Back to Basics-How to find your way back to the middle
"Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you."William Makepeace Thackeray(19th Century Novelist)
Throughout life I have been in such a hurry to find success, and often found myself climbing life's ladder only to find I was not pleased with my results.Today I spoke candidly about my past and how drug use, homelessness and nearly being bankrupt has changed my perception of success. The details of my life were not the focus of my speech but I wanted the people listening to understand why they should even listen to me utter one word.How many times have you desired to own something and never actually bought it? Have you ever questioned why you never followed through on your plan? I did, and found that the basics of my life were being met long before I started longing for my desires.Today I looked in the eyes of people who work hard daily, yet never seem to find the top of success; yet they have high desires and wants. I broke things down into small bite size pieces to show them the success they had achieved but never acknowledged.You do not get to the end of something successfully simply by deciding you wish to do it and take no action. Explaining to “step back to the basics of success” and note where you are is the only true way to understand where you are going.Now this is not something new or profound that I spoke about, but for those struggling to find direction it offered some answers to the following simple principles:
- Know your direction clearly
- Track your progress
- Set manageable goals
- Think in small manageable bite size pieces
- Pay attention to your success as well as your failures
- Celebrate your victory
- Repeat steps 1-6
This is not rocket science or high level academic work, but this is life and if you forget it is not a dress rehearsal, you might just show up to the journey that is life and find out your part is no longer needed.