You have been working really hard. Day in and day out you have left no stone unturned to make it large. So what exactly makes you successful? Is it just the struggle or the hardships you have put in or is it the quality of the service, product or goods that matters? More importantly how can we quantify success? If you think it is all about making money. Think again.

You may own a Porche or a pent house but the pride of ownership is temporary. Real success comes from the quality of your relationships and the emotions that you experience each day. All you need to do is question yourself these basic 5 questions and well that indeed is your shortcut to success.

  1. Do I love what I do?
  2. Did I add more value to what I already know?
  3. Was I open to new things and changes as and when they may come?
  4. Do I know where am I headed a month hence?
  5. Am I motivated enough to continue doing the same thing consistently?

The questions you ask yourself on a daily basis determine your focus, and your focus determines your results. These questions let you focus on what is important and worthwhile to you. Take them into consideration and success would automatically fall into place.

Again the last question, ‘Am I motivated enough to continue doing the same thing consistently’, worries you. How can one continue being pumped up all the time? How can one be energized to be able to think of new ideas every single day both on the professional and personal front. Here are XX tools/strategies to help you stay motivated all the time.

  1. Do not anticipate evil: Be positive and avoid all sorts of negative thoughts. Train your mind to think of positive things. Things may get delayed a little and there can be times when you fail but not always will the failure be not worth enough a try. Keep trying and things would materialize.
  2. Be active: Having an active mind flooded with useful ideas will not help until and unless you are physically fit enough to implement it. Most of us neglect our diet and physical fitness in order to make our business plans work. This will never last long as gradually your energy subsides with age and ailments.

  3. Select your peer wisely: You may disagree but the truth remains, more than 70% of your peer consists of people who are there just for the sake of it. And many of them are really negative. They drain you off your energy and rob off the positivity around. Having negative people around is like shooting yourself in the foot.

  4. Be inspired: Read motivational case studies. Follow inspirational idols. Study successful people, not just their business plan but also how they are as a person. Learn the tricks of the trade, as well as the traits of the person. There is no harm in imitating successful people or the strategies.

  5. Rigidity isn’t durable enough: Nothing but change is permanent so be flexible. Being consistent is good but the ability to mould and adapt is the ladder to leadership.

  6. Aim high: If you want to achieve 5 set the target for 10 so that if not 8 you can end up achieving 6 at least. Any action which doesn’t gets you higher results is a wasted effort.

  7. Take pride in failure: Yes we know there is nothing to boast about a failure but an attempt made is some sort of improvement in itself. You fail only when you quit trying so stretch your limits and keep growing. Like they say, be curious and willing to experiment. It doesn’t matter if you fail. Be gald that you learnt one more ‘what not to do’ and try and avoid it next time.

  8. Don’t be complacent: We easily get comfortable with success. Once you reach the set target, do not sit back and relax. Never let your success be the breed ground for your failure in future. Reaching for the top is comparatively easier than being a consistent topper.

  9. Strive for excellence rather than the unachievable: Being a perfectionist is heartening but it may be exhaustive and too time consuming. Do not overdo one thing and under perform in the next. Be consistent and pay equal attention on all your targets.

  10. I did it: No one but you is responsible for the outcome. Take credit and responsibility of both success and failure in the same manner. Luck, fate or Thy have nothing to do with it so be bold and be strong enough to admit things and take them on yourself.

Keeping the above pointers in mind may not guarantee success but they do definitely ensure improvement. And when you improve a little every single day, you grow. Success is nothing but growth. Nothing new or unknown but at times we need to reiterate the same again and again so that it sinks deep within.

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