Tag Secret to Success

How to be Consistently Enthusiastic

Steve Keating 4 Comments

The great author and motivator Dale Carnegie said that “Enthusiasm is the little recognized secret to success.” He believed that enthusiasm helped people accomplish great things. In fact, he believed few things of any significance were accomplished without it. 

But remaining enthusiastic during challenging or down times can be difficult. Sometimes it may even seem downright impossible. But we need to remember that difficult and impossible are two different things. While difficult, remaining consistently enthusiastic is far from impossible. It’s also essential for maintaining our mental and emotional well-being. So here are some ideas that can help us stay enthusiastic even when facing tough situations.

  • Taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally is crucial. Get enough sleep, eat well, exercise regularly as possible, and engage in activities that bring you fun and relaxation.
  • I’m a big believer in setting goals that push you past your comfort zone. Goals that are a stretch. But come on, every goal can’t push you to your limits. That’s setting you up for enthusiasm robbing disappointment. So some of your goals should be small and almost easily achievable. Accomplishing even minor tasks can give you a sense of accomplishment and boost your enthusiasm.
  • While it’s easy to dwell on negatives, consciously focus on the positive aspects of your life and situation. Practicing gratitude can shift your perspective and help you maintain enthusiasm. No matter how it may seem, you do not need sunglasses to look on the bright side of life.
  • Instead of viewing challenges as obstacles, try to see them as opportunities. Overcoming difficulties can boost your confidence and enthusiasm.
  • Learn new things and engage in activities that pique your interest. Curiosity can fuel enthusiasm by keeping your mind engaged and active.
  • Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small they may seem. This positive reinforcement can help you stay motivated and enthusiastic.
  • Surround yourself with sources of inspiration, whether it’s through books, podcasts, or music. Inspiration can rekindle your enthusiasm and creativity.
  • Sometimes, focusing on helping others can shift your perspective and bring a sense of fulfillment. Acts of kindness and volunteering can boost your mood and enthusiasm. I can guarantee you that someone nearby could use some help. Keep your eyes open and you’ll be sure to find them. 
  • View down times as opportunities to adapt and learn new strategies for dealing with challenges. This adaptability can help you maintain enthusiasm and even help you develop new job skills.
  • Establishing a daily routine can provide a sense of structure and purpose, helping you maintain focus and enthusiasm even when things are tough.
  • While routine is important, be open to adjusting your plans when necessary. Flexibility allows you to navigate challenges more effectively and maintain a positive attitude.

Maintaining enthusiasm during tough times is a process that requires thought, effort and patience. It’s okay to have moments of frustration or discouragement, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can work towards maintaining a positive outlook and a sense of enthusiasm.

Want more of LeadToday? I’ve changed things up on my Twitter feed for subscribers. I recently began publishing two or three videos each week focusing on an element of Authentic Leadership. I’ll post these videos each Tuesday and Thursday morning. Sometimes a bonus video pops up at other times during the week. They will be about 10 minutes long so we can get into the topic in a more meaningful way. The investment for subscribers in still only $4.99 a month. That’s for at least 80 MINUTES of quality video content on leadership a month.

If you’re interested in taking a look, head on over to my Twitter profile page. If you’re not a follower yet just hit the follow button. It will change to a subscribe button and once you hit that you’re on your way. You can cancel at any time you’ve decided you have nothing left to learn about leading the people who you count on for your success.

Here’s the link to my Twitter… https://twitter.com/leadtoday

Where to Find Success

Steve Keating 4 Comments

I wrote a post a few years back that I titled “The True Secret to Success” or something close to that. It got lots of views but I suspect many people didn’t read to the end. They quickly discovered that there really is no secret to success. 

 

For as long as there have been people, people have searched for that “secret” to success. They look for shortcuts and the easy way. The reality is that if they put as much effort into working for success as they did trying to “luck” into it they would have had success long ago. 

 

The only place to find success is in hard work and honest effort. Anyone who tells you that you can succeed without thinking, without planning and without working will also try to sell you ocean front property in Montana. (They might also ask for your vote but that’s another story) 

     

If you’re thinking you don’t have what it takes to succeed then think again. If you have enough desire and discipline you can be or do almost anything you want.

     

Actual research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. Even when you are talking about people like Tiger Woods and Warren Buffett natural talent takes a back seat to hard work and practice. Not just any hard work and practice but painful and demanding practice and hard work. Hard work again and again. Practice and more practice, over and over again. 

 

Yes, talent helps but hard work always beats talent when the talented person doesn’t work. 

     

We need to understand that talent doesn’t mean intelligence, motivation or personality traits. It’s an innate ability to do some specific activity especially well. British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, “The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the notion that excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts.”

     

You can make yourself into almost anything you want and you can even make yourself great.

     

One thing all the “greats” have in common is that no matter how “great” they are, they never stop trying to get better. They strive to grow each day and they never substitute good enough for great.

     

If you’re like most people, including me, and you can’t readily identify your innate gifts don’t worry about it. Get to work and you’ll soon pass up those people who were resting on their “gifts” while you were busy making the effort required to succeed.

The Truest Secret to Success

Steve Keating 5 Comments

There are many factors that come into play when determining a person’s potential for success. Those factors vary depending upon the type of endeavor the person is trying to succeed at. There are some commonalities across all fields of endeavor but each one has their own set of unique requirements.

There is however one sure way to greatly limit your chance at success. It makes no difference what your trying to succeed at, this one thing will almost certainly limit your chances at success if not outright kill them.

This one thing is called procrastination. 

Procrastination prevents even the most accomplished people from reaching their potential. It is simply amazing how quickly, and consistently procrastinating will kill your chances for success.

Research shows that a leading cause of procrastination is a lack of passion. It’s pretty simple really, we do the things we like to do and look for reasons to put off those things we don’t like doing.

The research shows that people who make decisions and take action quickly are more successful and wealthier than people who procrastinate. There are very very few exceptions where a chronic procrastinator has been able to overcome that handicap and still have huge success. Those exceptions in fact are so rare that it’s safe to say that procrastination not just might, but absolutely WILL damage your chances for success.

Procrastination limits every area of a person’s life, from business relationships to personal relationships. It limits the trust that other people will put in you and even limits the trust you’ll have for yourself. 

Every person hears the beckoning call of procrastination but highly successful people have learned to drown out the noise through planning and hard work.

One tool many people use to try and overcome their propensity to procrastinate is a to-do list. I’ve tried that but a simply to-do list is no match for my procrastination abilities. So I use a Prioritized Daily Task List. This is a to-do list on steroids. I rank everything I want to get done on a particular day by order of it’s importance. I do not allow myself to move from my highest ranked task to a lower ranked task until the higher ranked one is completed. That requires discipline.

Discipline, for those of you who believe you don’t have any, comes from wanting something in the future more than the something you want today. To develop discipline you simply have to identify what those things are that you want in the future. When you keep those things in the top of your mind it becomes much easier to have discipline.

I have one other “rule” I use to overcome procrastination. It’s my 30 second rule. It too is pretty simple, if something takes less than 30 seconds to do then do it NOW. You’ll be surprised how many of the things you put off actually take less than 30 seconds, it just seems like they take forever because you endlessly put them off.

Those 30 seconds can be the difference between your success and settling for less than you want and deserve. You probably won’t like this but here is a fact: if you can’t find 30 seconds in your day to accomplish something important then you can’t succeed. You probably don’t deserve to either.

The truest of all the secrets to success is to stop procrastinating. Don’t stop tomorrow, stop today and understand that anything else you can do today should be done today. 

“Do it today” is the mantra of all truly successful people! So, what are you doing today?