Success is A Habit

If you're paying attention to the news, all you’ll hear is that we are in a recession. Commentators are shouting that it’s time to start clipping coupons, stop going on vacations and start bypassing Starbucks. This week NYT columist David Brooks discussed how the recession was contributing to downward mobility in his Op-Ed, The Formerly Middle Class.

How then do we explain the folks who are still doing well financially? They’re buying new homes, still eating in nice restaurants and living their best lives in the midst of this latest financial shake-up. Most of these financial successes aren’t millionaires or trust fund babies. During the boom years, when the rest of us were carelessly spending, they were probably doing the unglamorous stuff like paying off their credit cards and saving money for a "rainy day" .

If you are in debt, jobless or are fearful about your future job security, it’s easy to buy into the collective fear. The fist truth is you have the power to improve your finances as well as the rest of your life. The secon truth is that you will feel some pain.

People often think that there’s some mystic reason why some people are successful and others are not. The real answer is quite simple: Successful people form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do. When it comes to being a success—talent and skill are less important than the willingness of a person to commit to doing the things that they dislike.

How many time did you say that you wanted to lose weight, but wouldn’t get up early to the gym? How many of you have said that you want a better relationship but were unwilling to let go of someone who has proven time and again to be toxic? How many people say that they want a better paying job, but are unwilling to spend the time and money on the training, certification or degree that would advance their careers? In my own life, I have lost weight, improved my relationships and earned more money when I got off the dime and made new choices about my life—and stuck to them.

Year after the year, people keep living financially and emotionally impoverished lives because they are unwilling to form new habits that would allow them to live happier and more abundant lives.

We all know that successful athletes train hard for several hours a day and follow specialized diets to prepare their minds and bodies to win competitions. The same goes for successful salespeople. They sell large volumes of their services or products by having a definite prospecting program, having a sales script and by organizing their time and efforts toward reaching new and existing customers.

Don’t be mistaken. Most successful people are not thrilled about doing the things that the rest of don’t like such as getting up early, facing rejection or dealing with challenging situations.

Successful people however are focused on achieving the results that they desire. Failures on the other hand usually concentrate on doing just enough to get by. Consequently failures learn to be satisfied with the results that they get from going the easy route. Money alone is not enough to motivate anyone toward greatness—it’s much easier to learn to live poor than do the things that it takes to live large. Unfortunately most people would rather do without than do things that they don’t want to do.

Making the decision to become successful comes with a caveat: Any resolution or decision you make to yourself is worthless unless you have formed the habit to support it. And you won’t form the habit unless from the start you link it with a definite purpose that can be accomplished by maintaining it.

Successful people are able to do things that they don’t like because they have a purpose strong enough to keep them going. Failures usually have no purpose beyond getting a paycheck. If you want to be successful you have to have a purpose that moves you to get up everyday and do the difficult things. Your purpose, while practical has got to resonate with you on a spiritual or emotional level. Your basic need for food and shelter will only push you to do so much—your purpose, in terms of your wants and desires, however will spur you to reach far loftier goals.

Everyone needs to look at their life and determine your own purpose. One woman’s purpose maybe getting a better paying job so that she and her children can escape an abusive husband. One man’s purpose may be to make enough money to buy a house for his family in a safer neighborhood. Another woman’s purpose may be to see that her daughter gets through college without have to work her way through as she did.

Each person has a Divine purpose for his or her life----it’s to live up to his or her unique and immense potential. Some of us choose to step into our greatness and improve not only our own lives but also our families and our communities. But, too many of us shy away from the idea of doing better or having more, afraid that we are not worthy or capable of living a better life. Financial success, just like good health and loving, supportive relationships is nothing more than a manifestation of the universal abundance that is our birthright--- a person simply has to decide to step forward and claim it.

Marianne Williamson said, "...You are a child of God. You’re playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you...As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Here are three questions to think about:
1) What is the thing that you REALLY dislike doing that if you did it on a daily basis would improve your health, finances or relationships?
2) What 1 or 2 steps could you begin to do daily to support this life change?
3) Are you cheating yourself out of your best life by doing only the easy things—the stuff that you like?