Success is that ever looming destination that everybody longs to reach. Unfortunately, most of us don't know what success is, how to reach it, or how to recognize it. We each reach successes throughout life without really knowing that we have; and so we keep striving.
On the one hand, this is good. We should never become complacent with our situation. We should always strive for more, for better, because if we are not moving forward, we are going backward.
On the other hand, this is bad. If we fail to recognize our successes, we meander through life without knowing how good we are or how successful we have been. If you doubt this, ask any man from my generation whether they are successful. It's hard to feel that you are when you have a mortgage, car payments, school loans, and kids who are involved in any number of activities. We are so often focused on what we are failing at instead of what we are good at.
As part of my business, I have to learn what I am good at and what I need to improve on. While an educator, the focus was mostly on what I needed to improve on. I spend the majority of my time trying to strengthen aspects of my teaching that were lacking. While these exercises were worthwhile, because they made me a better teacher, I couldn't help but feel like I was lacking something, because my limiting self talk was parroted by my "superiors".
The world around us is focused on the failings of society. We scold politicians who are exposed in scandals, we condemn authorities who take advantage of their position, we degrade people who appear to be ignorant. Is it any wonder that we fail to see our own good, when we are trained to find the bad?
In order to reach success, then, we need to shift our focus. I do this through a self directed education, but there are plenty of options out there. What you choose is up to you. There is one thing that I believe can be a benefit to you and help you find the successes in your life: tracking. This will also help us notice the good in us and where our strengths lie.
Tracking is essentially journaling or keeping a diary. However, instead of writing about our feelings, the purpose of this journal is to keep track of our actions. As we keep account of what we do we will see where we are being successful and where we need to improve. Ultimately, this should shift our focus (if we keep it up) because as we keep track of everything that we do, we will start to hold the line on ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to do what we need to.
We can do this in any industry, in any arena, and in any position. What is necessary, is the desire to improve, a definition of success, and the willingness to be consistent. When we define what success is, it will be easier to reach it. I think the reason, most of us don't ever reach success is because we don't know what it is and we aren't really striving for it. But once we know where we are going, we are much more likely to get there.
Hold the line on yourself, define what success is for you, start to keep track of what you are doing and enjoy the journey. As we do that, we will realize the truth. As tennis great Arthur Ashe says, "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."
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