Why You Aren’t Successful Yet?

At some point in time most of us have asked ourselves “Why am I not successful already?” Well, it’s an easy question to answer; simply because if it was we’d all be driving around in exotic cars, taking 3 month vacations to foreign countries, or exploring the open oceans on our million dollar yachts.

While this all may be; the real question you should be asking is “Have I been making the choices that will make me succeed in the future?” Being as none of us can foresee the future, the best thing to do is look at the options. What you can look at are if YOUR choices align with the choices of people that have already achieved success. Hence leading to our “5 common mistakes people are making that are preventing them from being successful.” The good news is that once you understand these mistakes, it is unbelievable how easy it is to change your mindset, and start making the same decisions many millionaires make every day!

The 5 Things Holding You Back

1) Not Setting Goals

Goal setting is something that everyone should do but most people don’t. When was the last time you wrote down your goals? I’m guessing it wasn’t recently and if it was they were probably small goals or a to do list. Goal setting is really about setting up big goals that challenge you. It’s about turning your dreams into something that is achievable.

If you are setting goals you are creating a roadmap to success. This road map will let you create big goals and big models that will push you to achieve things you couldn’t do before. Don’t go along with the crowd and ignore goal setting. Not setting goals is one of the big drivers in why you aren’t successful already.

2) Paying Yourself Last

Have you ever noticed that when you get a paycheck immediately everyone is asking for a part of it? You end up paying for taxes, food, housing, entertainment, and transportation. If there is anything left over at the end of the month you use that as you investment money if you are lucky. Most people have more month than money and that’s never a good thing. This is known as paying yourself last.

What you want to do is pay yourself first. Start off with a small percent (1-3%) and increase this until you are up to at least 10%. This is money you pay yourself first. It may be tough at first but over time you will adjust. This payment towards yourself should go into an investment that over time will pay you. It can be anything from school to real estate to stocks or even commodities. If you don’t know anything about investing find a professional that can help or if you’re more hands on you can learn yourself. Just remember that if you aren’t paying yourself no one else will. Don’t let others decide where your money is going.

3) Your Network Needs Improvement

Have you ever noticed that successful people hang out together? That’s not a coincidence. The successful people in society have learned that the people they associate with make a huge impact on their lives. This can be seen on the opposite end of the spectrum as well, unsuccessful people tend to spend most of their time with people that are also unsuccessful.

Take a look at the 5 people you spend most of your time with. Are these 5 people striving for greatness or have they accepted mediocrity? If they aren’t striving for greatness they are holding you back. This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t talk with them. What this means is it is time to work on your network. The best way to do this is to find the type of person you want to be like and start spending time with them. One of the big goals you should be creating is finding a mentor that has already done the things you want to do. They can share advice and guide you on your way to success. If you don’t know where to find them look for clubs related to your interests. Don’t forget that you are the sum of the people you spend the most time with!

4) Lack of Education

Education is something that scares a lot of people. If someone randomly told me my lack of education was holding me back my first thought would probably be “but education is expensive”. That may be true in some cases but you don’t need formal education to create a better life for yourself.

One of the best ways to educate yourself is through reading. Books and eBooks are also a great way to get mentorship that I had mentioned before. You don’t need to meet someone to learn from them. If you read a book it gives you the opportunity to expand your mind by looking into the thoughts of someone who has experienced more. That seems like a great way to learn. You don’t even have to read now that audiobooks are easily accessible.

Another great way to learn is through online courses or certification programs. Some of the programs can cost money but others are free. Depending on what you are interested in you can Google courses and certifications and find what you are looking for.

To become successful you need to create a skill set that causes you to stand out from the crowd. These skills can be learned in many different ways. All you have to do is spend the time to educate yourself when others are wasting time.

5) Wasting Time

Wasting time is one of the biggest things holding people back. Have you ever tracked how much time you spend on social media or watching TV per day? It’s definitely something you should track because the average time on social media is up to 2 hours per day and TV is up to 5 hours. Can you imagine what you could do if you had an extra 2-7 hours per day to spend on achieving your dreams?

Instead of wasting your time, schedule out your day with time blocks. A time block is a 15+ minute time period that you set aside specifically for a task. I personally use 1 hour a day for reading. That time block is the same every day and has become a habit. Habits make things easier. Use these time blocks to create your goals/plans, expand your network, educate yourself, and learn to invest. Once you’re using your time properly you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish!

It’s Time to Become Successful

Success is not something that comes over night. It takes time to create habits and change your mindset. One of the best ways to go about becoming successful is to share your ideas. When you share your ideas you find people that are like you. Finding people like yourself allows you to build your network. You can even have people join in on your pursuit of excellence. These people will become your accountability partners. Teach them about how important it is to set goals. Show them how paying yourself first has allowed you to create extra income. Educate people on the topics that you’ve educated yourself on. Don’t forget to show them how much you have accomplished when you became accountable for your time. There is no limit to what you can do!

If you think you are ready to start making a difference your life and others share these concepts with your friends. Some of them may not like that you are trying to better your life but that’s ok. Find the people that want you to succeed and invite them on your journey. It’s time for you to create your own success and stop making excuses!

Becoming the person you want to be

What does it mean to be who you want to be? Being who you want to be means going out and doing things for you. There is no one in this world that is more important in your life than yourself. Take the time to get to know who you are and who you want to be so you can be happy and live a fulfilled life. Knowing who you are is only half the battle. You have to fully understand yourself to make this concept work. Visualize who you want to be in the future. Now look at where you are now. If you don’t see the same person it’s time to get to work. If you do see the same person that’s awesome and you are probably already living your dream. Now let’s get back to what you need to do to be who you want to be.

There are going to be a few steps to finding yourself and growing into who you want to be. They aren’t hard steps and each one that you follow will get you closer to your dream life. Let’s take a look at what those steps are going to be.

Step 1) Take time to write down what you believe in

This step is about getting all of who you are on paper. You will need to thoroughly look at everything that makes you who you are and explain why you are like that. The smaller you can break things down the easier it will be to fine tune things in the future.

You will need to explain in detail why you believe the things you do and why you don’t believe in the things you don’t. This goes for your moral and ethical beliefs. It is easy to get caught up in the fast paced world but this is a time to sit down and really get to know yourself, think it through.

If you see something missing from your list you’ll need to create a seperate list. This new list is things to improve on. This will be very important in the next step.

Step 2) Look for places on your list that you can improve

This is the step when you start building your character and start becoming who you want to be. What it comes down to is taking your list of missing attributes and finding ways to add them to your life.

The best way to go about this step is to find a mentor that has experience and can teach you from their mistakes. Mentors can be anyone from the people around you to authors of books that you’ve read. Take the advice of others and take advantage of what has come before you.

Step 3) Focus on what you believe is right

You are going to be learning and exploring a ton of information while on the journey of becoming yourself. During this journey you will need to expand upon the things you believe are right in the world.  Adjust your life and surround yourself with like minded people. The more things you do to improve yourself the happier you will be.

An important part of learning is sharing knowledge. During this step you should seek out people that are willing and interested in learning from you. Teach them the ways of “being who you want to be” become the mentor that you sought out during Step 2.

Step 4) Become passionate about the things you enjoy

This is the last major step in being who you want to be. You may have hobbies or interests but this is the time to turn them into a passion. Passions are the easiest things to learn and the easiest things for you to teach. You can become passionate about improving skills that you previously lacked. This is the time to get involved with whatever you are passionate about. Volunteer time, teach others or spend more time on your hobby. Eventually your passion will be part of your life and people will know you for it. This circles around to being who you want to be because you are truly the person doing the things you enjoy and are passionate about.

Learning is the key to living your dream

The most important thing to take away from “being who you want to be” is to keep learning. The only way to ever progress in life is to continue your education. It doesn’t matter if it is school, reading books or getting a mentor that helps you learn new things. as long as you are improving your life you will be able to live your dream. Use the idea of “being who you want to be” as a stepping on your Pursuit of Excellence.