Invest In Your Success
What do you want to accomplish more than anything else right now? I’ve been asking myself the same question recently. And I’ve tried to take steps to ensure that I’ll reach my goals, push past them, and set bigger and better ones for the future. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately to help myself in the different areas of my life.
Health: I have been doing P90X to whip myself back into shape. I’ve lost around 30+ pounds overall since I’ve started (including P90X and other exercise) and feel awesome. The improved physical condition has translated over into every other area of my life. I feel better than I have in a long time and even though I’ve been slacking off in the last phase a little bit lately, I’m going to finish the program and write a full summary of my experience here.
Wealth: I have been digesting a lot of material on wealth-building which is nothing new for me. I study internet marketing and ways to create wealth no matter what anyway. But what I’ve really changed is the small steps I’ve taken to invest in my future. I never really looked at having my investment plan in order before the past couple of months. I opened a higher-than-average return savings account and an investment account with ING Direct/Sharebuilder and have started looking into ways I can save more and contribute to my retirement savings more actively. This is an area I have neglected for a long time and feel so relieved to finally be learning more about it at this stage in my life. In addition, I have been killing it with my study of internet marketing recently and I’m at the point where I’m ready to really throw everything I’ve learned into practice within the scope of what’s doable for me. In any case, I have a great desire to put more effort into what I want to be a very successful business one day.
Relationships: I recently separated from my wife of 4 years. Yes, it’s sad but true. We still care a great deal for each other, but it was time to make a change and move on. Fortunately for me, I have taken great strides to not mope around on this loss. Instead I see it as an opportunity to become a master at all the social skills I have left underdeveloped all this time. I am a HUGE fan of pickup theory and evolutionary psychology. Being “single” again gives me the chance to go out meet new women and friends and really learn more about myself and others in a practical environment. What was once sadness has now been replaced with the understanding of patience and anticipation for the adventures to come in my life.
Miscellaneous: I’m starting back to college in February for a degree in Computer Information Technology. I’m not overly excited about it because I know it will probably take more of my precious time than anything else. But I do want to finish my Bachelor’s degree and my GI Bill will more than cover the expense. I also know it will greatly enhance my resume and give me the golden “something to fall back on” egg.
I know you haven’t heard from me in a while, and these are the reasons why. I’ve been investing in myself and my future a great deal. This article is about that very topic: Self-improvement in all areas at all costs.
It’s easy to just sit around the house all day and play PS3. I go through many days where I do that as well. But throughout my time, I’m very conscious of taking little steps to ensure success will be commonplace in my life. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve learned recently:
1. You HAVE to invest something, whether you want to or not. You have to invest time, money, resources, focus and energy just for starters into whatever outcome you desire in your life and there’s no way around this. You may say “I don’t have to invest anything.”, but in all fairness you are then investing in whatever it is that you are choosing to spend your life doing by not actively pursuing the things that you REALLY want. Time is the most precious of these. The time I spend mindlessly web surfing and playing PS3 is time I could be spending building my blog, internet business, and getting things done that have more priority in my life. This is a habit I am working on improving into something more manageable.
2. Don’t be afraid of failure. I fail all the time. I’ve even written an entire article dedicated to not caring about failure. The thing is to not consider small setbacks failures, but instead to frame them as feedback. Dwelling on setbacks is failure. Correcting them and improving in those areas is inevitable to success. Know the difference and implement it.
3. Evaluate the weak areas of your life and see where you can improve. This one has been big for me and it’s the entire premise of this website and a philosophy I live my life by. What is dragging you down and really feels out of order in your life? Health, Wealth, or Relationships? If one is out of balance from the other two, you will feel it. It may even get to the point where it begins to affect the other areas of your life in a negative way. Find weaknesses and take those initial steps to improve them.
4. Maintain and build upon your strengths. This one is easily accomplished. Best example: My fitness and diet habits have consistently yo-yo’d throughout my life. I’ve gone through many periods of being in shape, working out and eating right. These would then be followed by me settling for my physical condition and then allowing myself to eat junk food and not work out as much resulting in me getting out of shape and having to work hard just to get back to where I was. Now that I’m in a good position with my fitness and diet, I am making it a priority to stay there. I even let myself indulge a little bit with dessert and the occasional beer. Moderation in indulgence is okay. Just don’t let it ruin the habits that got you the success in the first place.
5. Make a plan. This can be an improvement to whatever plan you have in place now or a start from scratch manifesto. Just get something down on paper. I went through Tony Robbins’ Get The Edge program a couple of months ago and it was eye-opening. I was able to write down what I really wanted in life, set timelines of when I wanted to get there and immediately begin taking action towards those goals.
6. Be CONSISTENT. Half of the game is just showing up. Once you have your plan and action steps set up, follow them with conviction. You might get sidetracked or derailed, but keep pushing. A little effort is better than no effort at all. It definitely helps to have the right people around you as well. Try to maintain a peer group who consistently moves towards goals similar to what you are trying to accomplish and this makes your successful progression almost inevitable.
If you’re slacking on yourself and what you want, don’t wait until January to get cracking away on your dreams. January 1st is not a fresh start, but just a date like any other date. Get your fresh start now. Even if you take small steps only, they will still be small steps in the right direction.
