Have you ever pictured yourself living your dreams? According to some people, that’s all you need to do to make them real. Of course, things are rarely that simple. As philosopher Jim Rohn once said, “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.” In other words, if you’re not advancing to your goals as quickly as you’d like, it’s time to hone your skillset.
This may involve working on your business skills, but more often than not, you’d be better off focusing on your personal development. The thing is, you need to be sure which skills you need to improve because keying on the wrong ones could spell doom for your productivity.
An Attitude of Success
So, where do you start? In a word: attitude. You can also call it mindset, approach, or perspective, but it all boils down to the same concept. The first step toward success is rethinking the way you look at both your life and your business.
And yes, developing the right attitude for success is a skill. In fact, you could even call it a lifetime endeavor. Every new setback and roadblock you encounter can destroy your positive attitude and replace it with defeatism or depression. Not giving in to these feelings and being aware of what you want can take a tremendous amount of effort.
Unfortunately, many people don’t have this attitude. Instead of pursuing their dreams, they spend years in silent hurt wondering what could’ve been. If you don’t want to go down this road, determine what success means to you, and develop your own path to success. Ask yourself the following questions:
• What makes my life worthwhile?
• What makes my life valuable?
• What makes the different areas of my life work well?
The Need for Support
By answering the above questions, you can create your own definition of success. It could involve financial freedom, spending time with your family, a sense of peace, and so on.
The next step is to consider which ideas, thoughts, and beliefs can support this life. For instance, let’s say that it’s your family that makes your life worthwhile. If so, you need to develop the daily thought of your loved ones’ well-being. You must also conceptualize the core belief that family obligations are more important to you than professional ones.
Without these, no calendar reminder in the world will have you home on time for dinner. As Jim Rohn once said, “While there are many puzzle pieces for success, without developing a sound personal philosophy, the other pieces are of little value.”