Sometimes, success might not seem worth the stress, struggle, and disappointment. Although success is in essence quite simple, it’s not necessarily easy to achieve. However, avoiding the mistakes that limit success can be the best first step toward achieving success. Recognising and avoiding these mistakes can provide a stepping-stone to new levels of achievement.
Are You Limiting Your Success by Making these Mistakes?
1. Not having effective habits in place. Regardless of your definition of success, there are habits that will help to ensure you achieve your goals and others that create barriers to your success. Ask yourself if you’re currently operating in a way that brings you closer to success each day. What habits do you need to demonstrate each day to guarantee success?
Great successes take time. It’s the little things, done consistently over a long period of time, that make the difference.
2. A lack of clear and concise goals. If you don’t have clarity and aren’t specific about your goals, how will you know if you’re successful? Successful people are clear about what they want to achieve and review progress towards their goals regularly.
3. A lack of a plan. Those that struggle to achieve success often act without thinking about what they are doing, they’re on autopilot. They don’t really have a plan or a desired outcome. The result is being reactive. They’re either passive or constantly putting out fires. Don’t leave your success to chance, put a plan in place that moves you towards your goal.
4. Mistaking busyness for productiveness. Mistaking 8 hours of activity for 8 hours of productivity is the result of flawed thinking. Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? It suggests that 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results. Most people gravitate towards the easier, more comfortable activities but these often provide a more limited return.
Being busy isn’t the same as making real progress. Choose the activities that have the greatest effect.
5. A lack of consistency. Champions are consistent to the extreme. You might not be interested in planning out your day to the minute and living that same day over and over again, but success does require more consistency than the average person is willing to demonstrate. Consistently spend time each and every day to reach your goals.
6. Not dealing with discomfort effectively. Progress requires new behaviours and new behaviours are inherently uncomfortable on some level. Comfort is only found in repetition, and repeating past behaviours often results in standing still. Successful people are able to get comfortable with discomfort and are therefore better equipped to effectively move forward.
7. Not learning from mistakes and failures. Successful people are often those who have failed the most. It’s common to avoid failure, but this is a mistake. While failure shouldn’t be the goal, it can be an expected part of attaining success. Aim to see your first attempt at something new as a starting point.
Failure is an undesired result that allows you to make a better go of things next time. Constant improvement ultimately ends in success.
8. Preoccupation with things that can’t be changed. There are a multitude of things that can’t be changed, particularly things that have happened in the past. Learn to let go of your limiting beliefs so that you can focus your energy on the things you can change for the better going forward.
Success can be elusive, but it’s much easier to find when you can avoid the most common mistakes. Avoiding mistakes is a pivotal part of success. Create a few goals and then create habits that support those goals. Deal with discomfort and learn from your mistakes. Success can be that simple.
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