Success
Dreaming is fun, achieving those dreams isn’t always so enjoyable. If you want the things you desire, you’re going to need to work your ass off.
But it isn’t a matter of just doing a lot for a long time. There are different approaches to use along with working hard and you need to find a balance. It’s almost like an art form.
This is the art of hard work.
Work smarter while working harder
One of the new sayings I’ve been hearing more and more is frustrating me more and more; “Don’t work harder, work smarter.” I feel like a lot of people are taking it out of context and see it as advice to find the easiest and shortest way to achieving a goal.
I look at working smarter not as the quickest route or cheating, but as learning from yesterdays mistakes so that you won’t repeat them again.
If you want to achieve a goal you need to not only work smarter, you need to work harder than you have been.
Hard work can be mental work
Hard work may only seem like back breaking labor but there are a lot of people who are putting their minds to hard work. Most tasks that require you to do so are creative such as writing. When you’re doing mental work people might label you as “lazy” because they don’t see you running around, digging ditches, and lifting heavy items.
You need a little patience (or a lot)
Patience is an action you need to take with all your hard work. The results from doing hard work can take a long time to enjoy so you have to find patience to keep you going forward and sane.
Don’t get discourage though, because hard work does eventually produce results. When there’s an action, there has to be a reaction.
Know that good work is hard
Even if you’re doing noble work like helping the homeless, building wells in Africa, and changing lives, it’s going to be hard work. And a lot of the times it’s going to be harder than doing selfish work, perhaps that’s the reason not everyone does it.
Know what to sacrifice and what not to
When you’re working hard you’re going to have to make sacrifices. There’s no way around it. But you need to prioritize and know what is worth sacrificing and what isn’t worth missing.
A few things worth sacrificing:
- A meal – If you’re healthy enough and have enough energy, it might be worth skipping a lunch or dinner once and a while to give yourself more time to achieve a goal.
- Partying – I’m taking about going to get drunk. What’s the fun in it first of all? And secondly, what good are you getting from it, especially with regards to productivity?
- Shopping – If you don’t need anything, try not to go for the fun of it. You spend money you don’t need to spend and you’ll have more junk to cram in your house.
What’s not worth sacrificing:
- Your life – Your life consists of time with family, memories to be made, and stopping to smell the roses.
Don’t get so swept up with achieving goals and a better life that you forget to enjoy the life you already have. Here are a few questions that will help you evaluate what’s worth giving up to get more done and what’s not.
- Is this a once and a lifetime event?
- Is this a “first”?
- Is this a “last”?
- Who’s getting old and might not be around much longer for me to see?
- How much time do I need to give up?
- Am I working so hard to achieve what I already have?
Be your biggest competitor
Working harder than other people is important, but your biggest competition is you. You’ve got to work harder and more efficient than you did in the past and you need to do things differently than you have been to achieve something you’ve never had.
The key to making hard work easier
Hard work can become less like “work” when you have passion and find purpose in what you’re doing.
Writing for this site and promoting it is often hard work, but what makes it so enjoyable is knowing that what I write helps people. It keeps me going and when I receive an email or a comment from a reader telling me how much they enjoy my writing it puts a smile on my face and the hard work doesn’t seem like “work” anymore.
Do you practice the art of hard work? What works for you and what doesn’t? Please share any tips you might have in the comments below.
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“The sky’s the limit.” That’s a phrase we all want to hear be used to describe our dreams and success.
It means we can do almost anything and climb as high as we want; until we reach the sky.
The sky may be a far distance away, but for me it’s too limiting. I want my dreams and success to live without a sky and go beyond the stratosphere. I want them to be limitless.
I know that you want the same for your success and dreams. So here are 7 ways to push your dreams beyond the limit.
1. Have numerous dreams but focus on a few
Don’t limit yourself and what you want to accomplish. Create numerous goals in all areas of your life and in all sizes. I have hundreds myself; from big to small, but I’m not tackling all of them at once. I’m currently focusing on two big ones.
In the past I would try to work on so many goals at one time that eventually no steps would get accomplished and no goals were achieved. I thought it was because I was a failure, but I realized I needed to FOCUS.
Take one or two, at the max three goals to focus on. With these goals you will make steps towards them every single day, so you’ll need every rocket behind these to propel them past the stratosphere.
Now, just because you’re focusing on one or two goals doesn’t mean you should lose sight of all your other dreams. Keep them in mind because they’re often huge motivation to achieve what you’re currently tackling.
2. Increase the size of your dreams
Say your original dream was to write a book that becomes a bestseller and sells 100,000 copies. If you want to push your dream beyond the sky’s limit, then aim to sell 1 million copies.
Increase the size of your dream beyond what you originally thought you could achieve and you’ll instantly push your dreams beyond your limits.
3. Shorten times frames
You might think it’s going to take a decade to achieve a big dream but if minimize your time say to two years you’d be surprised at how quickly you can achieve it if you work hard towards it every day.
Don’t underestimate how much you can get done.
4. Push yourself beyond your current limits
If you want to achieve mediocre results for your dreams then do things that you’ve been doing and that you’re not fearful of.
But if you want to push your dreams beyond the limit you’ve got to push yourself into uncharted lands and through your fears.
Making plans for big dreams that reach into space is one thing, but actually accomplishing them is a totally different thing that requires you to push yourself to the edge.
5. Let critics push you
When you’re going for dreams that reach to the sky’s limit, let alone beyond it, you’re going to attract the attention of critics and naysayers.
They’re going to make fun of your goals no matter how big or small they are. Don’t let them push you down; instead use their criticism as an extra push in the direction of your goals.
If they say your dreams are impossible, then you should rethink them. And make the dreams even bigger and more “impossible.”
6. Harness competitors
Don’t beat down or sabotage your competitors because you’ll go down with them or you’ll achieve mediocre results from it.
Contrary to popular belief, if you help your competitors achieve more, so will you. Their success will push you harder. If they failed, then you’d settle for a low level of success.
7. Turn dreams to goals
The greatest step you need to take to push your dreams beyond the limits is to turn them into goals. To do so:
- Get them out of your head and on to paper. It’s the oldest trick in the book but it works so effectively. You can create a vision board, a life list, or a personal constitution.
- Take action every day; even on holidays. You need to be moving towards your goals every day of the year. I know that everyone can spare a minimum of five minutes each day to take a step that gets you closer. Five minutes isn’t a lot but it adds up.
“Don’t let your dreams be dreams.” – Jack Johnson
8. *Bonus:
Book a flight on Virgin Galactic and literally push your dreams beyond the stratosphere.
What did you think of this article? Did you enjoy it or dislike it? Please leave your comments below.
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Persistence, persistence, persistence. It’s one step to achieving success that needs to be taken every single day.
However, all of us have given up on achieving something; and most of us have done it a lot that it has turned into a habit.
We probably gave up not long after we began or we gave up when we thought we had much longer to go, when in reality, success was only around the corner.
Bad habits like smoking have to be given up, but when it comes to dreams and goals; the ones that keep you up at night and you constantly think about, you can’t simply abandon ship.
It’s time for you to give up your giving up habit! Here’s how:
Identify why you give up
The first step you need to take is to figure out why you give up up goals. There could be a million reasons.
Such as:
- You thought you didn’t have enough money
- The naysayers got to you
- There was too much work
- You were working too long and not getting many results
- Your fears got in the way
- You focused too much on your weaknesses
Create positive pressure
One of the simplest, yet most powerful ways to keep yourself from giving up is to get positive pressure from friends and family.
Tell those who you truly trust what dreams and goals you’re working to achieve in the near future. They’ll help you, without really knowing; to not give up. They will ask how you’re doing with your pursuits; they might give you suggestions and advice. And lastly, they’ll give you positive pressure because you wouldn’t want to disappoint them by giving up. You want to make them proud.
I wouldn’t recommend telling “friends” and family who are constantly negative and belittle your ambitions, if they demotivate you. However, perhaps for you, these people may light a fiercer fire underneath your feet than anyone else because you want to prove them wrong. If that’s so, then share your dreams and goals with them too to add fuel to the flames.
Change your approach
When success is eluding you for what seems like forever, it may be a perfect time to modify your approach. You might be tackling a task in the wrong way and that is why you haven’t achieved much yet.
Here are a few ways to switch you approach:
- Instead of looking to earn a lot of money, put value and people first and money last.
- Extend the time in which you think you’ll achieve a goal. This might help relieve a little pressure and help you focus on the extended view of things, where success lies.
- Work on a goal every single day instead of every once and awhile.
- Add in some fun! Make sure you’re enjoying everything about the pursuit, even the hard work.
When you change an approach, your goal will remain the same, just the road to it may be from a different direction.
Throw out the “overnight” success concept
It’s one of the biggest misconceptions regarding success; that it’s often achieved overnight. It’s a main reason why people give up. It was for me.
Here’s a great quote from Eddie Cantor that sums up the reality of overnight success:
“It takes twenty years to become an overnight success.”
Remind yourself of what’s at stake
You’ve got to remember the main reasons why you need to achieve a goal. It could be to leave a job you hate, to get a better life for you and your loved ones, or it could be so you can change the world.
When you remind yourself of who’s counting on you and the high stakes of something that isn’t a game it’ll be harder for you to quit.
Take a break
Instead of outright giving up, perhaps you’re just burnt out and need a break to recharge.
Maybe you’ll greatly benefit from a few weeks or a month off.
Lay your excuses to rest
“I don’t have enough time.” “I don’t have enough money.” “I’m stupid.” “My life sucks.”
These excuses that many people give may seem legitimate reasons for giving up, however they’re anything but. They’re pathetic.
To show you that these are weak excuses here are two stories of people who struggled with difficult circumstances and had legitimate excuses to give up, but didn’t.
- Connie Culp
Connie was attacked five years ago by her husband. He shot her in the face with a shotgun. She didn’t die, but she was badly injured. The attack destroyed her face, leaving a giant hole in the center. Even after reconstructive surgery, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t taste or show expression in her face.
She had a right to give up but she refused to. Then five months ago she received the first full face transplant in the United States. As she continues to recover from the surgery she will be able to taste, breathe on her own and show expression in her face. She now has a new lease on life.
To learn more about her story, please read this article.
- Jacqueline Saburido
Jacqueline was riding with her friends one night in 1999 in Austin, Texas. A drunk driver was speeding down the road and swerved right towards their car. He hit them and on impact, 2 passengers died, 2 others were rescued from the flames, and Jacqueline was pinned in the front seat. The flames engulfed her and she was burned alive. Over 60% of her body had received burns and her face literally melted. She was unrecognizable and her life was changed forever.
Jacqueline could have given up but she decided to use what happened to her to help others. Now she is an advocate against drunk driving and uses her image to keep people from drinking and driving.
To learn more about her incredible story please visit her website.
Have you given up before? Was it for a legitimate reason? Or how do you keep yourself from giving up? Please share in the comment section below.
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I used to wake up late and when I did wake up, it would take me an hour or more to actually get the day started. However, I’ve changed my way and for the last year I’ve been able to wake up early and get to work on my goals right away almost every single day.
I’ve had a few slip ups on holidays and weekends, but sleeping or sitting in bed late now frustrates me. I feel I’m wasting time and I feel that while I’m sitting around, my competition is hard at work succeeding faster than me.
If you’ve been having a tough time getting up in the morning with your ambition intact, here are 6 ways that will get you to wake up early, explode right out of bed, and hit the ground running.
1. Prepare before you go to sleep
Every night before you go to sleep, take 5 to 10 minutes, grab yourself a piece of paper and right down the goals you want and need to accomplish the next day.
Include even the smallest of goals on the list, and one or two bigger goals. 5 to 10 items should be enough, don’t go over 10 though because then you’ll feel overwhelmed, and probably won’t get anything done.
Now put this list right beside your bed, perhaps next to your clock so when you look at the time you’ll see your goals for the day. It’s a great reminder, which leads me to my next tip.
2. Place reminders right next to you
Place an image or images of your dream house, dream car, dream vacation, or something else you want to achieve. For the best results, you can put the pictures above your bed on the ceiling, next to your clock, or wherever you will see it right when you open your eyes.
Also use your most favorite quote. Something that is short and sweet, but something that gets you pumped up. For me, it’s this quote by Abraham Lincoln:
“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”
3. Read a motivating book before bed
Before you go to sleep, crack open a book that you find motivating and inspiring. It could be a personal development book, a biography, or a fiction book.
You might find it difficult to fall asleep if the book is really motivating but it will get your mind thinking and set it up for the day ahead.
4. Think about competitors
When you wake up, take a few minutes to think of what your competitors are doing. They might already be up and ten steps ahead of you on their own goals. To catch up, you’ve got to get up.
5. Do a quick self-evaluation
When you’re laying in bed do a quick evaluation of where your life is at and what you’re grateful for.
Think of:
- Your family
- The bed you’re sleeping in
- The roof over your head
- Your health
- The fact that you woke up and the simple fact that you’re breathing.
6. Remind yourself how short life is
You’ve got to seize every last minute possible. Remind yourself how short life really is and I guarantee you’ll be jumping out of bed.
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Criticism is tough to deal with.
Constructive criticism is much easier but it’s rarely given because most people don’t want to take the time to be helpful.
However, you can certainly ease the pain of regular criticism and turn it into something that helps you.
Here are 7 easy ways to do so.
1. Identify where it’s coming from
People don’t criticize others for no reason. It could be a person’s job, if they’re a critic, but most likely it comes from jealously or from other emotions.
When you’re criticized, ask yourself:
- Is this person jealous?
- Am I more successful than them?
- Is this person just always in a negative mood?
Jealously is probably the biggest driving force for criticism. It’s difficult to see someone else succeed where you failed.
2. Identify who the critic is
If you’re getting criticized on the internet, it’s most likely going to be from trolls and I wouldn’t concern yourself with them or waste much time responding to them.
For offline, find out more information about the person criticizing you. See how much of a success they are and what they do for a living.
3. Evaluate the maturity of the criticism
Most criticisms are very childish sounding. If that’s the type of negative comments you get then I wouldn’t worry about the criticism.
4. Accept the criticism
Criticisms usually have a bit of truth to them, so it might be beneficial to not be in denial and just accept it.
5. Use it to better yourself
Once you’ve accepted the criticism from a source you respect, then it’s time to get to work. Decide how you can become better in the area you were criticized for. But be sure to also remind yourself of what you’re excellent at.
6. Don’t criticize the critic
You don’t always need to fight back or bring yourself down to the level of the critic. Try to reply by saying “thanks for your comment.” That usually quiets people up pretty quick, especially those trying to push your buttons.
7. Know that if you’re not criticized, you’re not successful
I wouldn’t worry about being criticized. What I would be worried about is when I’m not being criticized. It means that you’re not being successful with what you do. Success comes from standing out and being different. And there’s no way to be different and stand out without being criticized.
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