Success is a tricky thing. Most people “think” that they want to be successful. However, very often they have so many underlying points of view about what success means that get in the way.
I am all too familiar with how points of view can affect your career and success. When I worked for a billionaire, I thought that I had to work 24/7, and give 200% all the time in order to be successful.
Other preconceived notions of what it means to be truly successful and make a lot of money are, to name a few:
- You have to be a leader
- You have to stand out from the crowd
- You have to be willing to be seen
- You have to be willing to be judged
- You have to be willing to envied
- People will come to you and ask for money and/or your advice.
Are these points of views that keep you from success? Your thoughts can affect the way you interact with others in the workplace. Don’t allow these kinds of points of view to determine your career. There is a different way.
Here are five tools that can keep you open to the possibilities of success:
1. Interesting Point of View
Once you make any point of view important, you attach all kinds of “baggage” in the form of thoughts, feelings and emotions to it. Very often they are based on your past experiences, your opinions, what you have learned from your family and friends, in school and university or even from the media.
As soon as you detach the baggage you have in connection with a specific point of view, it will no longer weigh you down and determine your life. So, how do you free yourself from getting bogged down in any points of view you have about success? There is an easy tool I like to use. It is called, ‘Interesting point of view I have this point of view.’ For example, let’s say you think that if you are successful, you will be envied by others.
Write this point of view down. Then look at it and say at least 10 times (or as long as you don’t avoid success for fear of being envied): “Interesting point of view I have this point of view!”
Then take a deep breath and look at it again. Has it changed in any way? Does it still feel real to you or has it become more neutral? It is that easy. Try it out and do it with every point of view you have that does not allow you to be successful.
2. Are you actually choosing to be successful?
As mentioned before, a lot of people think they want to be successful but are not actually choosing it. Being successful is a choice you have to make! And you have to choose it with every molecule of your being and with everything you do. Choosing success is a constant process. It is not something that you chose 10 years ago and hope it will finally come to fruition one day.
To invite more success into your daily life, here are some great questions you could ask:
If I were a successful person, what would I choose here?
What can I be or do different today to become more successful than I ever imagined possible right away?
3. Demand of yourself to be more successful
Once you have truly chosen to be successful, you have to make a demand of yourself to be or do whatever it takes to be more successful. It is important to demand to be ‘more successful’ and not simply to be successful. When you seek to be successful, this implies you lack success and that is harder to overcome. If you desire to be more successful, you already acknowledge that you are successful and that you are asking for more.
4. Be a walking, talking question
Especially in business, we are all trained to find solutions or answers. However, all the great inventors and visionaries asked for more and different possibilities. When you ask a question, you open doors to possibilities that no one else thought of and you invite them in. Here are some great questions you can ask on a constant basis:
- What is required to solve this situation with total ease?
- What questions can we ask here that we have not considered yet?
- What can we be or do different here that would allow us to surpass ourselves and everybody else with total ease?
- What possibilities are now available that we have not considered yet?
5. Trust what you know
Most of the great innovations and inventions have been created by people who were open to different possibilities. If you speak with successful people, you will notice how they often state: “I knew it in my gut,” or “I followed my intuition,” or “I just knew it.” So, even if you do not know where some information comes from, just trust yourself and follow what you know, even though it may not be the popular thing to do!
Being successful is a choice and a demand you have to make on a constant basis. Once you eliminate whatever is blocking you from choosing and having success in your job, you have to be willing to be and do whatever it takes to be as successful as you truly can be.
Using these tools & techniques I changed many points of view. Now that I am doing what I love to do very successfully, work is so much more joyful and playful, and I create an impact in the world by contributing to changing people’s lives and making businesses more successful.
So, let me ask you, is now the time to choose to be successful?
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