Powerful Principles of Personal Growth

The Epiphany of Complete Success

There are numerous definitions of what success means; it has become such a subjective topic that in some respects the meaning of success seems meaningless. Depending on your school of thought and the lens through which you view this idea, it can take many forms. There is no doubt that you can succeed on different levels and in different areas of your life BUT – how do you measure and define it?

 

This topic has been thoroughly studied and viewed from all different angles. I have studied my own successes to see if I could figure out the reasons I was successful in the first place. I deliberated the behaviors of other successful individuals and I looked to my mentors for answers. I searched the faces of some of the most influential individuals of our time to find the formula.

 

Surely there were characteristics and behaviors that all successful individuals had in common; however, most were still so different from one another in their approach and modus operandi.

After a while I realized that the one thing that had always eluded me was how to remain successful. What was it about successful people that made them remain that way?

And then it hit me…

 

I was barking up the wrong tree – looking at this topic all wrong. It isn’t about what they do that matters, it is the why. I didn’t realize this until it happened to me – until I had my own epiphany of complete success.

 

The day I experienced the epiphany to start this blog and pursue my public speaking dream was the day I became a complete success. It wasn’t at all about what I was going to do or what I was going to earn or anything else – it was all about the why. My success came from within which is where all successful individuals derive complete success – from within.

 

That being said, I don’t want to leave you high and dry; there are some important elements that make up this epiphany. It’s not like it just happened to hit me in the head like a rock. I had been heading down this path for a long time and didn’t know it. It only became clear to me because I was finally keenly aware of who I am and how I want to live my life.

 

As I pondered success more deeply and broadly, I realized that there are certain elements that are always present before during and after one has attained complete success.

 

The goal of this article is to help raise your awareness to these elements so that you can more easily recognize your success when it shows up. The fact is that we all have the ability to achieve complete success – the sad thing is that 99% of people will not – only because they refuse to wake up when it comes knocking. Most people will remain completely unconscious and incompetent when it comes to realizing their true gifts and talents that would ultimately help them achieve the success they ought to have. I’m sorry if that’s too much of a negative statement coming from a personal growth and development blog; however, this blog is also about truth and this is the truth as I understand it as of the writing of this article.

 

If it scares you to think that you may be a part of that 99% - don’t be. You’re reading this article which already puts you ahead of the pack because you are reading and learning. This means that you have a leg up so don’t break it.

 

I tell you that because I’ve broken my “leg up” a few times and it wasn’t fun; I let fear get the best of me – I let it win. The day I stopped letting fear win was the day I became successful and even on the days when fear won again, I knew exactly what I had to do to kick its ass and I have been kicking it ever since.

 

In order to truly experience the epiphany of complete success, these are the elements that must be present.

 

Know your true purpose

This is crucial to realizing your complete success. You must know your true purpose in life; we all have one. What this means is that you must endeavor to figure out why you are here in this life. How are you meant to impact the world? What legacy will you leave? How will you have made the world a better place for having been in it?

 

If this sounds too deep for you, perhaps you’re simply not ready to face the unchanging truth. The unchanging truth is that each person walks this life for a reason; a purpose only he/she can bring to the world. What has always been inside of you yearning to come out and play with the rest of the world?

 

It is harder to wrap your head around the concept of a true purpose than it is to actually recognize it. Once you accept the unchanging truth that you do have a purpose, you have only to think of the one thing you would do whether you earned a living from it or not; the one thing you would do just to see others happy for you having done it.

 

When you realize your true purpose and you embrace it, every step towards bringing that purpose to life feels effortless no matter how difficult it is. You continue to persevere simply because you know that you must and will continue to do so no matter what. That’s what realization of purpose does – it drives you to overcome every obstacle no matter how big.

 

The most important thing about knowing your purpose is that everything you do must reflect the true nature of that purpose; you must not deviate from its course in the pursuit of instant gratification. Your purpose in life is the most important thing because it will govern the way you behave in the other areas of your life.

 

What’s in it for others?

Once you’re convicted of your true purpose you now have to bring that to the world in a way that provides something the world needs. It challenges you to think deeply about what that special thing is that you have to offer the people in the world around you. You see, your success is not complete if you’re the only one enjoying it; if you are the only one deriving a benefit.

 

Complete success is about fulfillment in giving where others receive a great value from what you’ve given. All the other things that come along with success are simply byproducts of this universal and unchanging principle.

 

Think for a moment if you will…

 

Why is it that some people have so much money and yet no family or friends around them with whom to share it? These people often end up miserable, troubled and sometimes die way too young. When it happens, we tend to sit around and say things like “What did she have to be unhappy about? She was so rich!”

 

Was she really?

 

Sure by monetary standards, she may have been rich; however, without people with whom to share that wealth, she is just an empty vessel. Nothing is more important than nurturing our connection to others. All the money in the world can never make you happy or completely successful if you are alone; if you give no love and are shown no love.

 

For this reason, you must endeavor to figure out what’s so important and special about your gifts and then share them with the world. Sure, there may be many ways in which you can do this; however, in order to attain true success; complete success – this must be done.

 

Does it sound hard to get to this point?

 

Think of it this way…

 

How would you want to partake in your gifts if you knew someone else possessed them? What would motivate and excite you most about them? Often times, if you can answer simple questions like these, they will put you on the right track. Besides, you don’t have to get it completely right the first time – you just have to do it with the right mindset or as my friend and mentor Ann would say “do it with your heart.”

 

Create and distribute value

Once you’ve figured out what’s in it for others, now it’s time to find ways to create and distribute that value. Complete success requires that you consistently look for ways to send your message out to the world.

 

The truth is that when you’re on this path for the right reasons and your purpose is crystallized in your mind, it will unleash unimaginable creativity within you. The value that you distribute will increase a thousand fold because of it. This is what it means when YOU create and distribute value to others.

 

When you are in this mode, all the other byproducts ultimately fall into place. The more you do the more abundance you will receive.  It will consistently show up in different forms; money, family, friends and most importantly others paying forward what you given them. Nothing screams complete success like someone else you’ve touched paying it forward and touching others. Your circle of influence will grow exponentially and you will ultimately touch more lives than you can possibly imagine.

 

When you create and distribute value to others, the effects are rippling because people tend to duplicate such efforts and touch others because you’ve touched them. When you do what you love; when you are true to your purpose and you find ways to create and distribute value to others through your gifts, complete success must follow. It is an embodiment of all the universal and unchanging principles like the law of cause and effect; the law of belief and the law of momentum just to name a few.

 

I could go on and on about universal principles BUT, that’s for another article. For now, get the point. Success is not about money or power or any other byproduct of success. It is about the gift that you give to the world; it demands that the more you give it the more abundance you will receive so that you can give more. This is the epiphany of complete success.

How to Become Highly Effective at Time Management

How many times have you heard about or been a victim of the time management trap? Why is it that some people seem to do it so effectively while others constantly struggle?

 

This seems to be a never-ending battle between time and man and it doesn’t look like there is much light at the end of the tunnel… or is there?

 

Highly Effective Time Managers are not born or made – they develop through diligent practice. If you wish to become skilled at anything, it won’t happen unless you practice. When you practice over and over again, you become highly skilled and eventually you form a habit. Certainly natural affinity towards anything will vary from person to person; however, the underlying factor is that those who become the best practice ritually – especially when everyone else isn’t.

 

To become a highly effective at time management, there are a few guidelines that will help you to achieve the results you desire.

 

Accept and understand the truth

The first and foremost thing that you must realize and come to terms with is the irrefutable truth – you cannot control time. You can only control what you do with the time you have. Highly Effective Time Managers understand this simple truth all too well which is what makes them so darned efficient.

 

The common misconception that most people make is to focus on managing the time they have rather than what they do with that time. You see – time exists and keeps on ticking no matter what you do – it is never-ending and completely out of our circle of control. What we do with the time we have however, is completely in our circle of control.

 

Accept the fact that you can only control you and make what you do with the time you have the focus and you will already be light years ahead in the game. Just let time be, because it ticks away regardless of what you do – let it go. J

 

Plan your time

Now that you understand the truth about what you can control and what you can’t, it’s time to make use of it.

 

Have you ever heard the phrase “fail to plan – plan to fail?”

 

Nothing could ring more true when it comes to planning what you do with your time. Show me a day without a plan and I’ll show you one with no real results; in some cases it may end up being a day of chaos. Now don’t get me wrong – it can be a lot of fun to spend an unplanned day with your family and friends where you do whatever tickles your fancy in the moment. Even then though, at least you’ve planned to do that so the expectations are still realistic.

 

Here’s the deal – what you can see you can manage – what you can’t see manages you.

 

Let me say that again…

 

WHAT YOU CAN SEE YOU CAN MANAGE – WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE MANAGES YOU.

 

What this means is that for each moment in your day you don’t plan, you are subject to the circumstances that arise within those moments. This is not to say that every single second of your day should be planned; however, it is important to plan accordingly for the things you want to accomplish in a given day. Flying by the seat of your pants will only result in a frustrating and pointless day. It will be hard for you to be where you want to be at the times you want to be there without a blueprint to follow.

 

If your day moves along on a whim or on impulses, you cannot expect significant results because you will not be prepared to deal with what comes. If you can’t see where you are going, how can you expect to get there?

 

If you have ever seen people in your workplace who exist in a constant state of chaos, you know what I’m talking about. Without plans everything becomes and emergency no matter how important or worst yet – how trivial it happens to be.

 

Have you ever seen what happens when a meeting without an agenda? The tone of the room instantly changes to one of uncertainty and a free-for-all session to talk about the latest pain each person is suffering. This is what happens when you don’t plan your time.

 

Remember – what you can see you can manage – what you can’t see manages you.

 

If you can see your day laid out on a calendar, then you will know exactly how to prepare and how much time you need to execute each item. You will most certainly be better equipped to be where you need to be at the times you need to be there and your day will have much less emergencies – especially unimportant ones.

 

When you can see what is in store for your day, you will undoubtedly be able to manage your actions more effectively thus making more efficient use of your time. Conversely, when you can’t see what your day looks like, you become a victim of whatever the day throws at you. Time and tide wait for no man so make sure you’re focused on your action plan.

Put first things first

One of the biggest mistakes people make is failing to put first things first; they don’t prioritize. This always results in disorganization and scattered thoughts which beget the same type of results.

 

Planning your time in order of priority is crucial because it helps you focus on the most important things.

 

One of my mentors attaches this quote to the bottom of her e-mails: “The most important thing is keeping the most important thing the most important thing.” Now that is a profound statement. Do you get the point?

 

Many people spend their day buzzing away as busy as a bee only to reach the end of the day and realize they’ve accomplished nothing they set out to. The reason for that is lack of planning and prioritization. If you don’t know what the most important thing on your agenda is, how will you ever achieve the results you desire in an effective manner?

 

Highly Effective Time Managers understand the power of priority – they thrive on it so that they never miss a beat.

 

Here’s the deal; when you plan your day in order of priority, it shows you how to direct your energies and where. It doesn’t mean that the most important things get done first; it just means that they get greater consideration in the grand scheme. All your days won’t go perfectly so when you have to make a decision on what things to do and which to leave for another day, knowing the order of importance becomes crucial.

 

Value your time

Here’s a mistake that many people make – they don’t put enough value on their time and this can really throw a major monkey wrench in your plans.

 

Highly Effective Time Managers place high value on their time and they act accordingly. The fact is that people will value your time only as much as you do. If you place no value on your time, neither will they so you must make sure that you do.

 

I can just see all of you reading this going – I don’t know who he’s talking about but I value my time. I must have struck a nerve… J

 

Perhaps I’m not talking to you – BUT – many people do not put value on their time and in some cases they do not even understand how to do that.

 

When I say “value your time” what I am talking about is executing your calendar as you planned it regardless of what others are doing and the circumstances that arise. Of course, there will be exceptions; however, these should be few and far between and should not become the rule.

 

For instance, if you have a meeting scheduled from 10 AM to 11 AM and the other party is late, you should have no trouble stating that due to your busy schedule, this meeting must end at 11 AM. In some cases, if you have to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes on another person, it is totally OK to reschedule for another time that is convenient to you.

 

So much time is wasted waiting for others or other things which can absolutely hamper your entire day. Once you get behind in your day, you’re behind the entire day unless you stick to executing your calendar as you’ve planned it. People will value your time more when they see that you are serious about how you spend it.

 

Once people realize that they can make you wait on them until they are ready to meet with you – they will.

 

To become highly effective at time management (self management), you must put high value on your time. That means that you do what you plan at the time you planned to do it. It means that you do not allow anything that you can control to impede your mission. Certainly there’s nothing you can do about unforeseen circumstances, the weather and the unknowns that may arise and land like a fly in your ointment – BUT – you can certainly pull yourself away from your Facebook page to make that conference call at 4 PM. J

 

Additionally, you should not allow other people to waste your time; if someone agrees to meet you at a certain time, then that is what needs to happen without excuses. Yes there are exceptions; however, the rule is that you show up on time or lose credibility with me. I’m sure people don’t like it when I’ve shown up late for an appointment – and I have – I don’t feel too good about it either because I value my time and I value others’ time as well.

 

Value other peoples’ time

If you value your time and you expect other people to do the same, then you must value other peoples’ time. The door swings both ways so as you place high value on your time so should you on other peoples’.

 

This comes with a caveat though; if a person does not value his/her time, more often than not he/she won’t value yours either. It stands to reason that if you place high value on your time, you will automatically place high value on other peoples’ time – well for the most part anyway.

 

I am not talking about the delusion of thinking that your time is more valuable that someone else’s; what I’m talking about is genuine value placed on time. One of the highest forms of respect you can pay someone is to show that you value his/her time. That earns you more brownie points than you can imagine; besides when you show others that you value their time, more often than not they will reciprocate. The fact is like attracts like so if you value yours, you will value others and vice versa.

 

At the end of the day…

Time belongs to no one; it is infinite and never-ending so trying to manage it is fool’s errand. Attempting to control time is futile; the only thing you can control is yourself. What you do with time is entirely up to you and when you begin to focus your energies there, your “time management” skills will undoubtedly improve. Highly Effective Time Managers understand this concept and that’s what makes them so efficient.

 

How will your day go tomorrow? J