Many coaches and personality trainers give in-depth seminars or individual training to work out what each individual person needs to achieve their goals. I cannot achieve this in the same way here, because even the attempt would be doomed to failure. What I can do, however, is to help guide you into a process of realization by asking a few questions.
So the only main question should be:
What requirements do you need to be successful?
First things first. The definition of success is as varied as there are people in the world. So there are no general goals that apply equally to everyone. But there are principles and they are universal, i.e. always effective.
Now comes the first question that can help you understand:
Is it a special intelligence that is needed to become successful?
If that were the case, then people who are 20x as successful as you must also be 20x as intelligent. But that's impossible, because people's IQ is somewhere between 80-200 IQ. So we are all somewhere within this spectrum, which makes a difference of no more than 2.5 times. So it can't be intelligence.
What then? Is it perhaps the number of hours you work?
If that were the case, then people who are 20 times as successful as you would also have to work 20 times as many hours a day as you do. This is also impossible, because if you only work 6 hours a day, then the 20x more successful person would have to work 120 hours a day, which is absolutely impossible with 24 hours in a day.
Is it perhaps the situation you are born into?
If you were born into a family that was already in a very good financial position and already owns a family business, then this may well be a factor that can be helpful. But since success is not the same as money or wealth, this point cannot be a guarantee.
Here is a brief example.
Someone wants to become a successful writer, for him or her success may mean writing the best possible books and touching people on all levels with the works and enriching their lives. Having grown up in a family that has a long tradition in e.g. steel construction (with great economic success & money) can be a tremendous obstacle, because being a writer can (does not have to) be a breadless art for them. That would mean rejection, which is the opposite of support. Support from the family could be (rather unlikely), but does not have to be present in this example.
On the other hand, there are just as many examples in which today's multi-millionaires came from poor family backgrounds and the saying "from dishwasher to millionaire" did not form overnight, so, like most proverbs, there is some truth to it. And there are just as many examples of people who had the best conditions to start their lives and then did not become successful.
And that brings me to a thought that I received as inspiration for this article.
What drives every human being?
If you receive an answer to this question, then it is useful to keep questioning this answer until you inevitably come to a point.
These are the basic needs of every human being and, to put it simply, they are as follows:
- Breathing
- Sleep
- Eating/Drinking
- Warmth/protection (a safe home/clothing)
When one of these basic needs is in danger, everyone starts to fight or flee from the situation that threatens this need. In the following, I am referring to the hunger that arises when there is no more food. As soon as hunger sets in, a wide variety of processes are activated in humans, because survival is at stake. For example, the body produces more ketones, which the brain urgently needs for creativity and performance. The starving person has to find a solution to their situation, otherwise their existence is threatened and finding a solution requires, among other things, a well-functioning brain.
Hunger is therefore a trigger for "development" in this situation.
And this is the key to the first big question.
What requirements do you need to be successful?
It has to be something that drives us forward, regardless of the circumstances. And that is hunger, and I don't mean the stomach's hunger for food, although this is our connection to our basic needs. It is the hunger for success, that is, to achieve the goal of our lives. As soon as you have recognized the goal of your life, you will feel exactly this hunger.
And now ask yourselves:
How hungry are YOU to reach your goal, no matter what others say, no matter what the current situation looks like, no matter what YOU have to do to get where YOU want to go? How hungry are YOU really?
As long as this hunger is not there, or the goal(s) is not defined and you therefore do not know what success means to you, it is simply impossible for you to become successful (meaning "rich in success").
Another point that very often goes unnoticed, however, is the emotional component in this process.
To be truly successful, your HEART must be on fire. So you must be fully absorbed in achieving your goal, have deep emotions such as joy, fun, lightness, recognition, happiness and a few more on the way to your goal. And best of all, the same applies to the idea of reaching your goal.
So for example, if the goal (success) is to own your own home, then the thought of finally owning it must inspire you, you must feel excessive happiness and through these emotions awaken an energy within you that you generally have no connection to otherwise. In comparison, you will sacrifice many things that are not so important to you for your success.
Here is a very personal tip from me. Never and under no circumstances sacrifice your health for success, because without health you cannot do any of the following things:
- Work
- Enjoy time
- feel lasting joy
- Living carefree (stress-free)
and much more.
With an unhealthy body, you are depriving yourself of the tools you absolutely need to "become successful".
You must not destroy the hammer with which you want to hammer the nail into the wall!
Conclusion
You need your very own definition of what success (wealth) means to you. At least one goal is linked to this, but it is better to have milestones (smaller goals), because the big one often grows emotionally over your head and can depress you and lead to your hunger dying.
You should really be hungry for your own success and not let anything or anyone deter you from your path.
You need to develop a sense of when you are going too far from a health perspective. For these moments, you need strategies to keep yourself fit and efficient. So you either need to have someone close to you who can support you, or you need to become as fit as possible yourself in the area of holistic living. That is essential!
And I would like to give you one more important point to think about. There are two ways of thinking, one of which never leads to success and the other is urgently needed for it. I am talking about problem-oriented thinking and its opposite, solution-oriented thinking.
Most people are problem thinkers - they see a problem in everything and use this problem as a way out and an excuse for not being able to do something and therefore not having to do it. They are passive and will never be successful.
The much smaller group of people think in a solution-oriented way, i.e. they recognize a challenge and immediately start to develop solutions for the situation. Check which group you belong to by observing how you react in situations. If you are unable to do this, ask someone around you to observe you and then report back. You must become a solution-oriented thinker, otherwise I guarantee that you will not succeed, at least not in the big goals.
And now please take these thoughts and go inside yourself, think about them for a long time and feel inside yourself. Then talk about it with others, discuss it, share your ideas and form your own opinion.
I wish everyone the greatest possible success in becoming successful.
DREAMWORK TIP
Define what success or being successful means to you and create goals for yourself in the individual areas of your life. It is important to break these down into individual milestones so that you don't overwhelm yourself.
For further inspiration, you can watch the video below from Dan Lok's TEDx Talk
What is DREAMWORK
With our DREAMWORK project, we want to encourage reflection and discussion on how we can improve our working conditions at Saalbacher Hof and in our entire industry.
We want to bring more happiness into our lives now and not just at some point when it might be too late.
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