Success is not just about hard work and perseverance. There are some factors that you need to take into account to prevent yourself from stumbling.
Following are the mistakes that I’ve made. Avoid them so you can achieve your goal soon.
1. Being Impatient For Success
“Don’t think what’s the cheapest way to do it or what’s the fastest way to do it. Think what’s the most amazing way to do it.” – Richard Branson
Everyone wants to succeed fast. This is especially true if you have quit your job to focus fully on your goal, like starting a business. You may feel stressed and impatient when you watch your savings flow out and there is no income at all during the first few months.
At this stage, you need to stay focused on your target. Don’t sacrifice the quality of your work for the sake of saving time. Instead, make great efforts to produce an awesome product even no one notices it yet. Remember, since you’ve resigned, burn your bridges, don’t look back and go all out to make your goal a success!
2. Working Hard With No Reflection
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
They say good things take time; so you constantly use the same methods and strategies without evaluation. Even when there’s no significant progress after a period, you persuade yourself that if you wait faithfully, your dream will come true someday. You think this is perseverance? No; you might wait forever without results.
You need to take a step back and review your actions in order to move forward. Try setting milestones with deadlines. If you fail to reach the milestone, check your tactics, adjust your plan, learn from gurus, strike out in new approaches, test again and venture again. Don’t be afraid to change.
3. Comparing Yourself To Others
“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” – Steven Furtick
Success stories are everywhere. But we neglected the enormous efforts and countless failures that they’ve encountered. If you only focus on how fast or easy they succeeded, you will end up feeling like an idiot. But no, you are not. Save yourself from the whirlpool of self-pity and hopelessness.
I was working on a project for some time. I felt bitter when I saw others could nail it easily. It was then my friend reminded me that mistakes and failures are progress, too. I haven’t gain success yet, but I gained lessons. I’m marching on, more wisely and confidently this time.
4. Banning All Playtime
“In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.” – Sid Caeser
You may take your goal as a life or death matter, as though the world will come to an end if you don’t make it. Therefore, you add more hours to your endeavour and limit all leisure activities, entertainment and even family time. However, you’ll risk losing creativity, sparks and passion in your work.
The key is to be serious with your goal, but not to be too harsh on yourself. Allow yourself to relax, have fun or travel. You get to refuel yourself with more inspiration and power to create amazing stuffs.
5. Neglecting Self Appreciation
“You must not only make time to create a plan, you must make time to appreciate how well you followed the plan.” – Karen Salmansohn
You are grateful to those who are willing to lend you a hand. But you probably forget to thank yourself and encourage yourself to keep up the good work. The compliments you give to yourself help you go further. One of the easiest ways to do this is to write down all the things you’ve tried and learned. All these victories are great motivation for you when you have self doubt. Let them reaffirm your abilities.
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Featured photo credit: Caution by Michele M. F. via flic.kr
