A Lunch Date with Success

     Have you ever wondered how really successful people get that way?  How do they accomplish so much with what appears to be so little effort?  I’m talking about REAL people here; not the ones in the self-help books or the great leaders in history.  I’m talking about the ones who live near you.  They sit next to you at soccer practice.  They park near you at the supermarket (okay, they probably drive  a better car than you but the gist is that they pretty much go through life like the rest of us.)  How do they do it?

     I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with a man that meets my definition of “successful”.  He cares about and is very involved in his family.  He is charitable.  And he is constantly growing and developing personally.  And yes, he is wealthy. 

     We discussed the role that setting and executing goals plays on one’s success.  What follows are some of the many insights he gave me during our lunch together.

• LOOK AT LIFE TEN MINUTES AT A TIME.  I’ve tried this, and I can tell you that it’s really painful.  So much of our time leaks away from us ten minutes at a time.  Identify where those holes are and plug them up so that you don’t leak time out of them anymore.

This particular entrepreneur is up every day at 5am, even though he is technically retired at the moment.  That’s something I’ve noticed about successful people- they always get up early.

• NO EXCUSES.  We all have them and know how to use them.  Successful people understand that all aspects of their business and life are ultimately their personal responsibility.  When they look in a mirror they don’t see the reflection through a mist of excuses.  They see a raw image with all of its triumphs and imperfections.  Having a “no excuses” frame of mind leads nicely into the next point, which is…
• LEARN FROM YOUR CHALLENGS.  AT THE END OF THE DAY LEAVE IT BEHIND YOU AND PRESS ON.  Accept responsibility, yes, but forgive yourself, learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward.  Remeber that we learn more from our mix-ups than we do from our successes sometimes. 

That’s another thing about successful people.  They never stop trying.  They understand that you don’t fail until you give up.  They are this way because they believe the next point,  which is…

• I AM GOING TO DO IT.  Believe in yourself and your subconscious mind will find ways to make that belief come true.  It will help you plot your course to your goals. 

The next one is one of my favorite points.  It really surprised me that he talked about it, but it sums things up so nicely…

• YOU SHOULD BE SMILING EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE.  Huh?  Think about it.  If you are in control of all aspects of your life and you are working dilligently towards your life’s goals, then you should be happy, shouldn’t you?  So many people go through life dissatisfied or worse, downright miserable.  If you don’t like your life, you have the power to change it.

I have one more thing about this interview that I’d like to share with you.  My meeting with this gentleman was not an accident.  I realized that in order to continue my personal growth I needed to find people with the knowledge that I was seeking.  It was uncomfortable and akward to ask him, but I just told myself I AM GOING TO DO IT and sure enough, I did!

Tags: Success, Successful Living, women and business, Women and leadership