Success in any endeavour, in achieving any goal, inserting an objective and going ahead and taking massive action to make it happen to be distilled into eight steps to success. These eight steps to success are universal in application and if you apply them you will not fail to achieve your goals. Anyone who applies these eight steps to success will get to the end result if they keep trying.
The acronym ACTIVATE is useful to remind yourself of the eight steps to success. What do the letters stand for?
A - stands for attitude. Having an attitude for success means that you remain positive and optimistic at all times. A positive and optimistic attitude will help you to learn from what previously you would term mistakes of failures and turn those so-called failures into valuable lessons whose teachings you can turn into successes. A positive and optimistic state of mind leads to positive optimistic action and expectation bringing about the results that you really want effortlessly easily and commonly.
C - stands for creativity. Activating your creative imagination is of vital importance to achieving your goals, to being successful with the eight steps to success. Your creative mind is capable of finding the solution to any challenge. In fact what seems impossible to right now is only a figment of your minds, of your imagination. It is not real, it is not out there, it is only in there, you're holding in mind. Who put it there? You did, and therefore you can let it go. Creation is a divine action, and in order to create you need to be creative. So let your unconscious mind be creative by recognizing its unlimited power.
T stands for your track record. By making a list each day of the things that you need to do and ticking them off as you do them or at the end of each day, and reminding your mind that each one of these, no matter how small is a win, you will gain the support of your mind and create momentum. It is important to note that the track record your mind keeps of your wins, does not care for these size of the achievement, according to the metaphysical author Jorj Elprezleinn, the mind only counts wins, and the more wins you have, the more you mind support you. So it is best to start by making lists each day of the simplest most easy things that you have to do, for example getting up making the bed freshening up eating breakfast, etc because you will be able to develop a track record of wins from day one and stop beating yourself up.
I - refers to your higher self, your unconscious mind, your subconscious mind, the part of you that is connected with the all and is infinitely resourceful. Taking a few moments each day to acknowledge and recognize your unconscious mind you will start getting results almost immediately. Start to listen to the "I" of you more often, remain open to the possibility of messages from your higher self and develop self-respect, dignity and a stronger sense of self belief. It also refers to your connection that is spiritual, your connection to God, to the divine, to the universe, to be able to pray, to be grateful etc.
V - the stands for visualise. Take two or three or five minutes per day to visualise your goals. Don't just visualise though, engage all your senses, sight, hearing, feeling to create a very vivid and realistic imaginary experience of having just achieved your goals. This is one of the most important of the eight steps to success and action and inspiration will flow from this mental action. It is helpful to relax and let go in order to visualize.
A - the second A stands for action. Action in the context of the eight steps to success denotes not only you getting into action and taking massive action towards the achievement of your goals, but it also stands for, action planning: goal setting and personal planning for a total success. Making a list of your goals as the first step. Making a list of actions that you are going to need to take in order to achieve your goal and then prioritising them is the second. Thirdly, finally, and most importantly is the getting into action. Just take massive action. It is one of the greatest things you can do.
T - the second T stands for take responsibility. For every good thing, for every seemingly bad thing, you can be grateful and you will be grateful when you take full responsibility the things that you and others. Acknowledging 100% responsibility for everything will put you in a position of power. Just try it and see. You could try the affirmation I am 100% responsible for everything that happens in my life. Or simply I am responsible as a mantra. Try this a few days or for a week and see what results you get from planting this positive affirmative seed.
E - and finally, the letter E. E, believe it or not, stands for elegance. According to the author and clinical hypnotherapist David Barron, elegance is the ability to have a rapport with yourself and others and to be able to persuade and to get what you want effortlessly with unconscious competence. This takes practice but it's worth it and it is definitely powerful. Take a few moments now to imagine what it feels like to be in rapport with yourself. You'll notice it feels really welcoming and really good, like a homecoming. Elegance in all your actions and communications is the way forward.
So, there you have it, ACTIVATE the eight steps to success in your life and for the achievement of your goals.
If you define success in terms of a good job or a profitable self-owned business, then this article may become the turning point in your life. As you read, I will share some of my success secrets, which I have been able to execute in my own online business.
What It Means To Be A Leader
During my time in the U.S. Army as an Army Staff Sergeant, I learned valuable lessons about leading teams to the successful completion of projects. I learned that by following the direction of good leaders, one could build the confidence and skill set necessary to become a successful leader.
Good leaders quickly separate themselves from the masses of people who simply live day-by-day doing only the bare minimum to keep their job one more day. In other words, leaders stand out in a crowd of managers and workers.
While the Army tried hard to bring leadership qualities out in all of their people, the truth was that leaders are those who decide to go the extra mile and to create a brighter future for themselves and others around them.
A good leader is simply the person who "helps" you to become the best person you can become, by teaching you how you can "help" other people to become successful too.
One Decision Can Change Your Destiny
Are you waiting?
Are you waiting for "me" to tell "you" the secret to success?
It is time for "you" to make a decision, now.
You must decide to stop waiting for success to come to you. Success simply will not fall out of the sky into your open arms. It does not work that way.
You must "decide" to become successful. If you are waiting for success, then success will never come your way. But, once you understand that success is waiting for you, and you decide to go get it, no matter what, then you will have changed your destiny for the better.
Follow In The Footsteps Of People Whom You Wish To Emulate
While I was in the U.S. Army, I learned how to seek out leaders who were willing to share with me their secrets to success. I actively sought out people who could help me to become a better leader.
Even in my daily life outside of the Army, I found several opportunities to hook up with people who exuded leadership qualities, people who were willing to share with me their own secrets to success.
The truth is that there are people who may doubt their own abilities to have something to share, but if they doubt themselves, they are wrong. Everyone has something important to teach others, but it takes a gem of a person to understand that the role of a leader is to teach others, what "they" take for granted.
A Lifetime Of Learning Over Lunch
Just the other day, I had lunch with a fellow who is probably responsible for selling more cars in our area than anyone else. In our local metropolitan market, if someone asks about a great car dealer, his name will surely be mentioned.
My lunch partner knew that I have a successful website, and he also knew that I had an interest in learning more about what is required to be successful, from him.
To my surprise, his first words were, "Clinton, I don't know if I can offer anything to you that would help you. I sell cars, and that is what I do. You have some kind of online business, and I cannot even venture to guess how you make your money."
My lunch partner went on to say, "I appreciate the offer to share a lunch with you, but your business and my business are so different. I would not even know where to begin in giving advice to you."
Despite his initial hesitation, we went on to have a great meal, and I learned a lot! I could literally spin several articles just on the knowledge that he was able to impart to me over lunch.
If You Want To Be Rich, Listen To Rich People
Online and offline, I like to associate with people who have been successful in their fields. I learn so much about growing my business, by listening closely to people who have defined their industries.
Even online, there are key people whom I pay close attention. With every conversation, I hear some gem of information that I can apply to my own online business. These tidbits of information pieced together have helped me carry my website from one in millions to one that has served more than a million visitors.
Success In Three Simple Repeatable Steps
My car dealer friend finally put aside the idea that he could not help anyone outside his own industry, and we had great conversation.
When I asked him the secret to selling cars, he said he could sum it up in three steps:
* Talk to your customers. When you understand the needs of your customers, then you know how you will best be able to help them solve their problems and achieve their goals.
* Follow-Up. People rarely buy on their first visit, so it is important to follow-up with them. When buying big-ticket items, people tend to shop around a little bit more. When you follow-up, you are frequently creating a relationship with your customer. When all is said and done, if two products are substantially equal, it is often the relationship the customer has with the sales person that will "seal the deal."
* Be persistent. Persistence does not equate to being pushy. Persistence means that you follow-up, once, twice, three times, and more if necessary. If a salesperson is obviously "only" interested in satisfying his or her own interests, then persistence could be construed as pushy. But, when your goal is to be persistent with the goal of helping the customer solve his or her problems and satisfy his or her goals, then persistence is a quality to be appreciated.
Learning Anew Each Day
Bill Platt at The Phantom Writers taught me the same lesson last year. Bill always tells me that the secret to success online is "consistency." He says that we need to talk to our potential customers, and we need to keep the conversation going by consistently talking to potential customer base.
John Reese of Marketing Secrets taught me the same lesson. He emphasized that I need to develop a newsletter or an auto-responder series so that I could create and keep an ongoing conversation with my potential customers. Reese also taught me to track my results (follow-up) on everything that I do for my business.
Since I started my website in 2001, I have noticed that all of my mentors tend to teach me the same lessons over and again in their own terminology.
All of my mentors continue to tell me to talk to my customers, follow-up, and to be persistent in talking to my customers
With so many people who are successful in their own industries sharing with me the same sage advice, I tend to pay attention.
Final Thoughts
It does not matter whether you seek to use this information to help your career or to build an online business.
Make your decision today; decide to be successful. And then follow the golden rule of helping others to achieve what they want to achieve, follow-up, and be persistent in your efforts.
If you play your cards just right, in just a few years, you might be the mentor that we will all want to attentively listen to and appreciate.
Both Sam Beatson & Clinton Douglas, Iv are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Sam Beatson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Forex Online, Brain and Trading Strategy. Sam Beatson is the author of this article. To join his Success and Inspirations EZINE for FREE, visit his website where he publishes his