“If you don’t name your dollars, they will tell you where they will go and give you a name…broke.”
~Clyde Anderson
I learned years ago that at the Harvard School of Divinity they teach discipline of thought before they teach doctrine. What that tells me is no matter who you are before you can learn or grasp any concept, theory or lesson, you must prepare your mind to receive it, process it and use the new information. Many of you may think it’s alright to quit, but the truth is it’s not. Quitting tells our brains that whenever things get tough, uncomfortable or you face challenges you can abandon ship, but that should not be the case. Until you develop a sense of commitment to achieving your goals you will always find yourself in a perpetual state of starting over, leaving remnants of unfinished projects, plans and goals scattered. Your behaviors dictate your success. The action that you complete are the actions that make you who you are.
In order to achieve sustainable long term success you must:
Make your goals bigger than your vices You must know what you are willing to do and not willing to do. How bad do you want success. If you truly want to succeed you have to focus on what will bring you closer to it and avoid the things that will pull you further away. If your goals is to save $1000, don’t allow a pair of shoes to distract you.
Remove temptations and distractions It doesn’t make since to place yourself in situations that don’t help you achieve your goals, but instead tempt you with that you are working so hard to avoid. If you are on a diet, you may want to stay out of the bakery. If you want to save money, walking around the mall is probably not the best idea.
Don’t wait for it to feel just right There is no perfect time. You must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Use your discomfort to motivate you to push ahead. The best way to start doing something that seems impossible is to start with small bite size pieces. Work on doing whatever it is that you want to accomplish 5 min a day and after 21 days you would have made it a habit.
Make a commitment to yourself and keep it. So many of us have a phobia of commitment that spills over to ever area of our lives if not addressed. Stop thinking of everything that comes with it or that will be required of you and just start.
Reward yourself. You must give yourself wiggle room for passing any test or making progress no matter how small. The fact is you did something that you hadn’t before, therefore the pat on the back becomes the psychological reinforcement. Don’t beat yourself up , but rather give yourself credit. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself…well done, thy good and faithful servant.
Success is a matter of choice, not chance…chose wisely.
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