Five Steps for Success From a Life Coach

I asked Aurelia Williams of Real Life Coaching to pop in with some advice for our Sparkplugging Interns.  They have taken on a big project working with me and the other Sparkplugging Authors for ten long weeks – on top of their own busy lives and businesses.  I want to make sure to give them extra encouragement along the way and I couldn’t think of anyone better to help me do so than Aurelia.

Are you ready to learn the secret to success?

If you follow the five simple suggestions below, you will find that you will be able to accomplish more success than you ever thought possible!

Step One: Keep your eye on the prize

You know how it goes. You start a brand new project and are filled to the brim with enthusiasm. Some time passes and you are still happy about the project, but you start noticing the difficult things.  More time passes, and you’re no longer enthusiastic at all, but keep going because you know it has potential. Finally, you start to question why the heck you are doing this in the first place. Then it happens.  A new project pops up. You feel excitement start to build again, but for this new project instead of your current one. You decide this one will be MUCH better, and jump ship to pursue this new, exciting opportunity. Sound familiar?

Fortunately, there is an easy remedy for this. Commitment!

I know, that seems too simple, but it’s true. Setting clear, realistic goals and vowing to remain committed no matter what it takes. If you continually bail out on yourself and your goals, you are training yourself to believe that your goals are not important. And as your goals seem less important, you will be tempted to quit before you even start. Instead, set daily reminders about your goals so they stay fresh in your mind and you will stay encouraged to achieve them. Make the resolve to finish what you start – no matter what – and you will be shocked at how much you can accomplish!

Step Two: Manage work efficiently and avoid procrastination

If I could only tell you one thing about how to manage your workload, it would be to make a plan and stick to it as much as possible! Proper planning is the key to saving time and getting things done. Prepare ahead of time, ideally the night before. Make a prioritized list of things that need to be done on a day to day basis and resolve to finish those tasks no matter what!

For some people, completing all the tasks on their prioritized list will be easy. However, others may run into procrastination issues. Why do people procrastinate?  Often times, they are trying to avoid a difficult task. It’s no secret that tasks that take longer are less desirable than those that can be completed quickly.

Many people decide to do desirable tasks first, regardless of how important these tasks are. The problem with this is that people sometimes fall into the trap of unconsciously allowing themselves to be consumed by enjoyable “busywork” instead of more important tasks.

Making a resolve to finish the biggest, most important tasks first (enjoyable or not!) will give you a sense of accomplishment that will make the other tasks on your list seem like a breeze. Do this, and you will keep procrastination at bay!

However, others procrastinate for deeper reasons. Sometimes procrastination is due to fear of failure. No one wants to be embarrassed by a lack of knowledge or skills, so it’s easy to try to avoid doing those tasks that make you afraid or uncomfortable. However, it’s important to realize that motivation comes from within. Coming to grips with personal issues is the first step in realizing why you procrastinate. Once you do so, you can start taking steps to chance.

Step Three: Learn from criticism

Let’s face it, it can be hard to hear someone tells us our faults! But criticism can be much more useful than you may think, and is one of the keys in you growing to reach your full potential. It really is in your best interest to accept the criticism, apply the suggestions, and grow throughout the process instead of allowing yourself to become defensive or upset. This may be difficult to understand and practice, but I guarantee it will help you. If you learn to accept criticism, you will begin to see yourself grow in ways you never thought possible.

Step Four: Keep a positive outlook

In order to achieve success in life, you need to think positively about yourself and your chances for success. Many people mistakenly believe that being positive and thinking optimistically is just part of someone’s personality – either you’re born an optimist or you’re not! However, this is simply not the case. Being optimistic and motivated is an acquired habit, a skill that can be learned and developed just like any other skill.

In order to become optimistic and motivated, you need to become conscious of your “inner voice.” Listen to the words that you say to yourself in any situation. When you catch yourself saying something negative, immediately stop and put a positive spin on it. So a negative thought like “I hate it that this bad thing happened to me!” could be changed into “I understand that this bad thing has happened to me so I can learn and grow from it.” Try doing this for a month, and I think you will be absolutely amazed at how energized you are about not only your work, but your life in general!

Step Five: Leave time each day for reflection

In today’s busy world, it is all too easy to get caught up in going through the motions. However, truly successful people know that reflection is one of the best ways to keep yourself on the fast track to success.

Try this exercise:

At the end of the day, try to reflect back on the hardest part of the day, then ask yourself the following questions:

• What did I learn from that experience that will help me in the future?
• How can I that experience to help improve myself or my future?
• How can I do better next time around?

This will allow you to see that no matter what happens, it always can be used as a learning opportunity and springboard for bigger and better things. After you finish reflecting on the hardest part of the day, reflect on positive aspects of the day. Doing these daily reflection exercises truly will keep you focused, positive, and committed to your goals and you will find yourself achieving your success faster than you ever thought possible.

In conclusion, success is not the mystery that some people seem to think it is. I’ve laid out great steps for you to take towards your success and I’m not going to lie to you — It will take hard work and dedication on your part to do these steps day in and day out. It will be a long road, but the reward will be so worth it. By doing these 5 steps, I have no doubt in my mind that you will accomplish any goal you set and will be an enormous success at whatever you do.