Can I really be successful at anything I try?
Obviously, when I say you can be successful at anything you try, clearly I mean anything you can physically do.
If you wanted to try flying like a bird, by jumping off a cliff and flapping your arms, you wouldn’t be successful. At least not for more than about 3, or 4 seconds.
But, if you want to be successful at something in your life, and you’re physically capable of doing it… sure you can!
Whatever goals you have in life, there are myriad ways to get there. And each of them will work to a greater, or lesser degree.
But, if you really want to be successful at anything you try, there’s one thing that will work better than anything: Discover your why.
If you have a 100% clear definition of WHY you want to achieve something, the HOW often takes care of itself.
Now, I’m sure you already know why you want to achieve it. Or at least you think you do. But, we often tell ourselves things that are so general, they don’t really have much effect.
Unfortunately, the ‘why‘ we often tell ourselves, is the general why. When what we need is the specific why.
A simple example
To show you what I mean, here’s a short example…
Let’s say, you’re talking to a friend who’s recently given up smoking cigarettes. You ask them why they decided to do it.
Most often, you’ll get a response like:
“It was costing too much.”
“I kept getting coughs.”
“It wasn’t good for my health.”
On the face of it, these whys seem okay. But, they’re too generalized to be good motivators.
If you want to be successful at anything you try, you need a process that can be used, no matter what the activity is. And that starts with you being specific.
You need to take some time to really look at what you want to get out if it. And make yourself aware of the way you’ll feel if you don’t manage to get it.
So, there are 6 steps to finding your why. And those six steps are six questions.
These 6 questions will help you be successful at anything you try.
- Why do you want to achieve this? Why is it important to you?
- What would it mean to you if you achieved it? How would you feel?
- How would you feel if you didn’t achieve it?
- What sort of person will you need to become, in order for you to achieve it?
- How would your life change, once you’d accomplished it?
- How will achieving it impact your family and those you love?
Give your answers some thought
It’s important not to just jump at the first answer that comes to you. The more things you can think of for each question, the more powerful your WHY will become. The more reasons you have to succeed, the more likely you are to be successful. It’s pretty basic really 🙂
Also, because you now know how you’ll feel if you fail, there’s less chance you’ll give up.
Why do most New Year’s resolutions fail? It’s because people don’t put any effort, into finding out why they want to achieve them in the first place. They think they know why, but they really don’t.
Be smart and find your why before you start. Then you’ll know exactly why you’ll succeed and why you don’t want to fail.
Let me know your thoughts.
