Success Takes Time and Hard Work—Follow These 5 Steps to Stick With It to the End

We live in an immediate gratification kind of society and why should the idea of being successful be any different?

There are people who really do have a spark. They get a great idea and decide to go for it. But they ultimately fail, only because they do not stick with it long enough for their endeavor to succeed—they did not see it through to the end.

 As a blogger and a writer, I have personally learned that success takes time, hard work, and just plain stick-to-it-ness. Have you ever noticed on the web that there are a lot of dead blogs out there (according to the International Bloggers Association, approximately 95 percent are in the blog graveyard along with their deceased Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. It is kind of sad, really. All of these blogs started with excitement. They started with purposeful energy. Now they are just gone. The million dollar question is this: How do you stick with it (whatever “it” is) long enough to succeed? These five steps can help you cross the finish line of this marathon—and you will see your idea through.

  1. Find the passion.

Embark on this project only if you are passionate about it, because it’s passion that energizes you for the long-haul. If not, you will inevitably tire of it and probably will not stay with it.

  1. Know your “why.”

Why are you doing this? For me, writing in my journal helps clarify why it is important to me. Ask yourself, how will your idea impact your life? Your career? How will it help others? Your family?

  1. Write out a plan.

The best intentions can get lost if we don’t have a roadmap to follow. Write out a business plan for your idea that includes tangible action steps. Make them specific. Give them a timeframe.

  1. Make it a daily habit.

Sometimes to make our big plans and dreams come true, we have to fit them into whatever else we have going on in our lives. You have to find a way to incorporate this plan into your daily life so that it becomes as routine as brushing your teeth.

  1. Stick with it.

Have the big picture in mind. What are you aspiring to do? Don’t let anything or anybody discourage you. Just do it. Eventually, if you keep the end goal in mind, you will get there. You really will! And when you do, it will be so worth it.

“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.” –Author Unknown

 

This article is shortened down, but originally from Debra DiPietro which is a 2015 SUCCESS BlogStars winner, nominated and voted upon as one of the most influential self-development writers and bloggers on the web for her blog, The Warm Milk Journal

‘Dreams Are for Losers’

Shonda Rhimes (https://no.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shonda_Rhimes And http://wifey.tv/video/shonda-rhimes-dreams-are-for-losers/ ) hold this speech for the Dartmouth University grads and for me this is a strange thing to say. Yes I can agree if dream is all you do, but if you then put a plan to it… She also says that while you are busy dreaming the successful people are busy doing… Well sorry Shonda Rhimes, but I think the successful people also have dreamed it first and then they do… 
 I am a dreamer, and I thought to myself that it is a stupid thing to be. Look around, life is terrible and people are terrible and dreaming is naive and dumb. It’s easy to question the things you are when someone else put a question mark on what you believe in.

But then I remembered that speech «I have a dream» by Martin Luther King,that guy wasn’t naive and dumb—far from it. And he didn’t just talk. He did stuff to try to make his dream come true. And the speaking of the dream, the vision, it infused a lot of other people with energy and hope to act and keep on acting, especially when things were terrible.

I identify myself as a dreamer. But to me, a dreamer is also a doer, a doer also a dreamer. I think that by the very nature of doing something with all your heart and hustle, there is an underlying belief there that what you’re doing matters, that it will propel you somewhere, even if you don’t know or ever dreamed of where. I don’t think dreamers have to know where they’re going either. How can you ever really know?

What you call yourself, what moves you, whether it’s a dream or simply the task of the day, doesn’t really matter, at least not to me.

To me what matters is you using your gifts to their fullest, sharing your art, creating your thing, being your kindest self, and allowing it to grow outside yourself, to seep into the life of someone else, to make it a little better.

Because if you dream of being a writer, you should write. The rest is unknowable, and though you can’t always create the exact outcome you intend, what I’ve learned is you do create a special kind of potential, possibility and growth—a kind that will not exist unless you do your dream. Unless you try. Every day. Even when it feels like it’s going nowhere.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t seem to help but say yes to that.

This is based on an article from the Success Magazine and Isa Adney, read the whole article here: Dreams are for Loosers

5 Keys to Develop a Plan for Success

When you look at successful people, you will almost always discover a plan behind their success.  They know what they want, they work out a strategy that will get them where they want to go, and they work that plan.  It is the foundation for success.

So what are some good ideas on developing a plan that will work well and take you to the finish line powerfully and in style?  Here are some major points to keep in mind:

  1. Develop the right plan for you.  Your plan is the one you’ll develop that is unique to you and for you.  Each of us is unique and motivated by different factors and you’ve got to develop one that is right for you and fits you.  Whatever your personality, your strengths and your weaknesses, develop the plan around them.  This is not a one-plan-fits-all proposition.
  1. Keep a journal.  Record the ideas and inspiration that will carry you from where you are to where you want to be.  Take note on the ideas that impact you most.  Brainstorm with yourself on where you are going and what you want to do.  Record your dreams and ambitions.  Your journals are a gathering place for all the valuable information that you will find.
  1. Reflect.  Create time for reflection ‒ a time to go back over, to study again the things you’ve learned and the things you’ve done each day.  Take a few minutes at the end of each day and go back over the day ‒ who’d you talk to, who’d you see, what did they say, what happened, how’d you feel, what went on?  A day is a piece of the mosaic of your life.
  1. Set goals.  Your plan is the roadmap for how you are going to get to your goals so you have to have them.  Setting goals is the greatest influence on a person’s future and the greatest force that will pull a person in the direction that they want to go.  But the future must be planned, well designed, to exert a force that pulls you towards the promise of what can be.
  1. Act on your plan.  What separates the successful from the unsuccessful so many times is that the successful simply do it.  They take action.  They aren’t necessarily smarter than others; they just work the plan.  All disciplines affect each other…. Everything affects everything.  That’s why the smallest action is important ‒ because the value and benefits that you receive from that one little action will inspire you to do the next one and the next one.  So step out and take action on your plan because if the plan is good, then the results can be miraculous.

— Jim Rohn

To Lead, Start with Yourself

As a leader I frequently get asked the question:

What is my greatest accomplishment— the greatest thing I have ever seen happen as a leader?

And after reading an Earl Nightingale article he titled “The Greatest Things,” I thought I would compile my own list of a leader’s greatest “things.”

The list I am going to share with you over the next few months is very subjective. I suggest that after I share them with you, you do your own assessment—because there is no right or wrong answer. What I am giving you is my own subjective and personal thinking on leadership. So let’s get started with the first one.

The Leader’s Greatest Victory—Victory over Self

My greatest victory every day is victory over self. I don’t want to put this in past tense because this is a daily battle I have to fight. Not a day goes by where I don’t have to work on myself and battle the temptations of self.

When people think of leadership, the common thought is a leader’s greatest victory is with others. That is a normal and understandable thought process. Because what do leaders do? They lead others. They are taking people someplace, right?

Read more of the article «Maximum Leadership» from John C. Maxwell right here at this link:

www.successmagazine.com/john-maxwell-leadership/PARAMS/article/924

Enjoy!