Be the "Go To Guy"

This is a phrase that we hear thrown about quite often but how many times have you really considered its implication? Most of us scarcely give it a second thought. It is as if we hear it in passing. However, contained in this simple phrase is the mindset which will make you successful beyond comprehension. Anything that you desire in life can be yours.

The world rewards people who step up. We all like to have that person who will fill the void whenever a crisis arises. In any walk of life, there are only a certain amount of people who can fill this role. To do so effectively takes guts, self-confidence, and inner strength. Yet, those who do recieve the greatest rewards.

Sports is a fascinating genre to watch since they provide impactful examples which are truly a microcosm of life. Let us take the NBA as an example. Here is a group of people who are the best basketball players in the world. Everyone in the league is one of only 500 (give or take) who can perform at this level. Nevertheless, as good as these men are, only a couple ever get the reputation as the "go to man". Michael Jordan is one who comes to mind. He was arguably the best player ever to lace up the sneakers. However, what makes his greatness even more magical is that he was the one who wanted the ball at the end of the game. His excellence came out when the pressure was the greatest.

The same is true for baseball players. There are some pitchers who want the ball with everything on the live. At the same time, there are those who cower from that opportunity. Their fear of failure is the driving force of their decision. Does this happen in your life? Is fear the one who makes the decision for you?

Being the "Go To Guy" is all about mindset. Having the desire to excel in pressure situations begins with the belief that you will succees. Those who shy away at these times are those who focus on the possibility of failing. If this is how you approached your life, it is time to change that. Instread, focus on how you will succeed under these conditions. Do you think Michael Jordan thought about missing the shot. I am certain that thought never crossed his mind. His entire focus was on putting the ball in the hoop.

Mental toughness is one of the leading characterisitics of the successful. Develop this trait within yourself. Start the process by considering yourself a "Go to person". Whatever your present walk of life, picture yourself as the one who is capable of performing when others are overrun with fear. This requires a bit of grandiosity in your thinking but that is alright. You are now the "knight in shining armor" ready to conquer the circumstances of your life. Anyone who is around you can count on you to pull through. This is the mindset of a winner.

As you approach 2009, develop this outlook to reach level you never dreamed possible. When you have the inner belief that you will be the one succeeding, you have taken the first step in making that a reality. All success is first created in the mind.
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The Written Plan

Having a list of goals combined with a list of corresponding actions to take each day is a powerful combination. With these two items, you are almost guaranteed success. The only remaining component is to ingrain these actions into your daily routine. Repetition creates a habit which puts our success on autopilot.

We created the list that requires our daily attention. Now it is time to start utilizing this concept. We start by putting a couple of the actions into our daily plan. Do you not have a daily plan? Then it is time to start writing one down each day.

Before going any further, you have the freedom to get as sophisticated or simple as you like with this. Personally, I prefer simple. The idea is to have a list of activities along with the times that you are going to do them. It is your daily schedule. Writing each task down enables you to control the direction of your day. Time is used effectively when you do this.

Therefore, start with a piece of paper (or a notebook). Draw lines across in breaking the day into hourly segments. Do this for the hours that you are typically awake. For example, if you arise at 6 AM and retire at 10 PM, mark those times off. Now, list the activities which occur each day. Start by putting "Create plan for day" 15-30 minutes before you go to sleep. This will start to create this as a habit.

For most, work consumes a fair portion of the day. Therefore, block off the work hours. If there are things you regularly do like attending luncheons, put that down. After filling the work time, take the activities which move us towards our goal and assign them to a specific time. Try to do the hardest activities when you have the most energy. Some prefer to workout in the morning while others like the evening. Decide what is best for you.

The actions we want to make into habits are written in everyday. Once you complete your plan, your next task is simply to follow what you wrote down. Of course, situations will arise which requires some flexibility. However, having a written plan will increase the likelihood that you achieve the results your desire.
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Our Habits Determine Our Success

The successful have better habits than those who fail to achieve what they truly desire. Much of life is spent on autopilot with each day being a repeat of the one that preceded it. A great deal of time is spent doing the repetitive acts that requires little thought. Thus, anything that we achieve is because we are conditioned to act in a particular manner.

Have you ever considered how you brush your teeth? Few ever think about how they go about completing this task. However, we all have a routine that we go through to complete this action. Some of us put the brush under water, then put toothpaste on, and finally start brushing. Others will put the brush under water a second time. And, some will just put the toothpaste on the brush without water and begin the process. Regardless of how it is done, we do not think about how we accomplish this activity. It is at the subconscious level.

This is a simplistic example used to show how the concept operates in our life. The bottom line is a true life change will only occur when you change your habits. There are certain actions you undertake which are preventing your success. At the same time, there are other habits which will lead to our desired results. It is important to identify both.

Let us look at the weight loss example we used a few days ago. Going to the extreme, it is safe to say that an Olympic athlete has a different set of habits than a couch potato. These people are conditioned to work out. A day ceases to pass without them engaging in their training. Contrast this with the couch potato. His or her habits are drastically different. Instead of exercising, the habit here is to turn on the television when getting home from work and eating food high in fat content. People who do this often do so without much conscious thought.

Each person's habits brings about results. For the Olympic athlete, the outcome is incredible physical conditioning. At the same time, the couch potato achieves the state of obesity and poor health. A changing of the habits would alter each one's outcome.

How does all this apply to you? We mentioned in another article the importance of creating an action list to achieve our goals. When we go through this process, we are first operating at the conscious level. It takes mental thought to drive ourselves to act. The conditioning is not present at this initial stage. We need to develop the habit which will make our success a guarantee.

For something to become a habit, we need to engage in that activity each day. Repetition is what drives an activity to a subconscious level. Years ago, you had to think about a lot of tasks when learning to drive. Now, you can get from your home to your place of employment without even thinking about the trip at all. It is something that is completely at the subconscious level.

Success habits operate the same way. The action becomes a habit if we do it each day. It is estimated that the time is roughly three weeks. After that time period, you will be conditioned to take the action. Doing something different will require another conscious thought at the time. Here, we are in the habit of succeeding while having to actually think in order to fail. This is a magical state to achieve.

Success is not a mystery. Those who achieved the greatest of heights did so because of certain habits. Look at your life to uncover those actions you subconsciously take which hinder your success. Reverse the trend by identifying and implementing activities that move you forward. You will quickly realize the power that is contained within this simple concept.
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Turning Goals Into Actions

A week ago I asked you to consider and write down the three biggest goals that you wanted to achieve in 2009.  This gives us a good basis of the general direction that we are seeking for the New Year.  Once we identified the areas of concentration, then we can begin to break our task into manageable components.

As we know, action is the key to all accomplishment.  However, we cannot simply go out and lose 50 pounds.  There are certain things which must be done to achieve this result.  It is crucial to realize that any success is the result of many smaller actions.  Rome was not built in a day. Rather, it was erected one stone at a time.  The same is true for your life.

Once we got the three areas of focus, we want to select one to concentrate on now.  Write that goal on a piece of paper.  Underneath, we are going to identify the important actions that we need to undertake on a daily basis.  Every goal that has any merit is achieved by doing something everyday towards reaching that outcome.  This is what we want to identify now.

For example, if losing 50 pounds is our goal, what are some of the actions we need to take each day to make this a reality?  One thing would be to workout daily.  A combination of aerobic and strength training is required.  In addition to daily exercise, we also want to alter our diet.  This starts with having a regular dose of fruits and vegetables.  We might also consider eliminating those foods which are high in fat content.  There are basic components that will lead to a healthy diet. We need to put these on our list.

As you can see, we are starting to move from a goal which is an abstract idea to concrete actions we can take.  Instead of focusing on the outcome, we now can concentrate on doing what we need to do.  Actions are what allow us to reach that end.  If we follow this path, achieving our goal is a natural outcome to our efforts.  In effect, we are developing a plan for our success.

It is best to list a couple of things for each goal.  We do not want to create such a long list that it gets overwhelming.  For example, if we listed 90 things we needed to do each day to lose the 50 pounds, how likely are we to quit?  Very!  This idea is to have a few activies listed that will be done every single day regardless of other circumstances.  This is what will lead to the successful outcome you seek.

Once having completed this for the first goal, do it for the other two.  In total, you might have 6 or 9 things to do each day.  This is a manageable number which will offer major changes in your life.  You are already laying the foundation for an incredible year.

Next, we will discuss the value of habits and how we can put our life on autopilot.  How would you like to achieve your goals by default.  The next session will show you how habits can be developed to guarantee success.

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Courage Is Crucial

The easiest thing to do in life is to exist at whatever level you are presently operating at.  Change is something that is difficult for most people to embrace.  To successfully do this requires the courage to step out of one's comfort zone into the unknown.  This is a concept which is more than most can handle.

How can I make this assertion?  Simple, most lead lives they are unhappy with.  I see so many settling for less than they truly desire.  They lack the courage to risk failure when they go after what they really want.  This is something that society trains us to do.  We are taught the "safe" route is the way to go. Sadly, it is also the path that leads to unhappiness.

If you are going to alter your life, it is going to take a great deal of courage.  Changing requires a bit of risk taking.  When you undertake something like this, you expose yourself to the ridicule of other people.  Often, this comes from those who are closest to us.  Those who have our "best interest" at heart are usually the ones who crush our dreams.  They tell us to "be realistic" and get something that is safe.

The events over the past few months teach us that safety is an illusion.  When it comes to investing, the buy and hold theory is considered the safest approach.  Proponents told us to find quality companies and hold them for decades.  Over time, if we reinvest the dividends, we would realize a healthy return.  All gains realized over the past 15 years were wiped out in a matter of a couple of months.  So much for the safety route.

We see the same situation with careers.  People who chose solid companies to work for are now losing their jobs in record numbers.  Their safety was an illusion.  Let us take the automobile industry.  Unions are considered the safe route.  Unfortunately, a union contract is worthless if the company goes out of business.  The UAW is just as panicky as management within the Big Three.  Millions are facing the loss of employment.

Safety is an illusion.  It does not exist.  Life is a risk.  That is where success comes from.  There will be times when you will fall flat on your face.  Over the next 12 months, we are going to encounter many challenges in our pursuit of change.  Altering your life is not something for the faint.  It takes courage to do this.  However, the payoff is beyond comprehension.  It is where we realize freedom.

We start to develop courage by moving forward in spite of what goes on in our head.  Often we are consummed by fear.  This is okay as long as we do not allow it to stop us.  Courage is not the absence of fear, rather, it is the taking of action in spire of the fear being present.   This is what the courageous do: they take action.  The fearful procrastinate.  Become one who exemplifies courage by taking action.  

Here is an exercise you can do immediately:  Make a list of 3-5 things that you are putting off doing. Write them on a piece of paper and resolve to complete them before you go to bed tonight. This single act put you into the courage area.  It might not feel like any big deal but it is.  Taking action is the single hardest thing for the unsuccessful to do because it requires courage.  Do this and watch your courage expand.

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Life Is Never Perfect

Life is not always perfect but we can be happy in spite of our present circumstances. This is what success is all about.

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5 Things

Before we get into the larger goals that we discussed in the last entry, it is best to start with something that will show how valuable having a direction is to us. This is a simple exercise which will later be expanded in scope to cover longer time periods throughout the day. However, we are going to approach this is a simplistic manner to get the benefit of the concept.

Having a plan is an essential tool for success. It provides the direction while establishing barometers along the way. Breaking down a large task into smaller segments is what allows people to achieve great things. Remember, a journey begins with a single step. Or as Brian Tracy likes to say, "you eat an elephant one bite at a time".

We are going to quickly learn the value of seamless activity. Many waste untold amounts of time dilly-dallying around because they are unclear of what to do next. This exercise will show how having something in writing can be of tremendous benefit. You will notice your productivity shoot through the roof.

Here is how it works:

1. Write down 5 things that you are going to do in the next hour. List them on a piece of paper. The order of importance is not really critical; we are most concerned with the concept. It is also best to choose activities which can be accomplished in 15 minutes or less (writing your college thesis is not what needs to be on this list).

2. Starting with the top one, focus on doing that task until it is completed. After that, go on to the second one. Continue this until you complete all 5 activities.

What this exercise shows is how much more productive we are when we have a plan. Time is saved when we move seamlessly from one activity to the next. Also, this is laying a foundation for how a "life plan" will benefit us. The concept is the same whether we are looking at 5 minutes or 5 years. Having a plan is crucial for our success.
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