takes a healthy body to carry out the hundreds of ideas in your head, so make getting into and maintaining excellent physical condition a high priority if it isn’t already.
Step 6: Define and maintain your core values
Most people operate under situational ethics— meaning their ethics change as often as the situation changes if it serves their agenda and if it seems like no one will notice. Living by a set of core values and principles means that you won’t be able to just do what’s popular or go along with the crowd. Figure out what your personal principles are, write them down, and live by them every day, even if no one is watching.
Step 7: Believe in yourself
To achieve your goals, you need to believe in yourself, believe that you are capable, and believe that your goals are possible. You can accomplish and achieve anything you set your mind to. The only thing keeping you from realizing your dreams is your belief in yourself.
Step 8: Stand fast
Be resolute. We all have moments when we doubt ourselves and wonder whether our goals are just too crazy to be achieved. We start to wonder whether the critics were right. Every successful person has dealt with doubt, but the difference is that they didn’t waver, they didn’t break. They stood steadfast, with resolve, with the iron mindset that “I will do this or I will die trying,” or “I will not give in or give up.” Doubt is part of the human drama, but don’t let it consume you— let it motivate you. Look at doubt as an enemy that you must defeat with your steadfast belief in your dreams. Your self-doubt won’t stand a chance.
Step 9: Risk it
To gain a great reward, you’re going to have to take some risks. I’m mostly talking about risking your ego, risking popularity, risking the criticisms of your family. To achieve your extraordinary goals you have to be willing to take on extraordinary risk— risk of ego and the acceptance of others. Billions of individuals have come and gone from the world who didn’t have the guts to risk the life they were already living for one they were capable of. Your life is probably somewhat comfortable right now, which is part of the problem. It’s not exactly where you wanted to be but it’s not bad enough to force you to really wake up and do whatever it takes. But your current results are nowhere near what you’re truly capable of achieving. You’re living below your potential. You’ve got to be willing to risk your ego to realize your big, hairy, audacious goals.
Step 10: Study
The more you work hard to improve your skills during study, practice, and preparation, the less likely you and your goals will be killed in real life. This last step to achieving your goals is a constant and never-ending step. It is your continual personal growth and development. Continually invest in your success in order to achieve your goals— the ones that you have not been able to achieve before—and become someone you have not been able to become before. Achievement starts with growth and study.
