People tend to have a misconstrued definition of
success. We love to say things like:
“I’ll be successful once I find a career
related to my passion.”
“I’ll be a success when I make my first
million dollars.”
“I’ll be a success when I find the love of
my life.”
Notice something about these platitudes? They
look at success as a destination — a place we
can all reach and prance around with our
success forever after learning THE PLAN for
how to be successful. Yay!
Well, I got news for you: NO YOU WON’T!!!
The truth is success isn’t a goal or destination
— it’s a MINDSET you take on to achieve your
goals. And like all other mindsets, you don’t just
drop it once you achieve your goals. Instead,
you adopt it so you can carry it with you
forever.
And I’ll be honest: Success isn’t an easy feat to
accomplish.
It’s human nature to look for the quick fixes and
get-rich-quick schemes — even though those
methods are often temporary and incredibly
ineffective.
Our brain wants to use the path of least
resistance. If we really want to learn how to be
successful, though, we have to go against our
nature and challenge the three mental barriers
that knock us off course:
- Chasing “magic bullets”
- Fearing failure
- Letting guilt control you
Only by breaking past these mental walls, can
we truly become successful in life.
That’s why I want to help you rewire how you
think about success and help you break down
these barriers once and for all.
Bonus: I asked 15 of the world’s top
experts to share some of the most
successful tests they’ve run. Download my
free 15 Little Life Hacks guide and start
taking action today.
Success barrier #1: Chasing
“magic bullets”
A magic bullet is the “ONE THING you NEED to
become successful.”
We’ve seen them all before in weight loss
commercials, cologne ads, and late-night
infomercials. That’s because marketers know
how powerful magic bullets can be.
That’s why we’re constantly bombarded with
internet ads like, “THIS MAN LOST 50 LBS IN
AN HOUR. FITNESS EXPERTS HATE HIM!!!”
We also see magic bullets outside of advertising
too. Take Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for
example.
BTW, this is just The Rock warming up .
Comments and responses to a picture like this
typically sound like this, “Omg you look so
swole! What’s your secret? What brand of
protein shake do you drink? Tell me your
secrets, PLEASE.”
When the fact of the matter is that The Rock
doesn’t have a “secret” to his muscles. Hell,
he’s even released his full diet and exercise
regimen online and has gone on record saying
he doesn’t use steroids.
When people find out what he eats and the
exercises he does, the reactions typically sound
like this:
“You eat 6,000 calories a day and 10
pounds of food!? Impossible!”
“821 pounds of cod a year ? And steamed,
not fish sticks? No thank you.”
“That’s ridiculous to work out 4 hours a
day. How do you expect me to do that!?”
“Stop lying to everyone. We ALL know
you do steroids.”
If they really wanted to be as big as The Rock,
they’d work as hard as him too.
But these people don’t want to deal with the fact
that he looks the way he does because his diet
and workout are INSANE. They don’t want to put
in the work — they hear how he is successful at
working out and immediately start looking for a
shortcut.
That’s why they’d rather find out his brand of
protein shake or the workout gloves he uses — it
offers an easy (and utterly wrong) way to find
success.
Whether you’re trying to start a business, find a
job, or improve your fitness…MAGIC BULLETS
DON’T EXIST.
Success barrier #2: Fearing
failure more than craving
success
Fear of failure is a very real and incredibly
debilitating barrier holding a lot of us back from
winning.
For example:
We don’t apply for that job because we’re
sure there’s “no way” we can get it.
We don’t talk to that cute girl or guy
because we think they’re “way out of our
league.”
We don’t take that course that could
potentially change our lives because we
think “what if it doesn’t work for me?”
And I don’t blame anyone for it — I’ve felt the
very same fears myself before.
My good friend, James Altucher, the author of
Choose Yourself and a successful entrepreneur,
has failed MANY times. A while back, he sat
down to talk to me about this for the video
below.
Pay attention to what James says at 0:40 — he
mentions that even the most successful people
have fear…but unlike most people they adopt
specific mindsets that help them avert that fear.
If there’s one thing you should take away from
what James said, it’s this: Fear of failure
happens when you live in the future rather than
the present.
That’s why adopting a mindset of themes helps
fight that fear.
Rather than aiming to “earn a million dollars,”
you should set a theme in your life like, “I want
to add more value everywhere I can.” Once you
do that, you stop fearing failure and start
embracing the moment.
To that end, we should then frame any “failure”
you do encounter as a source of feedback and
an avenue to succeed the next time you try.
Failure is NOT a reason to give something up.
Success barrier #3: Letting
guilt control you
It’s interesting how people fall into the paradox
of guilt — and don’t even realize it’s happening.
After all, how often have you talked to a friend
about working out, saving money, or studying
for school and heard them say something like,
“Yeah, I know I really should be doing that but…”
followed by some lame-brained excuse as to
why they’re putting off their self-development?
“I know I really should be doing that” is just code
for “I’m not going to do that at all.”
It’s the same with people in credit card
debt — many don’t even know how much debt
they have! They’d rather avoid their statements
and bury their head in the sand than face the
reality of how much they owe.
Which is why I want to make it clear that when I
say you should be honest with yourself and hold
yourself accountable, I DON’T mean “feel
incredibly guilty for the things you’re not doing.”
And when you DO feel guilty, don’t run away
from it. Instead, follow these four steps to
overcome it.
Step 1: Acknowledge the guilt.
When you realize that you feel guilty about
something — like not hitting the gym or saving
up for retirement — I want you to just take a
moment and acknowledge the feeling.
Recognize your guilt and ask yourself what is
making you feel guilty. That leads us to…
Step 2: Use the “five whys” technique.
This technique comes from a Japanese
industrialist named Sakichi Toyoda. He
developed the method in order to find solutions
at the root of recurring issues related to his
manufacturing plant and helped blow up his
company into a household name — you might
have heard of it: Toyota Motors .
At the heart of the technique is the question
“why?” The idea is that most all problems can
be solved by asking “why” five times
— sometimes even less — and getting to the root
issue.
Say you feel guilty because you’ve been
meaning to open an investment account but
haven’t. You can utilize the technique like this:
Why do I feel guilty?
Because I haven’t opened an investment
account.
Why haven’t I opened an investment
account?
Because I don’t even know where to start.
Why is that?
Because I bought an investment book years
ago and haven’t read it yet.
Why haven’t I read it?
Because it’s in a box in my basement
underneath the Christmas decorations.
See what happened? In less than 5 whys, we
figured out how to begin solving this HUGE
issue with just one step: taking the time to find
a book. Now this person knows the first step to
getting started with his investments.
Step 3: Write it all down.
Take everything from steps 1 and 2 and write it
all down — your guilt, each of the whys you
asked, and how you can solve everything. This
will help you get a clear understanding of how
your mind works when it comes to guilt and
problem solving.
It will also give you a good place to go back to
when you decide to finally solve the problem
— which brings us to…
Step 4: Take action…tomorrow.
That’s right. Once you write everything down, I
want you to step back and give it some space.
Because we’re HUMANS — and as humans we
are naturally cognitive misers and have limited
willpower. Just doing the five whys and
investigating your guilt takes a lot — so just pick
it up later when you’re fresh and ready to take
action. I suggest setting aside some time in a
day or two so you don’t keep pushing it off.
Once you recognize and tackle these barriers,
it’s time to follow…