At a workshop that I recently attended, Harv Eker said that “Life is the greatest game. In our life, we are the referee, judge, jury and time keeper….how can we possibly lose this game?” This has stuck with me and forms the core to my thinking around success. If we are in control of our thinking, which impacts our emotions which influences our actions…..why are we all not terribly happy millionaires?……Below are 8 success tips that I follow and believe are the difference between those who are successful and those who are not.

1. Have a plan to be successful.

For me this has to come to first. If you do not know what you want, how will you ever achieve anything. People say to me….”why are you successful” and my response is always the same. Everyone has the opportunity to be successful, it depends on what standards you put in place to judge success and then the plans you put in place to get you there. The plans help you realize your success. The greater clarity you have of your goals, the more likely you are of achieving them!

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aims too short and achieving nothing. We get in life, what we intend to get….to be a success, you must have plans to be successful.

2. Learn from someone who has what you want……

If you want to be a millionaire, learn from someone who has made a million dollars…..if you want to improve your relationship, learn from someone who has the best relationship and so on. Success is not a secret. Follow the steps that someone else has followed and repeat. If you are procrastinating, you are probably doing something you don’t like/are not passionate about or don’t know how. Figure out who knows ‘the how’! Part of advancement is being brave enough to not only ask for help from someone who will know the answer but to ask the right person!

3. Appoint a Mentor, Coach or someone to hold you accountable for your actions

“High achievement only takes place in the framework of high expectation” (Jack and Garry Kinder). Appoint someone who can ‘kick your but’ to ensure that you are staying on track and particularly make sure that you 1) have a plan in place on a continual basis 2) that you are measuring yourself against this plan and 3) that you take corrective action QUICKLY when required.

4. Don’t hold back or let fear hold you back.

You can overcome fear through knowledge and repetition. Never let yourself be held back because of lack of skill – all skills are learnable. Being successful is not rocket science…..it is a habit.

5. Manage your time effectively. Do fewer things but more important things more often.

Effective Time Management is king. It also ensures that you are actively looking at the ROI for your time. Focus on the things that deliver the greatest returns.

6. Your weakest key skill sets the height of your income/success.

Not knowing your weaknesses and consequently therefore not addressing them is the sea anchor that holds you back. Focusing on your weakest skills will generate the biggest improvement. Work on your weakness and master it and your whole life will change. This concept is also true for the management of your team.

7. The only way you can improve is to be honest with yourself.

Have plenty of ideas but don’t fall in love with your own good idea if it is not working. Have process in place to ensure that you stop doing what doesn’t work and move on!

8. What you focus on expands – give yourself time to dream big!

Focus on negative ie debt – negative expands, focus on positive ie success and growth, positive expands. If you spend all of your time looking backwards (ie poor results from last quarter/replanning/replanning/looking for reasons etc and no time thinking about the future/new strategies and consequently continue to do things in the same way, you will always get the same result.

Some of my favourite success quotes:-

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• “High Achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation” (Jack and Garry Kinder)”
• “Leadership is pursuit – pursuit of excellence, of elegance, of truth, of what’s next, of what if, of change, of value, of results, of relationships, of service, of knowledge, of something bigger than themselves” (Mike Myatt)
• “Only those you dare to fail greatly can every achieve greatly” (Robert F Kennedy)
• “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary” (Donald Kendall)
• “Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb but how well you bounce”
• “I believe that it is not what or who you are that holds you back….it is what you think you are not” (Paulette Kolarz)

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