Triple-S

I often wondered what made the difference between those who are successful and those who are not. By "successful" I mean those who seem to be able to achieve most anything they set their mind to in order to bring about quantifiable outcomes—results. As I took a deeper look I began to understand that outcomes are driven by forces, not all of which are readily apparent. So I began looking at things from the inside-out, which was more of an intuitive move on my part than anything else. Turns out, there was more to my instincts than I first realized.

Results, I discovered, are typically materialized by the law of cause and effect. The effect, in this case, is tied directly to the achievement of success in whatever form we can imagine or readily define. The cause is the culmination of everything we must do in order to achieve the effect.

I learned that one compelling reason we do anything is tied directly to why we do it. The why is driven by emotions and is closely connected to the level of effort we're willing to put forth to attain pleasure or avoid pain.

Whether we achieve success to any great degree depends largely upon three basic principles I call the Triple-S: our Strategy; our Story, and our State. Each deserves some elaboration, so I've decided to dedicate the next couple of posts to focus on each one, beginning with strategy.

Strategy

I've written extensively on the importance of having a plan for success. Our plan is driven by the strategy we employ to achieve our objectives. Without a strategy to support our vision, dream, goal, destination, or objective, there is no point in taking any action whatsoever, else we find ourselves running off in random directions essentially achieving little more than frustration.

Unfortunately, most people stop just after the vision part and, all too often, fail to enact any kind of strategy to put their vision on a map and get started with the process of achievement and the pursuit of success. Without a strategy, all that essentially exists is a dream or a vision, which is a vital part of the process. But a dream or vision by itself does little more than create a fleeting fantasy that reinforces the notion that dreams can never really be achieved. Don't buy it for one second!

As an air traffic controller I would meticulously examine the flight plan of each and every aircraft that was under my control. The flight plan defines the pilot's intended course of action—the strategy—designed to reach an objective, in this case, the intended destination. Success in aviation is defined as the safe and uneventful journey of an aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. In life, success is defined by an achievement of some kind. We set a course by clearly defining our destination and by following a strategy to reach that objective.

The strength and reliability of our strategy rests upon our convictions. (There's that "why" again.) It goes without saying that if we are driven to achieve something and if we want it bad enough, we'll find the right strategy. There is no better illustration of this than the dichotomy of the two opposing groups (those who are successful and those who are not).

The success of our strategy rests upon our daily rituals or behaviors. If our rituals don't support our strategy we'll never make it to our objective. Our rituals include all of the obligations, distractions, habits and routines we use to define the construct of our lives.

My curiosity to discover the differences between the two groups led to my own transformation as I began to make changes in my rituals. The differences were subtle at first but significant nonetheless. The significance eventually turned into what my wife likes to call "critical mass" or what I call "terminal velocity." Each of these terms relate to how small changes in behavior or strategy eventually reaches a tipping point of profound momentum, the likes of which produce amazing life-changing results!

Do your rituals support your strategy? If not, are you ready to do whatever it takes to get off the path you're on and start seeing real results? Start by taking a serious look at how you define your life and whether or not your rituals are really helping you to reach your objectives.

Where can you make small changes that will result in life-changing momentum in your strategy? Should you read more? Should you watch less television or get up earlier? If you look close enough you'll see the areas you can change to affect a significant transformation in reaching success. Your only job at that point will be to react to the changes you need to make.

So what's stopping you? Uncertainty? Fear? Great news—those are merely illusionary gates you must walk through. They're in place to separate you from the unaware and uninformed (people). How's that for a bit of encouragement? You can be different. You can be great. You can achieve it all if you'll take a good honest look at your strategy.

To recap...

1. Determine your why
2. Plug into the emotional power of your why
3. Create a strategy
4. Change your rituals to ensure the execution of your strategy

Until next time when we'll take a look at Your Story...

-G-


"Greatness is not where we stand but what direction we are moving." 
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes


We're proud to announce Gary's next book, set to be released this year. FEAR is a Thief is the first in a self-empowerment series that is written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.

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