(This blog was originally posted on July 21, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Fotolia |
There are various paths to
success. On the one hand, you can make a detailed plan about what you need to
do then follow specific steps or a strategy to actualize your goal. Alternatively,
you get an idea or feel inspired about something you would like to achieve and
then wait and see how it will work out without you having to do anything else
to facilitate the desired outcome. Sometimes success just falls into our lap;
you are in the right place at the right time and good fortune falls into your
lap. And then there are different combinations of these paths that yield
varying results in actualizing your plan.
- Oprah Winfrey once said: “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” This philosophy empowers and encourages us to achieve our goals by planning and doing the ground, grunt and glory work, as it were, to facilitate this success. Luck or serendipity may play a part in this outcome; but the most important component of your success is what you are willing to put into it. The greatest risk (or guarantee) of failure or a sub-par performance is when you slack off or stop paying attention to what you need to do to realize your dream. Here are some examples of these behaviors and outcomes:
- “Perfect practice makes perfect performance.” This is a popular training motto among athletes and performers, but it’s obviously applicable to every area of our lives. I lost count of how many martial artists repeated this mantra when I wrote training and technique articles about them for Black Belt magazine. For example, kickboxing champions train to connect all of their techniques in practice; otherwise, they risk pulling a punch or kick during a competition that could cost points or even the match. Michele Krasnoo, an actress and kickboxing champion, once explained how she studied video-recordings of each of her training sessions and competitions. She explained that she was looking for errors in her technique; moreover, she said, if she didn’t find a mistake (or ten) then she hadn’t been looking hard enough and would re-watch the footage. Right away, I loved her humility and dedication to improving her game and adopted this philosophy in my dressage training.
- “You can’t win the Lottery of you don’t buy a ticket.” This quote is actually from an episode of Chuck Norris’ hit series Walker, Texas Ranger. The point is, if you don’t show up mentally, emotionally and physically and put in the effort to achieve your goal, you will not succeed. Winning the Lottery has more to do with luck and chance than skill, but you won’t be able to collect that multimillion-dollar jackpot if you don’t hold the winning ticket.
- “Buy a cheap suit, get a cheap suit.” This quote from Pet Shop Boys front-man Neil Tennant says it all about the direct relationship between quality of workmanship and quality of your product. While he was referring to the cost of clothing and the quality of its materials and manufacture, this philosophy could also speak to the metaphor about self-worth. When you don’t believe (or perceive) that you have value—i.e., low self-confidence and low self-esteem—your motivation to continue to grow and strive takes a hit, as does the “products” that you create at work, hobbies, etc. If you don’t make your best effort and employ your skills and expertise in the project, if you don’t use the finest-quality materials or technology, the quality of your product will suffer. I teach my clients about the Mental Bank Concept to help them appreciate and increase their self-value and self-esteem. As these perceptions increase and they start taking actions to “attract” what that they want, more and more opportunities and goals become manifested in their lives.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a
certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with
honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
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