THE Breakdown Of Achieving Success
THE Breakdown Of Achieving Success
Do you ever have that feeling that you’re not “there” yet? Wherever “there” is…
It’s the feeling that you’re trying to reach a certain level of success in whatever you might be doing, but you’re not satisfied with the point that you’re at.
Then you start to question whether or not you will EVER be satisfied with a milestone you reach, or will it be this endless pursuit of a feeling?
It’s a feeling that you have right when you wake up. It’s a little bit anxiety, a little bit excitement, a little bit frustration and a little bit motivation… Will that ever go away? Will you ever feel that you’ve reached a point where everything moving forward is just gravy?
Honestly, I don’t know yet. BUT I believe a couple things about this journey that we’re on here. And if you resonate even a little bit with those thoughts above, you’re in the grind as well. You’re in the trenches doing the thing, working to do something bigger and better than you’ve ever done before…perhaps bigger and better than even what your friends and family have done before.
This is life changing stuff here that you’re working on. And don’t get me wrong, you love it and your excited by it, but you’re probably at the point where you NEED something to pay off from all the work that you’ve put in. Just a little something to feel like you’re moving the needle forward. Some sort of indicator to know that you’re on the right track…
I hope I’m not the first to tell you this, but you ARE on the right track. Hang in there with what you’re doing. It WILL pay off.
It’s super hard to see that reality for two reasons:
- You’re right in the middle of it trying to make it work. I get it. I’m right there with you. It’s hard to not have tunnel vision.
- Often times when we look into the future and think about the milestones that we desire to hit, we’re thinking too far down the line. and by doing that, we’re not recognizing what we’ve already done.
I was trying to describe this feeling to someone the other day. I was talking to them about a recent real estate investment that I made. I mentioned how proud I am of what I’ve done with it, but that I’m also still a bit frustrated with not being at the level of success that I’m aiming for.
As I was externally processing this feeling, I had a major realization. I realized that there wasn’t this Yin / Yang sort of scenario. I didn’t have to be proud OR unsatisfied…
I could happily be both and KNOW that I was exactly where in needed to be.
Think about it this way. When you’re on a long car trip, you want to get to your destination more than anything. And if it’s only the destination that you’re thinking about then it’s going to be a longgggg car ride.
BUT if along the way you know that you have specific landmarks/milestones you get to stop at and go through, all you have to do is to make it to each of those. Then the next one, then the one after that.
This is what I realized. There are milestones in this journey to be aware of. I’m not making this up, these milestones actually exist. We just don’t acknowledge them as much as we should. These milestones make the journey and the ups/ downs sooo much more manageable. They also shine a light on the reality of the journey to prepare us for what’s ahead. Just like driving through some mountains, it’d be important to know when you might need to put some snow tires on.
So let’s take it from the start:
In the beginning you have ACTION. This is where you‘ve started DOING the things. You’ve gone from the idea to actually tangible, malleable ACTION. You got off your butt and you are walking down the road. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you’re taking steps to move the needle forward.
This might look like a blog that you’re putting together, a conference that you go to and begin to grow your network, a book that you start writing, purchasing workout equipment or a gym membership, throwing out the junk food in your house, researching an investment property, signing up for guitar lessons, scheduling a job interview… and so on.
This is the START. It won’t and shouldn’t look perfect. But you are putting one foot in front of the other. You made a conscious decision to work on what you want to accomplish. This is HUGE and deserves to be recognized.
This is where you go from having a dreamy idea to actually trying to make that idea a reality. Too many people fall in love with the idea and NEVER take this first step. So don’t downplay this milestone, it is the catalyst for all that’s to come.
Action is where it starts, but before long, consistent action will lead to actual accomplishment. Now you’re in phase two, welcome. You’ve had the idea, you’ve done something about it and now, with your consistency, you’re actually making things happen. Not necessarily BIG things, but THINGS nonetheless. And that’s okay. You’re exactly where you want to be.
If you’ve dreamed of writing a book, your action was to start writing the book. Now, the first level of accomplishment is that you finished a chapter or 2, maybe even more. The books not quite done yet, but you are moving in the right direction.
If you wanted to start a blog, your action was to work on the website. Now, your accomplishment is that you’ve finished your site and you’re adding articles to it.
If you wanted to invest in real estate, your action was to research the properties and areas you want to invest in. Now, your accomplishment is that you submitted letters of intent to some properties. Or maybe it’s that you found a capital partner. Possibly you even invested as a limited partner in a deal. You’re not at the point of cash flowing good money, but you’re DOING THINGS.
This is HUGE! There is so much that happens between where you start and where you are at this level of accomplishment. You went from NOTHING, to processing through a wild idea, to DOING something about that idea, and NOW doing enough of something that you’re acutely making “it” happen. Do NOT feel bad about where you are at this point. You’ve already passed up 80% of the quitters out there that will never ever commit to doing anything long enough to feel this feeling. You’re moving on up.
This next level doesn’t come easy. But it DOES exist and it will happen. It takes reaching those accomplishments over and over again. It’s not just about doing the thing anymore. It’s not even about doing the thing enough times to accomplish something, it’s about ACCOMPLISHING something time and time again and getting GOOD at it. This is when you begin to monetize the thing that you do. It’s the FINANCIAL milestone.
You begin to build an audience, a following, a crowd, customers who see the value you provide and the skills you have at your “thing” and they want help. Maybe it’s a product, maybe it’s a service, maybe it’s a course, maybe it’s just YOU… whatever it is, they want it and you are at a level where you’re able to provide it.
This is the point so many people want to get to. We all actually want to start off at this point. Most think that they can.. SOME actually can, but rarely. Even the greats have to go through the beginning process in order to get to the financial milestone level. Rest assured, this level is available to all, but ALL won’t stay in the race long enough to get here, sadly.
Wow, what a journey to get to this point. The beauty is that each step of the way is within reach from the last. It’s just one checkpoint ahead. When you stand back and look at this next milestone from the beginning, it’s easy to think it’ll NEVER happen, but it’s really just a hop skip and a jump away from the financial milestone. Truth be told, this is actually the milestone that every single entrepreneur ever really truly wants to get to. It might be the milestone that most people on earth want to get to. And once you reallllllly understand this breakdown of milestones that I’m going through today, maybe… just maybe, you’ll realize that it’s actually possible for you. It’s the FREEDOM milestone.
I am NOT selling you on anything. I haven’t reached this milestone yet, so I don’t have anything to sell, but I know that it exists, I know people who have made it, I know how possible it is and I know that it is ENTIRELY worth the effort.
For this milestone, you have done all the things that have paid off for a long enough time that you don’t really need to being doing those things anymore. NOW, you’re able to leverage those things with OTHER things and other PEOPLE in order to create more and build bigger.
You started off by just taking an idea and putting one for in front of the other, leading with action. This action done over and over led to accomplishment. You were consistent with your accomplishments and they began to gain attention. This attention allowed you to provide value to others and for you to monetize that value. NOW, you have provided value for long enough that you can let that ‘play in the background’ while you step out and work on bigger and better things. You’ve made it.
BUT…
Don’t get too comfortable. This is only the beginning. You’ve done some amazing things, but just because you are free, doesn’t mean that it lasts forever. It might, but you need to be prepared for it to end at some point. The failure milestone doesn’t mean that we’re going to build this big empire only to see it crumble to the ground, it means that things do happen. Along the way, you want to be prepared by not squandering your ‘profits’. Be smart with them. Make them work for you from the second you have enough to allocate elsewhere.
What does this look like?
As you reach the financial milestone and especially the freedom one, invest your success elsewhere. As much as you feel comfortable with. You might be the big fish out the ONLY fish in the ocean right now, but it’s hard to be in that position forever. If the entirety of your success depends on one thing, you’re going to be in constant battle.
More than anything, this is a mindset. It’s not financial advice, it’s the mindset that you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. It’s the mindset that once you leverage your abilities and have freedom, use that freedom to pivot, to expand, to grow, teach, inspire, diversify. Don’t just settle.
You might be big man on campus, but people are always coming for you. They see you and see your success and they want it.
In police work when we clear buildings for potential suspects, we are taught to imagine the suspect behind every corner. Of course in the back of our minds, we know there isn’t a suspect behind every corner, BUT if we are prepared to engage, we wont be caught off guard.
To bring it all home, here is an illustration of this journey. You climb the slopes with your action, accomplishment, financial and freedom milestones, then you are brought back down to reality with a failure, a pivot, a change of trajectory. The overall path of your journey is UP, I promise, but you have to hang in there long enough to find out.