4 Requirements to Live Successfully
The world is made up of decisions. When we wake, what we eat, how we spend our time…everything is a decision. How do we make decisions? Are they thoughtful and planned or made reactively based on instinct, feelings, and bad habits? Does it make a difference? Should we care or just let life happen?
In the richest country in the world, the majority of us retire with less than $50,000 in savings. How can this be? Many people say it’s because the rich have all the money and the poor don’t have a chance. I believe it’s because there’s no intention to our decisions. If we make decisions based on what feels good, we eat too much, exercise too little, and spend too much. The results of which, we die too early, suffer too long, and get there all the while with incessant financial worry. I believe that’s because of choices!
Doing nothing is a choice, and often it’s that of a loser’s choice. So how do we become intentional about being healthier, living longer and enjoying life to the fullest? We choose success. We choose to watch what we eat. We choose to exercise. We choose to spend less than we make, save the rest and invest wisely!
Success = Goal+ Plan+ Habit+Desire
If any one of these four things is missing from our lives, it means failure. We must have all four to be successful in any endeavor that is important.
Goal: We need to know what we want. How do we focus on anything if we don’t even know where we’re going? Without a goal we are very likely to be mediocre at best. It would be an accident if we were successful. Without goals, we don’t know where to place our resources, time or efforts.
Plan: Goals without a plan, without a strategy, without a process that puts probability of success on our side, are no good. We need to understand where we are going and how we are going to get there.
Habit: A plan cannot work unless we create habits of success. Diets don’t work, but changing our eating habits does. If we do something twenty-one times it’s harder to quit than to keep going. So we need to work on changing our habits so they match our plan!
Desire: Desire is the fuel that inspires our goals and keeps us moving forward. Without desire, goals are not set. Without desire, we never have the energy to plan. Without desire, we never have the ability, time or patience to create good habits. We have to believe that the goal is important enough, that we should follow a plan, create good habits, and keep our desire at a level that allows us to be successful.
So success = goals + planning + habits + desire. If you are making decisions without these in mind, they are not the best decisions to be made. Be intentional about your decisions so you can live successfully.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
