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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step how to develop charisma.

The Benefits of Charisma

Charisma is a magnetic energy — a quality that expresses confidence and strength, arousing loyalty and admiration from others.

Some people are born with a natural charisma and an outgoing personality that magnetically attracts others to them. However, charisma isn’t something that you necessarily have to be born with. It is rather something that can be acquired over time. Although it is something that can only be brought to life if you take the time to develop extraordinary poise and presence when in the company of others. In fact, you must develop a reputation for being knowledgeable, interesting and passionate. Only in this way will you derive the benefits that charisma has to offer.

Charisma is an incredibly endearing quality because it will help you to win people over to your way of thinking. Likewise it will help you win promotions and also develop deep friendships because of your uncanny ability to influence people with your words, deeds and actions. As such, having a charismatic personality will open the doors of opportunity as you build trust, support and win the respect of those around you.

How to Develop Charisma

Developing charisma isn’t an easy process. It is something that will take some time and effort. However, your efforts will be well spent the moment you begin putting your charisma to action.

Here are some guidelines for developing charisma in small ways through your social interactions with others:

Listen Actively

Probably the most important skill of a charismatic individual is their ability to listen actively to what others are saying. Listening actively means that you listen with an open mind and without any judgment. Use gentle nods, paraphrasing and interjections to acknowledge that you understand the other person. Also smile genuinely while freely expressing your enthusiasm and agreement with what the other person is saying.

Having the ability to listen actively means that you’re listening and actively participating in the conversation by asking questions and continuously encouraging the other person to provide you with more information about things that they are most interested and passionate about. This process will help you to get a better understanding of the other person, while allowing you to build a strong emotional bond between the two of you.

Be Genuine in Every Way

Everything you do must be genuine. A charismatic person is always genuine in their concern for the other person. They genuinely respect the other person, and they are genuinely interested in the other person’s life, experiences, insights and circumstances. They project this energy by asking insightful and interesting questions that gets the other person talking about themselves and their problems.

Throughout the conversation the charismatic person also uses empathy to connect with others at a much deeper emotional level. Empathy helps them to fully understand what other people are thinking, feeling and going through.

Inspire Others

Walking away from their interaction with a charismatic person, people often feel more confident, excited and inspired about themselves and their future. The charismatic individual has made them feel incredibly important, while also strengthening their confidence by being supportive and understanding of their needs, wants, desires and aspirations. And all it took was some genuine interest in the other person’s life — encouraging them to talk about themselves and their passions.

Communicate with Purpose

In order to communicate with purpose, a charismatic individual must first give their full undivided attention to the other person. They do this by using good and somewhat soft eye-contact that makes the other person feel comfortable and at ease. Once a connection has been established, they will use the other person’s name during key moments throughout the conversation. This helps them to create higher levels of rapport, and helps draw the person deeper into the conversation.

While conversing the charismatic individual speaks with conviction, while purposefully varying their pitch, volume, tone and the rhythm of their voice in order to add some color to their speech. This has a tendency to keep the other person interested and transfixed on them at all times. On top of this, they project a light-hearted energy using humor as a way to make the other person feel more comfortable and relaxed in their presence.

Mirror and Match People

Mirroring and matching another person doesn’t mean mimicking the other person or copying their every movement and facial expression. What it does mean is choosing particular moments throughout the conversation where you will mirror and match how the other person stands or sits, or how they nod their head in order to create a deeper level of chemistry between the two of you.

Tell Engaging Stories

Those with incredible charisma are also engaging story-tellers. They have all these incredibly interesting stories about their lives, about their experiences, and even about the lives and experiences of others that they love to share with the people they meet. However, the charismatic individual won’t just tell these stories, they will share these stories in an engaging way that gets the other person involved physically and emotionally.

Freely Compliment People

It’s important to understand that many people work really hard behind the scenes in a variety of ways. They work hard to acquire specific kinds of knowledge, to learn new skills, to improve their appearance, etc. On the surface we don’t see all the work that goes into all these things. However, if you pay attention to the details of your conversation with them, you can easily pick up on these key areas that people put a lot of effort into. This will immediately separate you from 99 percent of the population who rarely take notice of such matters.

A charismatic individual spots these areas throughout their interactions with other people and purposefully compliments the other person while acknowledging them for their efforts. This secretly impresses and maybe even surprises the other person, while helping build deeper levels of rapport.

Project Confidence

To be charismatic is to be confident. Confidence and charisma are in some ways joined at the hipbone. You will fail miserably to be charismatic if you lack the confidence, conviction, and belief in your own abilities.

When it comes to your social interactions with others, it is absolutely paramount that you first work on developing your confidence before anything else. Charisma and shyness are certainly not joined at the hipbone. It’s also however important that you develop the necessary conviction and belief in your opinions and ideas. You’ll rarely gain the respect of others if you lack conviction.

Help People at Every Opportunity

During a typical conversation, a charismatic individual will listen intently to what the other person is saying and ask themselves the following two questions:

What does this person want or need?

How can I help them get this?

When you’re charismatic you naturally project an energy that is very nurturing and adds value to other people’s lives. It is therefore important that you see every interaction with every person you meet as an opportunity to change their lives for the better, even if it is in a very small way.

Find out what the other person really wants, what their problems are, what kind of challenges they are facing, and then figure out how you might be able to potentially help them.

Your help doesn’t need to cost you a lot of your time or energy. It could be as-small-as sharing a quote with them that you feel could help change the way they think, or it could be a recommendation about a book you’ve read, or it could just be connecting them to a friend or colleague who has had similar experiences and might be able to provide them with some guidance.

No matter what it is, help people in some small way. What might seem small to you, might in fact be huge within the context of their life.

Vary Up Your Facial Expressions

People with bland facial expressions seem boring and disinterested. However, those who have a wide variety of facial expressions that they use to punctuate their speech seem incredibly interesting and charismatic. However, it’s important that you practice these facial expressions in front of a mirror before you do it in public. Because what might seem like an interesting and friendly facial expressions to you, might very well come across as strange and very distracting.

Use a Gentle Touch

A gentle touch here and there on the other person’s shoulder or arm can help to keep them engaged and interested. Charismatic people will often touch a person on purpose during key moments of their interactions while they are making specific points. This helps them to control the conversation and make the other person feel at ease within their presence. This of course must be done with caution. Some people will not want to be touched, or will not want to be touched in certain areas. You must therefore use your discretion and get a feel for what the other person feels most comfortable with, and adjust your approach accordingly.

It’s also important that you don’t overdo the touching. Excessive touching can lead to discomfort and you will lose all the rapport you worked so hard to create.

Use Well Timed Pauses

A person who talks a million miles an hour and doesn’t even pause to take a breath is absolutely exhausting to listen to. There’s no chance of building rapport if the other person is trying to keep up with your conversation.

One way to avoid falling into this trap is to slow down your speech. However, slowing things down can lead to other problems such as boredom and frustration. If you speak more slowly than the other person, then it’s likely they will be tempted to finish your sentences. You likewise lose their respect, as well as all the rapport you have been building. There is however a middle ground.

A charismatic individual will talk at a similar pace that the other person talks at. However, they will use clever pauses throughout their conversation in order to build anticipation or add emphasis to important points. This will have a tendency to keep the other person interested and engaged within the conversation.

Qualities to Aspire to…

A charismatic individual has certain qualities that separate them from most other people. These are the qualities that help them build incredible rapport with others. However, these qualities are not mysterious in any way. They are simply qualities of someone who is genuinely interested in making a difference in other people’s lives.

A charismatic person is caring, honest, genuine, approachable, respectful, social, authentic, fair, gracious and sympathetic. On top of all this they are also very assertive, yet always seem to be at ease. When you put all these qualities together you get one well-rounded individual who is liked and respected by everyone they meet.

Things to Avoid

There’s a lot that goes into a charismatic personality. However, charisma isn’t only about what you do, but rather also about what you avoid doing that could potentially ruin your reputation as a charismatic individual.

Here are some things you should avoid at all costs if you have a strong desire to develop your charisma:

• Don’t curse, gossip or complain. It doesn’t look good, and it certainly won’t do you any good either.
• Don’t talk excessively about yourself. Focus the conversation instead on the other person’s passions, problems and interests.
• Don’t attempt to please everyone. It’s impossible, and in the process you might actually end up pleasing no one.
• Don’t offend people. Yes, you might disagree with something they have said. However, instead of offending them, challenge them to prove themselves.
• Don’t interrupt people while they are talking. This is one of the fastest ways to lose rapport. Let them conclude their thoughts in full before you have your say.
• Don’t be arrogant or appear superior in any way. Charismatic individuals have a knack for making people feel comfortable and at ease no matter how much their circumstances differ.
• Don’t make excuses. Excuses show others that you do not take responsibility for your life. Nobody wants to associate with those who excuse their life away.
• Don’t lose control of your emotions. Learn to manage all those seemingly unhelpful emotions in productive ways no matter how difficult your circumstances may be in the moment. Not losing control of your emotions during troubled times will help you gain incredible respect and admiration from those around you.
• Don’t take everything so seriously. A charismatic individual has a playful and fun-loving nature. They will find the humor in every difficulty, which will help others feel at ease.

If some of these habits-of-mind go against your nature, then you certainly have your work cut out for you. Nobody said that developing a charismatic personality was going to be easy. You may very well need to acquire some new habits. And you may most certainly need to dump some old habits that will no longer serve you along this new path you are on. The choice is ultimately yours to make.

A Charismatic Mindset

In order to develop a charismatic personality, you might need to spend some time growing and shaping your mindset in ways that will help you to project the right kind of attitude that will allow you to be more charismatic. And in essence that is pretty much what charisma is. It’s an attitude you have about life that you continuously share with other people through your interactions.

Here are some ways you can develop a charismatic mindset:

• Cultivate humility. Humility will help you to keep your feet on the ground no matter how much loyalty and support you garner from others.
• Cultivate optimism. Optimism will help you to stay positive during difficult times. Others will also rely on you to help build their confidence when things don’t go their way.
• Cultivate passion. A charismatic individual is passionate, purpose-driven and enthusiastic about life. Their passions help to inspire others to pursue their own goals and aspirations.
• Cultivate a childlike curiosity. Curiosity will help you become more interested in other people’s lives. This will allow you to ask more insightful questions, and therefore get to know them at a deeper level.
• Be somewhat mysterious, unpredictable and surprising. Create a sense of intrigue about your persona to keep people guessing. Make sure that people don’t quite have you figured out. In this way you will more naturally draw their attention, admiration and interest.
• Be a fearless trailblazer. You have your own goals and vision, a sense of purpose, you’re creating your own path, and it doesn’t matter what obstacles stand in your way. You’re fearless and will therefore do whatever it takes to move forward with purpose. This will naturally inspire others to want to be more like you.
• Have a warm personality. A warm personality is friendly and outgoing and makes you very approachable.
• Have an abundance mentality. An abundance mentality means that there is no lack in your life. You are grateful for everything, and this gratitude brings you peace and fulfillment no matter what difficulties you might be facing.

The initial steps you take to develop charisma may very well go against your nature. It may actually be a very difficult process. However, if you commit and persist long-term you can most certainly make these changes stick. And when eventually everything does stick, a whole new world of opportunity will open up to you as you begin winning the respect and admiration of those around you.

Gain More Knowledge…

• How to be Charismatic @ Life Coaches Blog
• How to be Charismatic: Seven Powerful Tips from the Mentalist @ The Positivity Blog
• How to be Enchanting @ Penelope Trunk
• The Secrets of How to Boost Your Charisma @ Pick the Brain
• The Ten Characteristics of Likable People @ Manage Your Life Now
• Top Seven Traits of Interesting and Engaging People @ Super Charged Life

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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step how to live with a sense of urgency.

Living with a Sense of Urgency

There are some real and tangible reason why you’re not where you want to be in your life. It could result from unhelpful beliefs, dreadful habits, conflicting goals or values, and a plethora of other ways you have found to sabotage yourself. You might in fact have worked through these areas on some level, however for one reason or another, you’re still stuck in your old ways. Your life is stagnating and you just can’t seem to find the consistent motivation you need to move forward.

All the above are very valid reasons why things aren’t moving forward in your life. However, working through these areas individually is often very time consuming and tedious. If only there was a much simpler approach that would get you out of this stuck state and allow you to move your life forward with greater momentum? Well there is…

The most successful people in the world have their own personal battles. They also have unhelpful beliefs, dreadful habits and conflicting goals and values. Their lives are far from perfect. However, despite these issues, they still find a way to accomplish their goals and objectives. How do they do this? Well for starters they don’t make any excuses about their life or circumstances. And secondly, they live daily with a sense of urgency. This sense of urgency forces them to work harder and smarter throughout the day. This leads to steady progress and improvement over the course of a week, month and year, up until the point they achieve their desired outcomes.

It is this sense of urgency that is probably missing in your life. You simply have no urgency to get things done, to achieve your goals, to overcome your problems, etc. Without urgency, there is no motivation — there is nothing forcing you to get up early in the morning to pursue your goals, and there is certainly nothing enticing you to stay up late when tasks haven’t yet been completed. You’re simply too comfortable where you are in your life at the moment and this is preventing you from moving forward.

Yes, of course you might very well be dissatisfied with your life. You have so much to live up to and so much to achieve. However, things aren’t that bad. You have access to many of the things that make life satisfactory and bearable right here, right now. This might not be ideal, but it’s fine and acceptable. You don’t feel like moving forward because you simply don’t have enough reasons to help stimulate your motivation. If only someone could just turn on the switch to power-up your sense of urgency… how different would your life be?

The Evolution of Urgency

To begin living with a sense of urgency it’s important to understand how it originates and manifests in people’s lives. Well, there are actually two ways a sense of urgency can be created. One way is forced upon you by external events, people and circumstances, and the other way is created from within.

Here is a very blunt example of the first way that urgency is created. Just imagine for a moment a mafia boss kidnapped you and made all these threats against you and your family. He mentions that the only way to ensure everyone’s safety is for you to attain your goals by a certain date. Immediately this creates a sense of urgency and forces you to take the necessary action steps to attain your desired outcomes — does it not?

The second way urgency is created comes from within. Here you create either a real or imagined sense of urgency that spurs you on towards your desired outcomes. It doesn’t really matter how you end up convincing yourself to take urgent action in pursuit of your goals, as long as it creates within you a strong desire to attack your goals with purpose and get things done intelligently and quickly.

The Requirements for Urgency

In order to create a sense of urgency you must be fully present in the moment. Urgency only exists in the moment. Obsessively thinking about the future will only manifest in anxiety and worry — which could paralyze you and lead to procrastination. Remaining in the present will help you to focus fully on the task at hand to get the job done in the most effective and efficient means possible. This of course doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t think about the future. Taking future deadlines into consideration is very important when it comes to creating a sense of urgency, however, what’s important is that you don’t obsess over your future, but instead stay present in order to create a sense of urgency in the moment.

Urgency also requires a proactive approach to your tasks and projects. Being proactive means that you are constantly thinking a few steps ahead to identify what needs to get done. Being proactive also means that you are focusing on your highest priority activities — these are the 20 percent of activities that will get you 80 percent of the results.

Discipline is also required to create a sense of urgency. Discipline is important because it keeps you focused and on-task no matter how many distractions and obstacles you need to fight through in order to get to your desired objective.

Finally, to create a sense of urgency you need to combine optimism with determination to get your tasks and projects completed. Optimism will keep you motivated when things get difficult, and determination will help you wade through the difficulties that you will inevitably face along your journey.

Without all these habits-of-mind you will struggle to create a lasting sense of urgency in your life.

The Advantages of Urgency

Before taking a look at the advantages of living with urgency, there are a number of disadvantages that you must be aware of:

The Disadvantages

Living with a sense of urgency does mean that you will be working at a far more rapid pace then you’re probably use to. This can lead to higher levels of stress and tension. It can even lead to the feelings of overwhelm and frustration, which can result in fatigue if left unmanaged and can also impact your ability to make effective decisions. Experiencing these emotions is inevitable. It’s not whether it will happen, it’s rather when it will happen. And if you’re not ready for when it happens, then these emotions will leave you feeling drained and unmotivated. As such you need to learn to manage all these emotions in productive ways that will help — not hinder — you along your journey.

The Advantages

There are of course a number of key advantages when it comes to living with a sense of urgency.

For starters, a sense of urgency will naturally boost your levels of productivity because it forces you to work faster, and therefore also think faster than you normally would. Pressured thinking will stimulate your creativity and encourage you to think outside the box about your tasks and problems. This will likewise lead to higher levels of innovation as you try and find better and quicker ways to do things in order to reach your deadlines. And as everything starts to come together and you begin to make rapid progress, you will naturally see a spike in your motivation.

So even though there are drawbacks to living with urgency, there are plenty of advantages as well that can help you to create the momentum you need to attain your goals and objectives.

Living with Urgency Process

There are a number of things you must initially do that will help you to live with a sense of urgency. Without doing this background work first, you will struggle to maintain a sense of urgency in the long-run.

Here is a four step process that will provide you with the foundations for living with more urgency:

Step One

Your first step is to set an inspiring vision for the future. This is your vision for life — a personal legend. No matter what you call it, it must be something that inspires and motivates you to live with a sense of purpose. Ask yourself:

What is my life’s vision?

What do I ultimately want to achieve?

What kind of person do I ultimately want to become?

Once you have outlined your purpose, your next task is to gain more clarity about what achieving this purpose specifically requires you to do. Ask yourself:

What goals would I specifically like to achieve?

When will I achieve these goals?

Your goals must be motivating and challenging at the same time. Without the “challenge” aspect, you will fail to find the motivation you need to maintain your sense or urgency in the long-run.

Also, when it comes to setting your goals, make sure that you outline clear short-term deadlines. Short-term deadlines are critical when it comes to creating a sense of urgency because they help you to stay focused and on-task. If for instance you only have long-term deadlines, then you might find it difficult to stay motivated today if the deadline is 12 months away. However, creating short-term deadlines for the end of this week, will provide you with the motivation you need “this week” to get the task done. It’s therefore absolutely paramount that you break your goal down into small parts and assign at the very least weekly deadlines that will help you to stay focused on achieving them.

Step Two

Having clarified your vision of the future and the goals that you will be working towards, now comes time to break these goals down into smaller projects and tasks to make them more manageable on a day-to-day basis. You need to essentially formulate a plan of action moving forward that will get you to your desired destination. Ask yourself:

How could I divide my goals into smaller projects?

What tasks does each project need completed?

When will I need to complete each of these projects and tasks?

As you work through this process, you might realize that you don’t have all the knowledge, tools, skills, support and other resources at your disposal that will help you to get the job done. In such instances, you will need to acquire the necessary resources to achieve your desired outcome. Ask yourself:

What skills might I need to bring my vision of the future to life?

What tools might I need to attain this goal?

What knowledge might I need to complete this project?

What support might I need to get this task done successfully?

How will I acquire all these resources?

Finally, you must take time to pinpoint some of the difficulties you might face along your journey. Ask yourself:

What obstacles could I possibly face while working on this project?

What difficulties could I confront doing this task?

What setbacks could potentially prevent me from achieving my goal?

What time wasting activities must I eliminate from my life?

What low value activities might not be worth focusing on?

Take time to specifically identify all the roadblocks that you might face along your journey. The more clarity you have here, the easier it will be for you to create the sense of urgency you need to move forward.

Step Three

It’s difficult to create a sustainable sense of urgency without first identifying the reasons or benefits to move forward. Ask yourself:

Why is completing this project important?

Why is it vital that I attain this goal?

Why must I do all this? Why now?

What are the benefits of taking these actions?

The more benefits and reasons you can find to move forward, then the greater sense of urgency you will create. However, benefits are only half the picture. You must also generate the pain you could potentially experience if you take no action or simply fail to achieve your goals within the allocated deadlines. Think about the consequences of not achieving your goal and ask yourself:

What will I potentially lose-out on if I don’t do this?

What will I be unable to do, be and/or have if I fail to achieve my desired outcomes?

What will all this cost me in the long-term and short-term?

How will all this make me feel?

Creating a sense of urgency requires that you associate pleasure towards attaining your desired outcomes, while at the same time associating a great deal of pain if you fail to get the job done. It is then your task to remind yourself daily about how awful this pain feels and how incredible the rewards will be once you attain your desired objectives. This will hopefully provide you with the motivation you need to keep yourself in a state of urgency in the long-run.

Step Four

The final step is to create penalties and rewards. Create penalties for when you fail to reach your desired outcomes within the allocated deadlines. And also create rewards for when you achieve them within the allocated deadlines. This will help to spur you on, and is likely to create the additional motivation you need to complete all your tasks and projects with a sense of urgency.

Creating a Sense of Urgency

A sense of urgency isn’t something that’s created once and then forgotten about. A sense of urgency is something that you must continue to create within yourself on a daily basis if you desire to maintain the highest levels of peak performance. Just doing the foundational work is not enough. Motivation must be rekindled on a daily basis like a fire that needs extra fuel to keep it burning.

Here are some ideas that will help you maintain high levels of urgency throughout the day:

Set Time Targets and Time Limits

A time target is the amount of time you will work on a specific task. So for instance you can set a time target to work on a specific task for a period of one hour. Once set, you must continue working on that task for a full hour. This is helpful because it commits you to working on that specific task for a designated period of time without distractions.

A time limit is a set amount of time you designate for completing a specific task. You could for instance specify that you will complete a task within an hour. This might require setting a timer for 60 minutes and then having it countdown to zero. As a result you will be forced to think and work quickly during that hour without distractions in order to get the job done.

Before setting time limits it’s important that you first outline what exactly you would like to achieve and the process you will undertake to complete this task. Only after you have clarified these two things should you set your time limits.

Make sure your time limits are realistic, and yet at the same time challenging. The challenging aspect will make things interesting, and the time limit itself will give you a sense of urgency while working on your task.

Build Consistent Momentum

If you desire to do things with more urgency, it’s absolutely paramount that you work on developing momentum throughout the day. You will of course move through peaks and valleys in your energy over the course of 12 or more hours. This is okay. Learn to manage this energy. What’s most important is that you keep your momentum moving forward by thinking quickly and doing things efficiently. And this all begins with simple things such as responding to people quickly and getting to the point quickly without wasting time. Keeping things short and focused will ensure you move forward without stagnating.

Think about all your meetings, appointments and the conversations you have with other people. Really focus-in on these activities and keep them as short and to the point as is necessary to get the right information across or the job done as effectively and efficiently as possible. Wasting your time on things that will rob you of that sense of urgency will only slow you down and deplete your levels of motivation and energy.

If all else fails, one of the best ways to build your internal sense of urgency is to hustle — moving your body quickly and with purpose. Moving quickly and with purpose will force you to become more alert and therefore think on your feet far more effectively. In fact, your physiology plays an incredibly important role when it comes to creating urgency. Use your body effectively and it will serve you well, use it sluggishly and it will rob you of your momentum.

Develop a Competitive Spirit

A competitive spirit will keep you alert, primed and ready to respond to threats and take advantage of opportunities that may arise. In such instances you are often measuring your progress against your rivals — to get a feel for what you are doing well, as-well-as areas where you might potentially be able to improve.

If you realize you’re behind, this will provide you with the sense of urgency you need to catch up. And if you’re in front, it might give you a reason to relax and become a little complacent. Don’t fall into this trap. For urgency to exist you must either be running away from something painful, or moving towards something that will give you pleasure. A competitive spirit should give you the best of both worlds, however if you’re already ahead of your rivals, then make sure that you set higher personal targets and standards to help keep yourself focused and motivated.

Eliminate Unnecessary Activities

The one thing that will immediately rob you of a sense of urgency is the process of bogging yourself down with tedious and unnecessary tasks that slow down the momentum you’ve been working so hard to create. It is therefore important to identify these tasks and eliminate, delegate or outsource them wherever possible.

Of course there is no avoiding some tasks. They may be tedious, however they’ve got to be done. And if you can’t eliminate them or find someone else to do them, then you’re left with no option but to do them yourself. This is not an ideal scenario, however it’s one you need to accept and embrace wholeheartedly. Therefore instead of reluctantly undertaking these tasks, turn these tasks into challenges and games, or set time limits to help you create a false sense of urgency.

Think on Your Feet

With a sense of urgency comes raised levels of productivity. However, to keep recreating that sense of urgency throughout your day, it’s important that you think on your feet moving from task-to-task.

In order to create this sense of urgency you must persistently ask yourself the following three questions:

What now?

What else could I do?

What’s my next step?

Think for a moment what a person who has absolutely no urgency would think:

• This was so boring and hard…
• I can’t believe this took so long…
• I’m so hungry… I wonder what I’ll eat for dinner?
• I wonder what Jenny is doing right now…
• I’m dreading this next task…
• Do I really have to do this?
• Why in the world do I even bother?

As you can see, these are two very contrasting examples. A person with urgency is moving quickly from one task to the next, while the person with no urgency spends most of their time complaining and distracting themselves from the task at hand.

Use Your Imagination to Create Urgency

If nothing else is working for you, and you just can’t seem to find that sense of urgency you are after, then try using your imagination to create a sense of urgency.

For instance, imagine time rapidly ticking away. Every moment you waste is time lost forever. You will never get this time back. Once gone, it’s gone, and you only have a limited time left to get things done. Use this to help you focus-in on what’s important and get the job done as rapidly as possible.

Alternatively imagine that you are struggling in last place. You’re in a race working through your tasks and projects to achieve your end goal. However, you’re last. The competition is ahead of you and you have absolutely no chance of being victorious if you lag behind. You must therefore step up your game and begin progressively catching up one step at a time.

Or imagine you’re fighting for your survival as an underdog. No one believes in you, in fact everyone doubts you, and the world is throwing obstacles in your path to prevent you from reaching your desired outcome. Use this as a tool to help motivate you to take positive action moving forward.

Stay Focused on Results and Deadlines

When it comes to creating a sense of urgency, deadlines are your friend. Deadlines will force you to be creative as you find ways to do things far more quickly and efficiently. Deadlines will also help you to stay focused on the task at hand without distractions. It is therefore absolutely paramount that you create concrete deadlines for all tasks and projects.

If you don’t reach a particular deadline, then set a new deadline, however punish yourself in some way for not reaching your first deadline. This punishment could be in the form of denying yourself your favorite food, or not listening to your favorite music, etc. No matter what it is, make sure that your brain associates pain as a result of not meeting this deadline. And if for instance the deadline you set wasn’t realistic enough, then set a new deadline that’s more realistic, but still challenging at the same time.

Value Long-term Pleasure and Rewards

To live with a sense of urgency means that you avoid getting yourself caught up within the instant gratification trap. These are the little pleasures and temptations that will feel absolutely wonderful in the moment, however you will regret indulging in them in the long-term because they will prevent you from achieving your main goals and objectives.

The key is to focus-in on long-term pleasures and rewards, and move in that direction. Think about all the benefits you will derive from attaining your goals. Yes, you might need to suffer through some temporary pain to get there, but it will surely be worthwhile in the long-run.

Value Your Time

Your time is your most precious commodity. Every moment you spend must be spent with purpose on your most important tasks and activities that will yield the highest future returns.

Before deciding to work on a specific task, take time to ask yourself:

Is this the most productive use of my time?

Is this activity moving me closer to my goal?

Is this activity potentially slowing me down?

What should I choose to focus on right now?

These questions help you to create accountability for your choices and decisions. They also help you to think on your feet to ensure that you’re focusing-in on the highest value activities that will benefit you long-term.

Challenge Yourself to Break New Boundaries

To live with urgency is to challenge yourself daily. If for instance you completed a task within an allocated time the previous day, then challenge yourself by completing it faster the next time around. It’s all about stretching yourself and stretching the boundaries of what you previously believed was possible. Only in this way will you gain a deep understanding of what it takes to live with urgency.

Take Time to Slow Down

Learning how to live with urgency is not an easy process. It will take some time. Your body and brain will need to get used to working this way. In fact, you might actually experience a lot of fatigue early throughout this process. Your body will resist breaking out of old habits and patterns of doing things. It will resist the increasing tempo of your thoughts and work routine. This is okay. This is in fact natural.

You won’t train yourself to live with urgency over night, just as much as you won’t be able to train yourself to run a marathon after one session on a treadmill. This whole process takes time. You will feel tired, and you will need to give you body adequate rest and your mind adequate respite from this ferocious pace. This is perfectly okay.

If you don’t get the necessary rest, then you may very well burn yourself out and lose motivation all-together. Therefore take time to rest and get enough sleep. You don’t need to live with urgency 24/7. However, when it’s time to work, choose to work with urgency for an alloted period of time, and then break. Over time your body and mind will get stronger and you will be able to maintain that sense of urgency for longer.

It is also important to take time throughout the day to give yourself a break, settle your mind and gather your thoughts. Going a million miles an hour might feel like you’re being incredibly productive, however it might also mean that you are not being thorough enough, or that you are missing important things that need to get done. These 10 to 15 minute mental breaks will give you time to think and reflect on what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, while helping you to figure out the best path moving forward.

Things to Avoid Doing

When it comes to living with urgency, there are certain habits-of-mind that will instantly drain the motivation out of you and leave you feeling sluggish and regretful. For instance the habits of procrastination and perfectionism will bring all the momentum you have been creating to a standstill. They will instantly rob you of that sense of urgency you need to achieve your desired outcomes.

Procrastination sometimes manifests in the form of patience. You think you are being patient by waiting for the perfect moment to take action. However, that perfect moment is only an illusion. In fact, it’s manifesting in your life as a set of excuses that you are making about why you shouldn’t do something. These excuses are distracting you from your main goals and objectives, and as a result you’ve now lost all momentum and the sense of urgency you have been working so hard to maintain. You now hope that things will happen instead of making things happen. However, in the meantime all your hoping comes to nothing as you get caught up indulging in pleasurable temptations that distract you from your most important activities.

That is in essence the cycle of how a sense of urgency can literally vanish into thin air. All it takes is the temptation of indulging in one unproductive habit, and everything you’ve worked so hard to create is lost. However, this is only a small bump on the road. Expect that you will at one time or another fall into this trap. Recognize it, acknowledge it, and then get right back on track by creating a sense of urgency once more.

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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step how to get unstuck and out of a rut.

Are You Feeling Stuck?

So you’re feeling kind of stuck at the moment. Your life is stagnating and you’re going nowhere fast. Yes, of course you have all these goals you would desperately like to achieve, however for one reason or another nothing is happening. Somewhere along the track you’ve lost your motivation and drive and your life seems to be at a standstill.

This place you’re at, isn’t very pleasant. You feel as though you have so much potential and so much to live up to, and yet there seems to be no forward movement. You probably often question what in the world is going on? How did I get myself into this mess? Well, there are actually some very valid reasons why you’re feeling stuck. Understanding these reasons can help you become aware of how you got yourself into this position, but awareness is only the first step to change.

Change only occurs the moment you decide to make a change in your life. However, for this to happen you must believe that you have the power within to make the necessary changes in how you think, act and interpret your circumstances. Stagnation is only temporary if you take it upon yourself to make changes for the better. It is however permanent if you give your power away and don’t take the initiative to move forward with purpose.

Reasons Why You’re Stuck

There are actually some very valid reasons why you’re feeling stuck. In fact, you are responsible for this situation. There’s no one to blame but yourself. Somewhere along the line you made the choices and decisions that led you to this moment in your life and now you are suffering through the consequences. So let’s try and rectify this situation once and for all and find out why exactly you are feeling stuck.

Here are some reasons why you might be feeling stuck:

Constant Worrying

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you constantly worry about what might happen. The worrying is preoccupying your thoughts and as a result you hesitate to move forward.

Unproductive Habits

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you consistently indulge in unproductive habits. These habits could be watching endless hours of television, mindlessly surfing the internet, and a plethora of other things that are robbing you of your livelihood.

Constant Disappointment

Maybe you are feeling stuck as a result of the constant disappointment you have suffered. You expected so much more of yourself, but things didn’t go your way. You made mistakes and failed. As a result, you’re disappointed and somewhat disheartened with how things have turned out, and this keeps you stuck in the same place with very little forward movement. It’s a pity you don’t learn from these disappointments to try again another way.

Limited Hope for Future

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you have limited hope for the future. All these disappointments have made you feel helpless, and this helplessness is now manifesting in your life as stagnation. Your thoughts are on all the things that could go wrong. You are essentially wallowing in pessimism and it’s eating you alive from the inside-out. If only you saw things in a different light. If only you could expand your perspective, then maybe, just maybe you might see that there is a flicker of hope at the end of the tunnel that signals a way out of these doldrums.

Blurry Vision of Future

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you have a blurry vision of your future. In fact, you have very little direction in life. You set no goals, you don’t have a purpose for living, and as a result nothing seems to happen in your life. There’s essentially nothing in life that gets you excited — at least nothing that you’re consistently working on. You have no active passions, and as a result there’s nothing in your life that provides you with the enthusiasm you need to take positive action.

Unwilling to Take Responsibility

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you are unwilling to take responsibility for your decisions and actions. You constantly make excuses, blame other people and circumstances for your problems, and complain all day about how unfair life has been.

Physically and Mentally Drained

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you’re physically and mentally drained as a result of ongoing stress and overwhelm. These emotions have taken over your life and as a result you absolutely have no energy to pursue anything meaningful and rewarding. You are in essence a slave to your emotions, and this is the reason why your life is stagnating.

Lack of Focus

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you lack focus. You lack focus because there’s either so much going on in your life at the moment that you’re simply unable to focus on your highest priority activities, or because you haven’t taken the time to clarify what it is you really want out of life. You have absolutely no priorities, and without priorities you have no direction, and without direction you just keep spinning in a circle. Yes you’re moving, but that movement is not forward.

Lack of Self-Belief

Maybe you are feeling stuck because you lack self-belief. You don’t believe in yourself or in your abilities to make things happen. This lack of self-belief could very well stem from numerous fears that have taken a hold of you. You’re unable to take the necessary actions because you fear that you are not capable of reaching your desired expectations. All this makes you rather indecisive, and as a result you make some forward movement, but then crawl right back into your comfort zone.

Lack of Inspiration

Just maybe you are feeling stuck because you simply lack inspiration. Yes, you might very well have things that you are absolutely passionate about. However these passions are weak because they don’t inspire you to pursue them with zest and vigor. It’s like driving an old rusty car. Yes it moves forward, but it could break down any moment. Unless you discover new ways to find the inspiration you seek, then unfortunately your car will always be old and rusty, and you will remain stuck in a place you rather not be.

Getting Unstuck

Having a clear understanding why you’re stuck means that it’s now time to get unstuck and move your life forward with purpose. Here is a four step process you can use to help you get unstuck:

Step One

Your first step towards making any change is to acknowledge that things actually need to change. Unless you acknowledge that things aren’t the way you want them to be at this very moment, then you’ll have no reason to change, and therefore no reason to break out of this stagnation.

Once you have acknowledged that changes need to be made, take time to reflect on your life and search for patterns. These patterns will help you to identify reasons why your life is the way it is at the moment. These patterns may also help you find answers that will allow you to break out of this stagnated state. Ask yourself:

What is causing my stagnation?

What excuses am I making?

What patterns am I seeing?

What do I expect should happen?

Your excuses are only fueling your stuck state. It’s of course important to acknowledge these excuses, but then it’s even more important to throw them out the door. You will never get unstuck if you continue to make excuses about your life. Only by taking full responsibility for your life and circumstances, will you create the momentum you need to move forward.

Step Two

You second step is to gain some clarity about your circumstances and the behaviors you’re potentially indulging in. Ask yourself:

What specifically am I doing?

Who am I doing it for?

Why am I doing this?

At times you might in fact be stuck for all the wrong reasons. You’re stuck because maybe you are doing something for someone else, or for someone else’s benefit. If this sounds like you, then quickly figure out why you are doing what you’re doing. You might even find that there are no valid reasons. And if that’s the case, then stop doing these things and breakaway from this stuck state.

Given all this, now it’s time to figure out what you would prefer to do instead. Ask yourself:

What would I prefer to do instead?

What are my goals?

What are my aspirations?

Unless you figure out what you prefer to do instead, how are you ever going to break-free from this stuck state? You will never find the treasure if you don’t know what it is you are looking for.

These goals and aspirations should now provide you with a sense of direction that will help you get unstuck. However, there are still probably some very valid reasons why you are currently feeling stuck. Your goals might always have been there, however you neglected to pursue them because something was holding you back. Ask yourself:

What has been holding me back all this time?

What are the reasons I am feeling stuck?

Do I have any fears that have held me back?

What specific fears might be keeping me stuck?

What about my habits?

What unproductive habits do I indulge in?

How are these habits hurting me?

What new habits could I develop that would help support my goals?

Gaining clarity about the specific habits and fears that might be holding you back, will give you the insight you need to make positive changes in your life. Without this clarity you will be lost — not knowing how to move forward.

Step Three

Your third step is to reevaluate three important things in your life: Your life purpose, your core values, and your social circle. Ask yourself:

What is my life purpose?

Is my life purpose right for me?

Is it right for me at this very moment?

Does it need to be modified in any way?

Your life’s purpose is what will get you up early in the morning and force you to stay up late at night. It’s something that you’re intrinsically passionate about, and something you will fight for despite the obstacles you might face. However, you may very well need to make some modifications if your life’s purpose no longer brings you the enthusiasm it once did. A clearly defined and passionate life purpose may be all you need to help break-free from your stuck state.

Once your life purpose has been clarified, have a think about your core values. Ask yourself:

What do I value most in life?

Why is this important?

What else do I value most in life?

Your core values will determine how you prioritize your life. If these priorities have meaning for you and are also aligned with your life’s purpose, then this will help you to find the motivation you need to break-free from your stuck state. If on the other hand there are some conflicts here, then you might need to reevaluate your core values and priorities moving forward.

Finally, let’s take a look at your social circle. Ask yourself:

Who is weighing me down?

How are they holding me back?

Your social circle includes your family, friends, peers and colleagues. These people will often have very good intentions for you. However, their good intentions might in fact be weighing you down and keeping you in a stuck state. This is especially true if you are doing certain things to please other people in order to meet their expectations of you. Gaining some clarity about your social relationships will help you to determine the best course of action moving forward.

Step Four

Your fourth and final step is to create a plan of action moving forward that will help you to get unstuck and create the momentum you need to achieve your desired outcomes.

Before you lay down a plan for getting unstuck, take time to do the following:

• Create a list of activities you’re passionate about.
• Create a list of activities that support your core values.
• Create a list of ways to get unstuck.

Listing down activities that you’re passionate about and that support your core values will help you to figure out how you should be prioritizing your time moving forward. On the other hand, creating a list of ways to get unstuck will build the foundations of your plan of action. Use this list to brainstorm ways you could potentially move forward out of your stuck state. Then ask yourself:

What one small step could I take today that would help me get unstuck?

Don’t hesitate. Take immediate action to get yourself out of your current predicament and moving forward with purpose.

If down the track you find that your momentum has slowed, then it could very well be due to a lack of urgency on your part. Doing things without urgency means that you don’t have enough reasons to make the necessary changes in your life. In such instances, you will need to create urgency. Ask yourself:

Why must I get out of this rut?

Why is it important to make this change?

Why is it important to make this change right now?

The more reasons you find to get unstuck, the higher levels of motivation and urgency you will have moving forward.

Getting Unstuck Once Again

Okay, so you have made good progress along your journey and managed to get unstuck. However, things happened and you have now lost your way again. You’ve now suddenly realized you’re stuck once again. Your life is stagnating, and there appears to be no forward momentum. If you’re finding yourself in this situation, there are some things you can do immediately that will hopefully provide you with the solutions you are seeking.

Let Things Go

If you’re suddenly feeling stuck, then it’s very possible that you’re holding onto things that are keeping you within this unpleasant place. Yes, you might have made mistakes and failed along the way. This has consequently made you doubt yourself, and you may now be living with the regret of making certain choices and decisions. All this has caused you to feel somewhat resentful as you observe others doing so well. And so you blame and criticize yourself for being so foolish, and as a result you begin indulging in the habits of procrastination, of over-complicating things, which ultimately leads to perfectionism. But no matter what, nothing seems to work, and you end up getting lost in a sea of excuses.

All these things are holding you back and keeping you stuck. LET EVERYTHING GO IMMEDIATELY. Mistakes and failure are there to be learned from. There are no regrets if you gain value from every experience. And there are certainly no excuses if you take full responsibility for your life. Just let everything listed here go. When you do, you will quickly find that a heavy burden has suddenly been raised from upon your shoulders. And this could be all you need to get yourself out of this stuck state.

Expand the Possibilities

The reason why you’re feeling stuck is because you have closed yourself off to new perspectives and experiences. From your perspective, the world is looking exactly the same as it did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, because you’re not open to new possibilities.

Take time to expand the possibilities by learning new skills, by gaining new insights, by exposing yourself to new knowledge and information, and by opening yourself up to new experiences, unique environments and interesting people. All of these things will help you to expand your possibilities and likewise expose you to new opportunities that will help you to finally dig yourself out of your stuck state.

Think Long-term

You’re suddenly feeling stuck because you’re thinking short-term. You’re getting lost in all the little things. All the details are eating you alive and creating your stuck state. You’ve lost your connection with the bigger picture — with your life’s purpose. It’s time for you to re-connect with that picture, to think long-term, and to consider all the possibilities that exist along this journey you’re on. This shift of perspective might be all you need to get unstuck.

Begin Experimenting

You’re stuck once again because you’ve lost that deep connection to your playful childhood self. You are taking things too seriously, and as a result you have lost that excitement and passion you need to maintain forward momentum. In such instances, you need to tap right back to that playful side of yourself and become a lot more curious about the world around you. One way to do this is to begin experimenting and trying new things.

Take risk, do something scary, challenging, random and different. Focus again on your passions and re-calibrate your direction. It doesn’t matter if you fail or make mistakes. Your life is an experiment. Learn from all these experiences, step outside your comfort zone, and embrace everything that life throws your way. Living this way will most certainly guarantee that you never remain stuck for long.

Building Momentum

In order to get unstuck permanently, you need to build ongoing momentum that will remove you so far beyond your stuck state that the only thing remaining will be an old distant memory about how life once used to be. To create this momentum, you will need to begin implementing a few important things:

Shake Up Your Routine

Begin by shaking up your routine and methods of working consistently over time. Stagnation often results when you continue to do the same thing over and over again for an extended period of time. This regular routine may give you a sense of comfort and security, however it could be hurting your creativity and forward momentum.

Connect with Inspiring People

Find people who will continuously inspire and keep you on your toes. These are the kind of people that always tend to challenge you and force you to step out of your comfort zone. They are the kind of people that will open you up to new perspectives, while encouraging you to experience life in new and profound ways.

Find Ways to Motivate Yourself

Ongoing motivation is a critical component that will help you to sustain the momentum you need moving forward. Without motivation you will fall back to indulging in unhelpful and limiting habits that will only keep you stuck. However, with the right kind of motivation, you will always find reasons to keep going no matter what obstacles or setbacks you might face along your journey.

To find the motivation you need, simply tap into your passions and continue to find valid reasons to keep moving forward and challenging yourself on a consistent basis. Creating a sense of urgency while working through specific projects or tasks can also help you to sustain high levels of motivation in the long-run.

Another way to tap into your motivation, is to go out of your way to make everything you do more exciting and fun. Have fun with every experience. Play with projects and tasks as if you were a kid. It’s this playful approach that will help keep you interested and motivated along your journey.

Get Enough Rest

It’s absolutely critical that you don’t burn yourself out. The moment you become too stressed and overwhelmed, is the moment you will find yourself stuck once again in a place you don’t want to be.

Stress and overwhelm are a part of life. They are in some ways an unavoidable part of life. You must therefore learn to manage these emotions effectively and get the necessary separation you need from certain activities to rest your body and mind.

Rest by getting enough sleep and relaxation. However, at the same time exercise to help keep your energy levels high and your mind focused and primed at all times.

Find Your Courage

Become more courageous in thought and action. Your courage will help you to try new things, take advantage of opportunities, and continuously live outside your comfort zone. It’s the act of living outside your comfort zone that will keep you unstuck and ready to create your life with purpose. However, in order to find the courage, you must also maintain a curious nature. When you’re curious you will tend to try new things because your curiosity will encourage you to find the answers to questions that are nagging on your mind. And subsequently you might need a little courage in order to find the answers to these questions.

Get a Makeover

Getting a makeover in order to get unstuck seems pretty silly on the surface. However, one of the reasons why you’re stuck could very well be tied to your self-image. You see yourself in a certain way, and this keeps you stuck. In fact this person that you see yourself as has all these limiting and unhelpful habits. You naturally relate with this person and this brings you a sense of comfort. If this is true in your case, then maybe it’s time for a makeover.

Get a full body makeover. Get a modern haircut, pluck those unwanted hairs from your body, and purchase some fancy new clothes that will immediately make you feel like a brand new person. Once your transformation is complete, start acting like this new person by adopting new habits, different thought patters, making surprising decisions, and so much more.

Given all this, be aware that it’s important in the long-run that you never allow your self-image to be intrinsically tied to the way you look externally. The confidence you show externally shouldn’t be tied to the clothes you wear or the way you look. It must be tied to how you feel about yourself no matter what you look like at any given moment. The makeover is a short-term band-aid strategy you can use to give yourself a quick boost, however it’s not an effective long-term strategy for a lack of self-esteem.

Volunteer Your Time to a Good Cause

Volunteering your time to a good cause or a charity will expose you to new ideas, people, places and experiences. This keeps your life interesting and provides you with the exposure you need to gain new perspectives that could essentially lead to unique opportunities.

Say Yes, Yes and Yes

When someone asks you to do something scary, say YES, When someone asks you to go on an adventure, say YES. When someone asks you to help them out with something, say YES. In fact, just say “yes” more often throughout the day. Say “yes” to things you wouldn’t normally do, just to find out what the experience is like. This constant exposure could potentially provide you with access to many different tools, people, skills and resources that will keep you out of a stuck state.

The sad thing about all of this is that many times we often say “no” to so many things. As a result you miss out on a great many new, challenging and interesting experiences that could potentially open up a world of opportunity for you. Don’t allow yourself to be one of these people. Say “yes” more often today, and use it to create the momentum you need to stay unstuck for good.

Hire an Accountability Partner

Hire a person who will keep you accountable for your choices, decisions and actions. Tell them all about the goals you are working towards and the steps you will take to get there. Then ask them to hold you accountable for attaining your desired outcomes. If along the way you slip and fall back into a stuck state, they will hopefully be there to help you get back on track. If they’re not there when you need them most, then hire someone else.

Alternatively, hold someone else accountable for their actions. The act of holding someone else accountable can be the catalyst to help you make positive changes in your own life.

Create a Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of things you write down that you would like to do over a lifetime. The list can include small things that won’t require much effort on your part, and it can also include big things that may encourage you to go well out of your way to tick them off your list. It doesn’t really matter what items your list contains, as long as they are things you really want to do in your life — even just once. Fill it up with stuff you’re passionate about, with adventures you can go on, and just make it a whole lot of fun.

There is no limit to how many items you should or shouldn’t have on your bucket list, just write down everything you can think of right now, and add other items to this list in the future. Then over time start checking items off your bucket list once you have successfully completed them.

A bucket list is a wonderful tool that will keep you from getting stuck, because each time you are feeling a little stagnant in your life, you will just turn to your bucket list for ideas that could potentially help you to gain new experiences, expand your horizons, and provide you with the momentum you need to get your life moving once again in the right direction.

Gain More Knowledge…

• 9 Reasons You’re Stuck Where You Are @ Marc and Angel Hack Life
• 10 Things to do When You Feel Stuck @ Psychology Today
• 25 Soulful Ways to Get Out of a Rut @ The Bridgemaker
• 62 Tips to Get Unstuck @ Robin Sharma
• How to Get More Done When You Feel Stuck @ Penelope Trunk
• How to Get Unstuck and Start Building Momentum @ Shake Off the Grind
• In a Rut? Six Tips to Getting Out @ Wise Bread

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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step the sacrifices you must make to attain success.

What Success Demands

No matter what goals or ambitions you might have, there is one thing certain: There is a price you must pay to get what you want in life. In fact, there’s no sidestepping the fact that any type of success you would like to attain demands something from you — it demands that you do certain things in order to get what you want. It’s simply the way life works, and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to avoid it.

Let’s take a closer look at exactly what success in any field of endeavor may demand from you:

Success Demands You Show No Fear

Fear is something that is likely to consistently hold you back from your desired objectives. Success demands that you overcome your fears and develop the necessary courage you need to pursue your goals with vigor, passion and zest.

You must successfully strive to overcome, or at the very least successfully manage the fear of uncertainty, the fear of failure, the fear of getting rejected or criticized, the fear of making mistakes, the fear of change, and even the fear of hard work. These are all common fears that hold people back from the life they want to live. However, they can’t hold you back, because success demands that you have no fear, and if you want to achieve any kind of success in your life, then this is something you must successfully work through.

Success Demands Unwavering Commitment

When you are fully committed to something, nothing will sidetrack you. It doesn’t matter whether or not the sun comes up tomorrow, or whether or not the earth stops spinning on its axis. Okay, well maybe these are far-fetched examples, however I hope you get the point. It’s important that you are fully committed to your endeavors without allowing things to pull you off track.

Don’t just commit to your goal. That’s not enough. Success demands far more than that. What success demands from you is that you fully commit to being extraordinary, to being courageous, to being disciplined, and to being accountable for your decisions and actions. Success also demands that you have an unwavering commitment to excellence, a commitment to persevere despite the inevitable setbacks that life will throw your way, and that you are committed to take consistent action daily towards your objectives.

It’s the dedication you show on a daily basis towards your desired outcomes that will make all the difference in the end.

Success Demands Believing that Failure is Not an Option

Success in anything you do is riddled with problems, mistakes and the inevitable failure. These things are unavoidable. You will face these circumstances sooner or later along your journey. However, it’s not the circumstances that matter, it’s rather what you believe about these circumstances that makes all the difference in the end.

You must believe that no matter what happens — no matter how badly you fail and how horrible this might make you feel — that failure is never an option. Success demands that you pick yourself up after a failure or mistake and try once again. Yes, change your strategy and do something a little (or a lot) different, however you must keep going — just keep moving forward with passion and a strong sense of purpose that no matter what you will eventually get to your ultimate destination.

Success Demands You Make No Excuses

Excuses are for those people who live with constant regret about the things that they could have, should have or would have done if… These people never achieve their desired long-term outcomes because their excuses get in the way and prevent them from taking advantage of the opportunities that problems present them with.

Success demands that you take full responsibility for everything that happens to you without blaming others or blaming external events or seemingly uncontrollable circumstances for your problems. You are responsible for your decisions and actions, and as a result you never make any excuses, fully understanding that excuses only lead to further problems — they most certainly never help you solve them.

Success Demands You Make Difficult Choices

As you make progress along your journey towards your desired outcomes, success will demand that you make difficult choices about what you will do and about what you won’t do. It demands that you choose what you will and won’t sacrifice. It demands that you decide what’s the most important thing to focus on at any one time. Success demands that you choose who you will spend your time with, keeping in mind that the people you spend most time with could either help or hinder your progress.

Most importantly success demands that you make difficult daily choices about how you spend your time, energy and money. You must consistently invest your energy into meaningful tasks and goal congruent activities that will provide you with the highest long-term benefits. Spending your time on the wrong things could very well spell the difference between success and failure.

Success Requires Sacrifice

The goals and objectives you have in mind will not magically manifest in your life. You will need to work hard and potentially make some drastic sacrifices along the way.

Success requires some kind of sacrifice. You will not gain something for nothing. That’s not how the world works, and it’s therefore certainly not something you can bank on. If you’re not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to attain your goals and objectives, then you will fail to create the momentum you need to get your desired outcomes.

Anything you want in your life is essentially unattainable. It’s unattainable if you do not give something up in order to get something back. Giving something up could come in the form of your time, energy or money. You might need to sacrifice one of these things, or maybe a combination of these things in order to get what you want.

Here are some sacrifices you might need to make along your journey:

Sacrificing Who You Are

One of the biggest and most profound sacrifices you might undoubtedly need to make along your journey is changing who you are for whom you desire to become — for whom your “goal” needs you to become.

The end goal you have in mind requires that you shift how you think, what you believe, the habits you indulge in, and maybe even the values you live by. In fact, it’s very possible that you might need to become a very different person than the person you are today in order to have this goal in your life. And if you’re unable, or simply unwilling to make these sacrifices/changes, then it’s likely that the goal you desire will always be out of reach. Ask yourself:

What beliefs must I sacrifice to attain this goal?

What beliefs could actually prevent me from having this goal?

What habits and rituals must I sacrifice to attain this goal?

What habits could actually sabotage me from attaining my desired outcome?

What values might I need to shift in order to have this goal?

What does this goal demand that I change about myself?

How will I make the necessary changes?

You need to be willing to sacrifice the person you are today (without this goal) for the person you will be tomorrow (with this goal). These two people are not the same. And if you don’t believe that, then you will soon find out the hard way that life only gives you something of value when you are willing to grow into this new experience on a personal level. This means changing who you are for who you need to become to ultimately deserve having this goal in your life.

Giving Up Something Good to Get Something Better

Attaining your desired outcome might mean that you give up something that feels comfortable, secure and safe in the moment for something that is better long-term. This comes back to the instant gratification trap. Many people are simply not willing to give up their short-term pleasures for higher level long-term pleasures. They are lost in the moment and simply unable to bear through periods of short-term pain that they must get through in order to experience ultimate pleasure in the future.

If you’re serious about attaining your desired objectives, then you must be willing to let go of the small pleasures found in the moment that might very well distract and sabotage you from living the ultimate long-term pleasures that you will experience once your goal has been achieved.

Eliminating Distracting Activities

Your success is dependent on your commitment to eliminate all the distracting activities that could potentially sidetrack you from your ultimate destination. These are essentially the things that you indulge in on a daily basis that make you feel good, but aren’t good for you. These are your guilty pleasures such as mindlessly surfing the internet, playing video games or watching television shows and movies. All these things may feel good in the moment, however long-term they will only delay what you really want most out of life.

Paying the Price in Full

The moment you commit yourself towards the pursuit of a specific goal is the moment you must also commit yourself to the price you will need to pay to attain this goal.

Your goal always comes with strings attached. You simply cannot have your goal without making some necessary physical, financial, emotional, mental, and social sacrifices.

Have a think about your goal and also have a good hard think about the potential sacrifices you might need to make in specific areas of your life to help bring this goal to fruition. Who knows, you might even come to the realization that this goal you want so badly just doesn’t seem worth the effort. Because if you’re not willing to make the necessary sacrifices, then you shouldn’t be spending your time pursuing this goal. Spend your time instead on other areas that will provide you with a greater return on your time.

Letting Go of Conflicts

Sometimes you will make all these sacrifices to create room to achieve your goal, but you still don’t seem to be moving forward as quickly as you had imagined. This is very typical and it often results from a number of conflicts you have in your life that on the surface may not seem as though they are conflicting with your goal.

First and most importantly, conflicts may arise when you have conflicting goals. You might in fact have other goals that you are working towards that are competing for your time, energy and money. You are essentially spreading yourself too thin and as a result you don’t have the laser focus required to create the momentum you need to get things done.

Have a think in particular about all the small and medium sized goals that you are consciously and unconsciously working towards. These could be the goals that are sabotaging you from moving forward. You must decide today that you will either change them or eliminate them altogether. There’s no point holding onto these goals if they will keep you from reaching your ultimate destination.

As with conflicting goals, also have a think about any conflicting responsibilities and commitments that you might have. These are the things that are taking up your time and resources that you could instead be giving to your main objective. Cut these things from your life, and you will suddenly find yourself freed up to focus on the most important things in life.

Conflicts can also come in the form of destructive relationships. These are often the people who do not support you or your goals. At other times though, they can actually be the people who support you, however they continue to sabotage you by distracting you from your highest priority activities. Let these relationships go if you can. There is no point holding onto your past if it doesn’t serve your future.

Gaining Proper Perspective

When it comes to making the necessary sacrifices to achieve your goals, it’s critical to gain the proper perspective about what it means to be successful.

There Are No Shortcuts

There are often no shortcuts to success. The only shortcuts to success come from your experience. Once you know what to do and how to do it, you will be much more capable at getting things done the fastest way possible. However, this takes time, and success essentially comes down to your ability to use time effectively. This requires that you focus on the right things, at the right time, in the right way and spend just the right amount of time on them. It’s as simple as that, however it’s not simple. It’s hard work, and it takes a lot of effort and experience to get things to this stage.

Are you willing to make the necessary sacrifices to eventually get thing to this stage?

Most People Are Not Willing to Sacrifice

The reality of the matter is that most people are simply not willing to make the necessary sacrifices or to pay the ultimate price for success. This is either good or bad news for you. It’s bad news if you’re actually one of these people and not willing to make these sacrifices, however it’s good news if you’re not one of these people because it means that you already have the upper-hand just from the fact that you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to attain your goals and objectives.

Anything Worthwhile Takes Hard Work

Anything that is worthwhile achieving in this world takes dedication and hard work. It requires considerable effort, thought and time invested in performing tasks and in acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills, resources and experience that will help you to ultimately attain your desired outcomes.

The Consequences of Making No Sacrifices

One sure sign that indicates you have not made adequate sacrifices for your goals is the fact that you continue to sabotage your efforts on a regular basis. This self-sabotage might come in the form of being too busy, indulging in procrastination and perfectionism, being constantly distracted with other activities, not willing to give up certain responsibilities and/or commitments, making excuses, etc. All these things are now manifesting in your life as regret and stagnation.

The most important takeaway from this is that your dreams will remain unfulfilled and that your life will change very little until you begin taking responsibility for yourself and commit to making the necessary sacrifices that will change your life for the better. Everything ultimately has a price, and you must pay it. If you don’t, then you will pay it another way by missing out on what you most want out of life.

Paying the Ultimate Price

It’s time for you to commit one way or another. You must make up your mind whether or not you are willing and able to commit and pay the ultimate price for success — the ultimate price to attain your goals and objectives. The decision is yours to make, however it’s a decision that should not be made lightly. Sacrificing is never an easy thing to do. It must make sense for you, and must provide you with long-term benefits that far outweigh the short-term sacrifices you will ultimately need to make. Here are a few guidelines that will hopefully help provide you with some clarify:

Step One: Clarify What You Want

First of all, before deciding what you will sacrifice, it’s important to clarify what exactly you would like to achieve. Ask yourself:

What do I want?

Why do I want this?

How badly do I really want this?

The more reasons you have for wanting something, the more sacrifices you are likely to make.

Step Two: Clarify Action Steps

In order to determine what you will need to sacrifice, you must first become familiar with the action steps you might need to take along your journey. Ask yourself:

What will I need to do to attain this goal?

What specifically do I need to attain this goal?

Do I need specific knowledge, skills, tools and resources?

Have a think through these questions and take a little time to draw up your plan of action moving forward.

Step Three: Consider Impact of Goal

Take time to consider the impact that the process of achieving this goal will have on your life. Ask yourself:

How will the process of achieving this goal impact my life?

How could it potentially impact many different areas of my life?

How could it impact my relationships with others?

What potential conflicts may arise?

Take into consideration the impact it will have on you emotionally, financially and socially. Think about how it will impact your habits and routines, your priorities, your personal time, and maybe even other goals that you are working towards. And ultimately search for potential conflicts that may arise as a result.

Step Four: Consider Possible Changes

Based on the conflicts you identified within the previous step, take some time to outline the kinds of changes that you might need to make to your life in order to minimize or eliminate these conflicts altogether. Ask yourself:

How must my life change in order to make room for this goal?

How must I change as a person in order to make room for this goal?

Changes must happen in two significant ways. You must first look at ways you can change your life, and secondly at ways you must change yourself. If you neglect any one of these areas, then it’s likely conflicts will continue to exist, and as a result you will continue to sabotage yourself and fail to meet your long-term expectations.

Step Five: Make the Necessary Sacrifices

Having clarity about what it is you want, about how you will get there, about the impact that these goals will have on your life, and about the possible changes that you must now make, hopefully brings some insight into the kinds of sacrifices that you will ultimately need to make to attain your desired outcome. Ask yourself:

What specifically must I sacrifice to achieve my goal?

What will be the impact of these sacrifices on my life?

Will these sacrifices be enough?

Who could shed some light on this?

Asking other people for their insights and perspectives could help shed some light on the kinds of sacrifices that they for instance needed to make in similar situations. This can help you to cover all bases — making sure that you have taken everything under consideration before committing to this goal.

Finally, the ultimate question is:

Am I willing to make these sacrifices to obtain this goal?

If the answer is YES, then also consider:

What if things take much longer then expected?

What if things are much harder then expected?

Given this, will I still be willing and able to make the necessary sacrifices long-term?

Sometimes while deciding to make sacrifices it’s easy to look at the short-term and ignore the long-term scenarios. Maybe you will achieve your goal quickly and it will be worth it. However, just maybe it will take you far longer than expected and as a result you will need to sacrifice far more than you imagined. If you fail to consider this scenarios, then you will fail to make the long-term changes necessary to create space for this goal in your life.

In the end, if you are not willing and able to make the necessary sacrifices to attain your goal, then either change your goal or dump your goal. There is no point pursuing something you will ultimately not be able to achieve. Yes of course, the journey is important. However, you will probably be better off spending your time focusing on other areas that will bring you greater rewards long-term.

Gain More Knowledge…

• 10 Things YOU Must Give Up to be Successful @ Marc and Angel Hack Life
• The Price of Success @ Ross Training
• The Price of Success: A Cautionary Tale @ Psychology Today
• We Have to Let Go of Who We Are to Discover Who We Can Become @ Tiny Buddha
• Will You Pay the Price to Reach Your Goal @ Change Your Thoughts

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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step how to overcome failure in life.

This is the second of a two part series about failure:

• Lessons in Understanding Failure
• How to Overcome Failure

Take Immediate Action

Having just failed at something, it’s important that you don’t get down on yourself by dwelling mindlessly at the guilt or disappointment you are now feeling as a result of this outcome. The best way to take your mind off the failure is to immediately take action.

First of all you must commit yourself to doing something that will help you to resolve things and potentially overcome this failed attempt. You must commit yourself to taking some kind of action despite the obstacles or problems you are now facing. However, before jumping into things, it’s important to reflect upon these obstacles and take time to draw up a plan of action to overcome them. Ask yourself:

What obstacles are preventing me from moving forward?

How could I potentially overcome them?

Having gained some clarity about what specifically is standing in your way, you must now pinpoint exactly how you will move forward.

At this time, it’s important to remind yourself about the objective you are wanting to attain. This is the end goal that you want to substitute for the failed attempt. However, this can’t just be any goal. It must be a passionate goal — something that moves you, and something that gives you ample reason to get up in the morning and follow your passions. If there is no passion behind your actions, then you will simply lack the motivation you need to get through the obstacles you face. Ask yourself:

What do I want to achieve?

When do I want to achieve it by?

It’s critical that you lay down an incremental plan of action with flexible time frames for completing specific tasks. Think in small steps instead of giant leaps. Overcoming a failed attempt can be difficult. This is why it’s important to take small progressive steps forward that will help build your confidence as you pick up momentum.

Having clarified what it is you want, you must now take positive action in the direction of your goal. Ask yourself:

What positive action could I take right now?

What one small action could move me forward?

Now begin immediately with that first step, without looking back. This is your moment to begin building the momentum you need to get through this setback.

Suggestions to Help Build Momentum

There are a number of things you can do that will help you to build up your confidence and momentum as you move forward past this failed attempt:

Seek Out Support

Be open to the idea of seeking support from other people. Other people might have been where you are right now. Their experience could be of great value to help you move forward. And even if they haven’t gone through what you’re trying to work through, they can still be there to help support you and potentially provide you with some guidance and/or fresh perspectives that will help you along your journey. This could give you the momentum you need to break through this temporary setback.

Burn Your Bridges

It’s difficult to create momentum when you are still stuck in the past — unable to let go of better days or “what if” scenarios. This is no time to mourn for better days. You must decide that you will burn those bridges and never look back. Instead you will look forward to the future and do the things that are necessary to ensure you get through this failed attempt successfully the next time around.

Clear Your Head

Often right after a failure, it’s important to take some time to clear your head in order to identify what just happened and what you need to do to get through this setback. On the surface this might seem as though it might impede your momentum. However, by taking the time to ponder what just happened, can provide you with the clarity you need to make the right decisions moving forward that will consequently help you to build the momentum you need to get things right the next time around.

The best way to gain some clarity is through the use of visualization techniques. Simply take the time to ponder what just happened, and then visualize the path you will take moving forward. While visualizing ask yourself:

What steps do I need to take?

How will I take these steps?

As you are answering these questions, use your imagination to visualize exactly what you are doing step-by-step that will help you to get through this moment of your life. The clarity you gain here will certainly help boost your confidence while also allowing you to make better decisions as you move through this process.

Be Realistic Moving Forward

It’s absolutely paramount that you keep your feet firmly grounded at this time. The outcomes you seek will come about as a result of hard work and dedication on your part.

Please don’t expect or rely on miracles. For you to get through this moment of your life successfully requires that you do things thoughtfully and carefully. It also requires that you are proactive and focused on moving forward without hesitation. The results you seek most likely won’t happen over night, however they will happen over time with consistent effort on your part.

Finally, it’s important you understand that life rewards those who take massive action. In fact, the more positive action you take the more progress you are likely to make. And even if you get stuck at times, you are likely to learn from this experience and adjust your course accordingly. This will likewise help keep you motivated and focused on exactly what needs to get done to help you side-step this temporary failure.

Reminders for Your Journey Beyond Failure

As you work on building momentum along your journey beyond this failed attempt, it’s important that you keep a few things in mind that will help you gain further clarity along this journey:

Seek Alternate Perspectives

It’s easy to get bogged down in one way of looking or thinking about a situation. This is especially evident when you repeatedly fail at something.

Repeated failed attempts should indicate to you that you’re not approaching the situation in the most effective way. You must therefore begin shifting your perspective about the approach you are taking. The best way to do this is to simply ask or reflect upon what others would potentially do in your situation. Ask yourself:

What would others do differently?

What would Richard Branson do in my situation?

What would Albert Einstein do in my situation?

What would Bugs Bunny do in my situation?

What would an artist do in my situation?

What would a child do in my situation?

If you cannot think about the answers to these questions by yourself, then ask other people for their answers to these questions, or simply ask them for their own perspective and ideas to help you move forward.

Focus on Solutions

After a failed attempt it’s always tempting to focus on the failure and get bogged down in the mistakes that you just made. However, this is no time to begin regretting what just happened. If you want to get out of this mess, you must begin focusing on solutions that can help you to adjust your approach the next time around.

Focusing on solutions is easiest when you stay mindful of the present moment. Solutions are found in this very moment, and not in the past or the future. Yes, of course learn from the past and plan into the future, but look for solutions in the present moment.

Be Mindful of the True Meaning of Failure

It’s important throughout this journey beyond failure that you keep at the forefront of your mind what failure actually signifies.

For starters, temporary failure is nothing more but a problem. You did something, and things didn’t work out as you wanted or expected, and now you have a problem on your hands. Taking time to work through this problem will provide you with the answers you need to get through this failed attempt successfully. It’s nothing more than a process of trial and error — an experiment of sorts, and you are the Nutty Professor. You are learning, growing and overcoming temporary hiccups along the way. You are in fact playing the game of life and learning the rules as you move along this journey.

Failure can also be a new beginning. Often you might need to go back to the drawing board and start over again. At other times it could simply be a new beginning in terms of the way you look at things and approach the events and circumstances of your life. Either way, it all comes back to the essential process of learning and growing from your life’s experiences. The more you learn and grow, the better you will become at playing the game of life — effectively side-stepping temporary setbacks and failed attempts.

Adapt Your Approach

If something is not working, then it’s possible you are not doing it right, or simply don’t have the necessary skills, support, tools, knowledge or resources at your disposal to get through this successfully. You must immediately become aware of this and adapt your approach accordingly. Ask yourself:

How else could this be done?

The more flexible you are in thought and action, the better decisions you will make when things appear to be going nowhere.

Cultivate a Solution-Oriented Creative Mindset

As you make progress along this journey, it’s absolutely critical that you keep your mind at peak condition. Your mindset must be primed and ready to think creatively and to take advantage of opportunities that may come your way.

A solution-oriented creative mindset is courageous, patient, determined, optimistic and grateful. However, probably most importantly, it’s playful — willing to play, be silly and laugh at itself. Yes, you’re dealing with a serious problem, but often the best way to overcome problems is to learn to be playful. This will help you relax while opening up your imagination to endless possibilities.

Keep Things Simple

The moment you begin complicating things, is the moment you will get lost in all the details. And it is these details that will dishearten you and destroy any motivation you had. Just keep things simple and straightforward. Even if you have a complicated problem, it’s often a simple solution that will provide you with the answers you seek.

Re-evaluate Outcomes and Decisions

As you move along your journey beyond this failure, it’s important that you consistently re-evaluate your outcomes and decisions. By taking time to contemplate how you’re doing and where you’re going, will help you to better clarify the path moving forward.

Prepare for Failure in Advance

Life is very much unpredictable and full of unexpected events and circumstances. Things often may not go your way. In fact, the bigger ambitions you have, the more failure you are likely to confront in your lifetime. This is okay. Failure is a part of life. However, failure doesn’t feel good, and so you want to try and minimize the negative impact of failure wherever possible. Here are some suggestions:

Prepare Contingency Plans

Things will not always go to plan. And in such instances — when confronted with potential failure — you will need to put in place contingency plans that will help you to adjust your course at a moment’s notice.

Create contingency plans for worst-case scenarios. Ask yourself:

What’s the worst that could happen?

How will I respond to this potential scenario?

What other courses of action could I potentially take?

Leave Room for Mistakes

Failure is often a result of a mistake that was made on your part. Like failure, mistakes are a critical component of your growth and development. Mistakes will provide you with the clarity you need to adjust your course of action accordingly.

Expect that you will make mistakes along your journey, especially if you’re doing something for the very first time. It’s important to leave room for these mistakes as you are formulating your plan of action. In fact, take time to consider what mistakes you are likely to make, and then build contingency plans around them. Ask yourself:

What mistakes am I likely to make?

What impact could these mistakes have on my desired outcome?

How must I adapt my approach when one of these mistakes are made?

Yes, mistakes can be costly. However, if you allow room for them, they will be nothing more than a learning experience that will help you to build momentum for the future.

Find Your Joy

Failure, making mistakes and experiencing setbacks doesn’t seem very joyful on the surface. However, it’s within the actions behind these outcomes that joy can be found.

Find joy not so much in your failures and mistakes, but rather within the act of trying and attempting new things, and within the process of doing things poorly at first. You are after all only human. You learned to walk by stumbling many times, and you will likewise learn to achieve your desired outcomes by falling on your backside many times.

While learning to walk a child stumbles and falls. However, we don’t often see them crying about it. Yes, they might cry the first time. However, later they laugh about it. They are joyful and happy that they tried and failed, because every time they try and fail they are actually making more progress. Then they get up and do it all over again, until one day they get it right and are able to walk without needing support or encouragement from others. Isn’t that how life should be? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could approach your challenges with the same joy children experience while learning to walk?

Put Yourself Out There

The best way to prepare for potential future failure, is to put yourself out there and fail as often as possible. Try new things, attempt something different and step outside your comfort zone as often as possible. Do this with insignificant things that aren’t tied to the big goals you set yourself. Here you will learn valuable lessons that you can eventually bring forth and apply to the big and significant future problems that you are likely to face.

Better yet, go out there and fail on purpose. Actually do something that’s completely out of your comfort zone and fail miserably at the task. Then learn from the experience, and use these lessons to help you better prepare for the problems that matter most.

Recognize Everyday Successes

To keep your levels of motivation high, it’s important to reflect on your past triumphs as well as your everyday successes. Within your successes lie the keys that will help you to get through the temporary failures and setbacks you will experience in the future. Take time to ponder how you overcame failure in the past, and bring these lessons forth into the present moment. Ask yourself:

What can I potentially learn from my past triumphs?

How did I overcome failure and setbacks?

How can I now use and apply this to my present circumstances?

Adopt a Beginner’s Perspective

No matter what it is you are doing — whether you’ve done it a hundred times or it’s your very first time — approach it with a beginner’s mindset.

When you approach something from a beginner’s perspective you are more alert, focused, curious and ask better questions. Conversely, when you are competent and overly confident about something, you will naturally tend to ignore and filter-out a lot of what’s going on around you. This closes you off from learning new things or from considering alternate approaches to getting a task done.

Develop Your Problem Solving Skills

One way to improve your chances of overcome future failure is to develop your problems solving and creative thinking skills. These critical skills will allow you to think more flexibly about your circumstances and will likewise open you up to perspectives and opportunities that you normally would not have been aware of.

Ask Better Questions

Asking the right kinds of questions will help you to gain greater clarity about the circumstances you are dealing with, while also helping you to stay focused on what needs to get done to attain the outcome you are after.

Take time to consider the kinds of questions you will ask yourself when confronted with failure. These questions must keep you focused, alert and motivated:

What if I keep moving forward?

What if I persist a little longer?

What if I do this differently?

Questions are especially important during moments of greatest uncertainty. They will provide you with the direction you need to keep moving forward in a positive and proactive way.

When to Quit

There will be moments in your life when it just doesn’t seem to make any sense to continue. Of course you may not want to quit, however quitting may in fact be the best option moving forward — it may be exactly what you need that will help provide you with the clarity you need to make better choices about the events and circumstances of your life.

When confronted with failure always ask yourself:

Is this right for me?

Is this right for me right now?

Is this worth pursuing? Why? Why not?

If your answer to the above three questions is a resounding “no”, then it’s very possible that the best decision moving forward is to simply pack up your bags and move in another direction. However, before you make any hasty decisions, here are several major reasons why quitting might be the best option for you moving forward:

• Quit only if it will help you move forward in life in a better direction.
• Quit only if it can help you unlock other opportunities that bring greater long-term benefits than those available on your current path.
• Quit only if through the act of quitting you can begin to focus on your true passions and personal legend.
• Quit only if it makes sense for health reasons.
• Quit only if you want to burn all your bridges and gain a fresh new start doing something completely different.
• Quit only if you’re on a sinking ship (metaphorically speaking). Going down with it could potentially bring you more problems than the problems you might face if you quit while it’s still afloat.
• Quit only if you want to try something that seems more worthwhile in the long-term.

Quitting is never easy, especially if you’ve invested a significant amount of time, emotion and energy into an endeavor. However, at times quitting may very well be your best option moving forward.

It is however important that you never rush into your decision to quit on something, because you will often find that the greatest of successes come only after the greatest of failures. Therefore don’t quit because things are hard or because you feel overwhelmed, or just because you don’t have all the answers right now. Quitting for these reasons will only bring about a life of regrets and self-pity. As long as you’re following your passions and approach every temporary failure with a playful creative spark, then you’re on the right track, and sooner or later you are likely to succeed and make your dreams a reality.

Gain More Knowledge…

• 5 Lessons Learned from a Devastating Tragedy @ Balance In Me
• 9 Reasons Why Failure is Not Fatal @ 99u
• 10 Things You Definitely Should Learn from Failure @ The Possibility of Today
• 25 Reasons Why Hitting Bottom May be Good for You @ Powered by Intuition
• 75 Reminders for Tough Times @ Marc and Angel
• Failure is an Integral Part of Success @ Urban Monk
• How Failures Can Make You Smile @ Reason 4 Smile
• How Failures Can Teach You Valuable Lessons @ Lifehack
• How to Compost Your Failures @ Michael Hyatt
• What to do When Life Falls Apart: The Essential Six Step Program @ World of Psychology
• Why Success Always Starts with Failure @ 99u

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