Overnight Success

Is it possible to just be in the right place at the right time and boom ...you're an overnight sensation? ... an instant success?

Hmm ... probably not.  The belief that success can happen over night is a myth.   Please don't buy into the images of success you see in the media when you look at athletes, entertainers and highly successful entrepreneurs.  All we see when we look at those individuals is their status, their current level, their income and their fame.  Rarely ever do we stop and think or even try to acknowledge the long road they had to travel to get to this moment in time.

Success takes time and it takes patience.  It also takes hard work, practice and a vision of what is to be achieved in the long term.   When we admire some one's success, or even our own, we often focus on the end result and not so much on the effort (and time) that it took to get there.  We begin to develop unrealistic expectations, and some of us even assume that "they must be lucky!".

Luck has absolutely nothing to do with it!  To make it today, you have to have a "no quit" attitude!  Being successful doesn't mean you have to be a superstar, it just means you have to remain committed to your goals.   Be consistent in your efforts, stick to it and over time you will see results. Failure only exists in the minds of people who quit.

Success is built on a foundation of bricks called "little events and achievements".  Sometimes these small achievements can seem to take an eternity and those little events often include a few disappointments along the way.   They can challenge everything about you to the core - your stamina, courage, integrity, and even your willingness to keep going.

But if you focus on what's not working, you will likely become frustrated as your mind wraps around all that is wrong.   You may even have negative thoughts like "I'm not good enough," "It will never work," or "Something must be wrong with me."

The key is to focus on what IS working.Celebrate every step along the way.  Recognize your growth as future milestones.  A simple practice to help you keep your focus and record these smaller accomplishments might be to maintain a journal.  It is a great way to steer your attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for yourself.   Start each day with reflections on what you are grateful for in your life (list them out!) and end each day with notes on what went right (again, write them down), however small they may seem.

So what happens when you have done all that and you are still not seeing results?  I'll ask you then, are you taking real action? In order to achieve your goals and feel the success you wish to define for yourself you must understand it's not what you say that will get you there, it's what you do!

Now, you may be taking the actions you are used to taking.  But if you keep doing what you've already done, then you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. It's a matter of practicing some new behaviors. Shake things up a bit and see if you can take new actions or modify existing ones.

Every day do five specific things that will move you closer to your goals.  Change up the five actions regularly and be open to feedback so you know when you're off course.

It's natural to underestimate how long a certain goal can take, especially a profound one.  Patience is a virtue.  But keep at it, and in no time, you'll be only one week, or one day away from your ultimate success.

Be GRATEFUL, reflect on what IS working and continue to take ACTION!