Success

I used to worry about success. I drove myself to be “successful” among my peers. The only problem was that I never bothered to define what success meant to me. I chased it for a long time and not having found it, I gave up. I eventually gave in and let life do to me what it would.

When I stopped looking for success, I started on a downward spiral that left me empty and despondent. It was not pretty. That, especially for the guy voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in high school, was crushing. As I have pondered what happened, I found several dangerous patterns that slowly killed real success.

Defining Who You Are

I had vague definitions that I applied very poorly and inconsistently. With no real definition, I had little hope of getting results because I didn’t know what I wanted. I wanted to be successful, but that was a mere dream. As the dream became clouded, it turned to more of a nightmare. I quit trying in life because I could no longer see anything that I believed that I could create that I found positive. I could find lots of failures I could create.

When I finally figured out that I control what I create in life, it astounded me what I had created. I can’t say that I was happy with my results, but I saw that the way I defined myself and others around me created my results. I often talked about what I couldn’t do, what I was afraid of, and what I could not see. Those around me were less than I hoped for and could do nothing right. Talking and thinking this way ended up defining who I became. I did not find that satisfactory.

Making An Attractive Life

I took control of my life. I started choosing what I would create and who I would become by saying today that I am that way. One of my mentors suggested I create a vision of who I want to be and focus on that vision using multiple techniques. There is my story about my life. I have a vision board with images and words that tell me what I get, now.

Listening to my own voice telling me who I am is powerful. I ask my wife to tell me who I am in my words. That works at many levels. It prevents her from telling me who she wants me to be and because she uses my words, it helps her understand what I want in life. That prevents unwanted resentment by either one of us because we are showing respect and helping each of us to understand the vision we each have for ourselves and our family.

When I put these techniques into practice, things started changing. I felt different about myself. Were there times that some of these things felt awkward? Absolutely, but the results have been well worth the effort to get past that discomfort. I needed to learn to see better, but I didn’t want to do it until I found someone who could explain why it was so important. Once I started learning to see what I was doing, and what those around me were doing, it changed my perception of life. I recommend learning about how to be more aware of your life.

Learnin Coverg to See - CD — Learning to See Audio CD

Act Now

I hope you will take some time to start defining what success looks like to you. Start telling yourself that you are powerful and capable, because I know you are and that you will create wonderful things for yourself, your family, and for the world. Start seeing yourself helping others. When you do, success is right around the corner.