Darren Hardy, world renowned coach & motivational mentor, shares what it really takes to be successful. Not a magic bullet, or a short cut, but a useful framework to help anyone from any walk of life achieve the goals they set out for themselves. A very practical, and easy to implement series of strategies, habits and actions that result in achieving great results.
Big Messages/Key Quotes :
- Being consistent is key to achieving success in any chosen endeavour, consistent means all the time, not some of the time
- If you are looking to improve savings, health, career or education, the recommendation is to start small. Establish a small daily habit e.g., 125 fewer daily calories, 1 page of a personal development book, 5 minutes of listening to a relevant podcast. Over time, each of these will result in a big step toward your goal, this is the Compound Effect. On average eating 125 fewer calories per day will result in a c. 33 lb weight loss over 31 months
- The formula for getting “lucky” in achieving your goal is PREPARATION + ATTITUDE + OPPORTUNITY + ACTION
- Preparation is gaining the knowledge, skills and know-how you need to achieve your goal
- Attitude is staying in the appropriate adaptive mindset to see the circumstances and situations that are there to help you move forward
- Opportunity is not about forcing something to materialise, it is more around observing what shows up organically and learning to use it well to drive your success
- Action is doing the work, and doing it consistently e.g., listen to the podcast, reduce the calories, do the extra 2,000 steps, saving the $4.00 a day and watching it compound
- Track all your actions, this is the best way to course correct and to help you to become aware of the choices/decisions you are making. Which elements are helping you to move towards your goal, versus which ones are taking you away from your goal
- Take personal responsibility… it is not anyone else’s fault if something goes wrong or right! Everything that happens good or bad is all on your watch, for which you alone take responsibility
- Habits, rituals, and routines are key to defining the type of life you want to have. As Aristotle points out “We are what we repeatedly do”. Do not spend your time and life on autopilot
- Will-power is not enough on its own to keep you on track when it comes to achieving success, there is a need to employ your “Why-Power”. Choices and decisions only hold meaning when they are connected to your hopes, desires, and dreams i.e. your purpose. The why behind doing what you do
- You need to continually keep the Why/Purpose front and centre to ensure that no matter how difficult the task gets, you stay on course as this is the only think powering your WHY
- All of these relate to your personal values, and what makes you the person you are, and this serves as your life-navigation compass. Helping you to keep your True North in mind with all decisions and choices
- Motivation is defined by what you want, or what you do not want. Both perspectives work well, some people naturally want to to move towards something good whilst others will move way from pain or something they do not want. It is good to be aware of what is driving the WHY, as this reminder helps in staying on course
- How can you stay on track and avoid getting into bad habits?
- Triggers – watch for these carefully as they maybe places, people or situations that when you find yourself in, where you let go of your good habits
- Clean your house – remove triggers that take your away from your goals e.g., subscriptions, junk-food, negative people
- Swap good habits for bad habits so you are “adding” not “deleting” elements in your life e.g., better choice of Podcasts you listen to, better reading material etc
- Ease into your plan, do not rush, and start small so you are setting yourself up for success. Do not join a gym 20 miles away as most likely you will end up not going regularly
- Bookend your day so you have a clear timetable for how you want to, consciously, run your day in line with your goals
- Minimise things that are going to take you off track like hanging out with people who are negative or do not believe in you, negative mind chatter, junk-food in the cupboard, etc
- Invest in mentorship and relationships that support your positive habits, rituals, and routines. Everyone needs a cheerleader!
- Do the unexpected, to drive an unexpected result. Following sheep means following a popular process, which inevitably will result in an average result. Be the “Zag” to everyone else’s “Zig” to ensure you are striving for better
- When you get there, and see the success, Pay-it-Forward!
Why read this book?
This is a great book for anyone looking to develop better life-habits in 2021, without needing to several books. A very useful summary of successful techniques used by real-life inidviduals, with practical easy to follow tips without resorting to the lazy excuse of no willpower. Really well written and researched.
