The Single Most Important Ingredient for Success

This last one is, without a doubt, the most important element in creating the kind of life and business you want. In fact, in the end, nothing else really matters, including the six ingredients I’ve already laid out.

So what’s the one thing that trumps all others?

Not positive thinking, not knowing the right steps to take, not skill or luck or talent. Just acting toward what you want, over and over.

If you look back through history, you’ll see that everything humankind has created, everything that was worth doing, came about as a result of persistent action.

How many times did the Wright Brothers fail before they flew? How many people and hours did it take to put a man on the moon? What did Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa accomplish in their lives?

Think about your own life up until this point: I’ll bet you can’t come up with one major achievement that didn’t take persistent action to get there, even if you doubted or had a negative attitude about it. Even when you didn’t know how it was going to happen.

So what do we mean by Persistent Action?

First, understand that it’s not a trait or a skill. It’s a habit you develop over time. It’s not about perfection, but longevity of your spirit.

Here’s what it looks like:

1. Pay attention to what you want, simply by feeling what’s in your heart and responding with an image. Usually this happens naturally and organically, without any work at all. It’s not something you figure out – it happens to you. Take a simple example: say the word “vacation,” and I know fairly quickly what I want it to look like: palm trees, warm sandy beach, gentle ocean sounds. Could be Hawaii, Florida, or Mexico.
2. Define it as specifically as possible. Make it clear for yourself. See it. OK, Mexico. Eight days, seven nights in Cozumel, scuba diving and parasailing. Oceanside cabana with a balcony. Got it. The more I think about it, the clearer and more defined it gets, all by itself.
3. Keep taking actions that will make it happen. Start putting money aside for it every month. Book the flight and cabana. Pack (why not a few months in advance? Every time you see that suitcase, you’ll renew your excitement). Tell all your friends (and really rub it in). Whatever actions are required, take them.

It really is that simple.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things that can help you achieve your goals quicker and easier, but the best predictor of success isn’t skills, talent, luck, or knowledge.

Those who act persistently on what they want are the ones who succeed.

Perhaps you’d like to make it easy and quick? Nobody can guarantee that, but here are some tips to practice:

1. Be clear and specific. Let your vision keep calling you. When it becomes cluttered with thoughts of how, let it go. Knowing what you want is more important than knowing how to get there.
2. Be aware of what will make you quit. For example, as a business owner, how bad would it need to get before you throw in the towel? Do you have a paralyzing dread of financial insecurity? If you don’t get the respect you want, will you burn out? How much rejection can you take (before you stop taking it personally and realize it isn’t really rejection)? Sort the excuses and small thinking from the realities and respond accordingly.
3. Engage your creativity around it and look at it from different angles. If you find yourself getting frustrated, play with it like a game. Try something new. Surprise yourself – it will be a lot more fun and you’re likely to see real progress.
4. Welcome failure. I often say to my clients, “The businesses that fail the most end up succeeding the most, and the best.” Allow yourself to learn from your failures because experience is the best teacher.
5. Do something every day. Even if it’s just two minutes of visualizing, it’s critical to keep it in the forefront of your mind. Actors know, especially when working another job to fund their acting careers, that they must take some action, however small, that carries them that much closer to success.

That’s really it. No magic, no secret, no answers that you don’t have yet. Just simple actions, day after day that will bring you closer and closer to success.

Until next month, my friends, here’s to Persistent Action!

RJ