Habits you need to succeed II

ADAM Smith is quoted to have said that: “Self-command is not only itself is a great virtue, but from it all the all other virtues seem to derive their principle luster.” Brian Tracy believes that the most important habit you can develop for success, achievement, and happiness is the habit of self-discipline. Last, we introduced habits you need to develop to succeed. We continue today to examine some more important habits you need to succeed.

Think about excellent performance

An important habit of thinking developed by optimists is the habit of “excellence orientation.” The fact is that, to achieve something you have never achieved before, you will have to develop and master one or more skills that you have never had before. By the Law of Correspondence, your outer world will always be a reflection of your inner world. If you want to change something in your outer world, or achieve a goal that you’ve never achieved in the past, you are going to have to change your inner world in some way. Almost invariably, this requires the acquisition of a new skill or set of skills.

A skill is the same as a habit of performance, and like habits, all skills are learnable. You can learn any skill you need to learn to achieve any goal that you can set for yourself. If anyone else around you has developed a key skill that has enabled him or her to be more successful, that is proof in itself that you too can learn and develop this skill. It is simply a matter of practice and repetition.

Identify your key skills

Excellence orientation requires that you make a list of the key skills that are essential for success in your field. There are usually only about 5-7 skills, or key result areas, that determine most of the success that one achieves in any field of endeavour. Your first job is to identify these key skills and write them down.

You have achieved success in your field today because of your talent and ability in certain key five to seven years of hard work for you to move to the top of your field. This means five to seven years of focused, concentrated, determined work on yourself to get better and better in the key result areas that are responsible for your results and rewards. And there are no short cuts.

areas. But at the same time, you are being held back by your weaknesses in other areas. The rule is that your weakest key skill determines the height of your results, and your income. In other words, you could be excellent at six out of seven key result areas, but your weakness in the seventh area will determine your overall results and rewards in that job or field.

You must develop the habit of continually identifying and working on your weakest key skill. Bringing up your ability in this one area will usually have a greater and more immediate impact on your results than anything else you can do.

Pick up the pace

If a group of children goes for a walk, the slowest child often determines the speed of the entire group. Your “slowest kid” is your weakest key skill. It sets the speed at which you move ahead in your career, and determines the heights that you reach. The fact is that you could be only skill away from doubling your productivity, your performance and your income.

The acquisition of one key skill where you are currently weak could make it possible for you to use all your other skills at a higher level, and accomplish more in your work than you ever thought possible. What one skill could that be?

The pursuit of mastery

The reason that many people underachieve in their careers is because they do not realise how long it takes to achieve mastery in any field. Extensive research in this area suggests that it requires about five to seven years of hard work for you to move to the top of your field.

The biggest regret that many people report is that “they did not start early enough.” But the time is going to pass anyway. Five to seven years from now, five to seven years will have passed. The only question is, “Where are you going to be five to seven years from now in your field?”

Arguably, nobody is better than you and nobody is smarter than you. If someone is doing better than you, it just means that they started work on themselves in a certain way earlier than you did. And whatever anyone else has done, you can do as well. “There are no limits except the limits you place on yourself with your own thinking.”

Commit to lifelong learning

Another key habit of thinking and acting practiced by top people is growth orientation. It is the high road to excellent performance and essential to developing the habit of optimism. This method of thinking and living is the foundation of excellence orientation, and is essential for you to develop if you want to improve your performance.

Growth orientation requires that you develop the habit of continuous learning, the habit of continuous personal and professional development. Just as you exercise physically on a regular basis to remain fit and healthy, you must exercise mentally on a daily basis to become better and better in your chosen field.

The habit of continuous learning enables average people to become top performers in their fields. It enables people to rise from poverty and frustration to affluence and success. Continuous learning opens every door for you. It increases your intelligence and creativity and puts you onto the fast track in your career. Continuous learning, like nature, is neutral. Anyone can use it to accomplish extraordinary things in life. It is one of the best habits you can ever develop, and the pay-off from continuous learning will last you all the days of your life.

You determine your own destiny

Each person is essentially self-made. The person you are may have been determined by your childhood experiences. But the person that you become, the person that you may be, is completely under your own control. The great “The most powerful message that you can send from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind is a visualisation or mental image principle, that “You become what you think about most of the time” refers to what you are thinking today, at this very moment. It is not your thinking of the past, or your thinking in the future, that determines the course of your destiny. Everything you are, and everything you will be, is determined by the thoughts that you think at each moment. And you can take complete control of those thoughts at any time you decide to.

Once you have defined your ideal future, set and determined your goals and plans, developed a strategy for achieving excellence in your field, and commit yourself to continuous learning, develop the habit of moving quickly and taking the initiative in each area of your life that is important to you. Instead of waiting for things to happen, develop the habit of making things happen. Instead of waiting for things to get better, take the initiative to change or improve whatever situation you find yourself in.

What you see is what you will be

The most powerful message that you can send from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind is a visualisation or mental image. Develop the habit of creating clear, positive, exciting pictures of yourself performing at your best, and of your goals as if they were already achieved.

Each time you create a mental image in your conscious mind, you send a message that activates your subconscious mind, triggers the Law of Attraction, stimulates your creativity, and moves you toward the realisation of that mental picture in your external world.

It is not easy to change your entire way of thinking and become an extraordinary person as the result of your own efforts, and your own work on yourself. But it is definitely possible, when you accept complete responsibility and take full control over the evolution and development of your own character and personality.

BY CAPT. SAM ADDAIH (RTD)

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