More Observations on Success, part 2

Need to be clear
Take the time to figure out what you want- without a clear outcome you waste time.

Why we need why
Ideology is the fuel of effort- you have to know the why before you will consistently implement the how.

Logical Consequences
There is no short selling these points- a diet, a budget and a schedule DO mean sacrafice, giving up things, CONSCIOUSLY making trade offs. These are simply the logical consequences of deciding to discipline yourself and therefore take control of your life.

Illusionary Progress
The reason that people get sucked into believing “illusionary progress” is because they get addicted tio epiphanies rather than measurable results

Don't tell me how great a seminar/ book was- tell me what key distinctions you got out of it and how you are going to use them to immediately improve your life in the next 24 hrs (courtesy Peter Drucker)

Remember!! The brain responds to repetition and emotion

That which gets measured gets done. Further, the more you measure it the faster and the better it gets done.

You can't improve that which you can't measure.

Illusionary Progress Theory
Unless progress has been documented (read: quantified) it is probably illusionary. Most of the time that people think they atre making progress, except at the beginning when it is often very easy to progress, they are really kidding themselves. This is especially true if they have not documented the progress and they have not measured it.

Comfort Zone
You will only master those things that you feel comfortable with. This is because you will only pick up the subtlties in those areas you feel comfortable with- and you need to pick up subtlties to master. Furthermore, you need to acheive MASTERY to gain any sort of real advantage from anything.

This does NOT mean that you should only do things that you feel comfortable with- this will leave you in a rut. It does mean that you should do those things that you already feel comfortable with AND you should be continually seeking out new ways of doing things -whether they are better ways of doing what you currently doing things or ways of doing new things- that you CAN feel comfortable with.

Need for Specifics
You need specific in order to get anything done- YOU MUST FOCUS ON SPECIFICS OR NOTHING GETS DONE!!

The Double Edged Power of Focus
The great thing about life is that whatever you focus on you improve- and this is also the worst thing about life if your focus is wrong. The double edged power of focus.

On: Number of Ways of doing things
One way gives you hope
Two ways gives you a belief
Three ways gives you confidence
Four or more ways gives you certainty
Success is the product of several things working together. Hence it is important that you know the "components of success" so that you can optimize each one.

Power of Identity
Since your personal growth is nothing more than the growth of your identity, by focusing on your outcomes along with how you need to change your identity to reach it you are MAXIMIZING your rate of growth and the amount of improvement that you make in your life.

By continually focusing on solutions we send a clear signal to the brain that we are commited to this. We really want it. It strengthens your will

Questions, asked persistently and with enough intensity will call forth the answers embedded within your mind- and this answer will be a starting point.

You need to reinforce your reasons so they reinforce you when you need it. Feed your reasons so they can feed you when you need it.

The only constant is gravity. You need to continually refocus because life continually pushes you to entropy- getting out of focus.

It is rarely a matter of CAPABILITIES, it is a matter of PRIORITIES and STRATEGIES.

The successful insist on controling their lives- even if it means short term losses.

Unless you CONSCIOUSLY make decisions, you won't be in control of your life.
The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the states you CONSISTENTLY live in.