Success: A lot of small things done well

This is a text by my good friend Michael, who is not currently on Medium. Micheal is an amazing human and man on so many facets that it’s hard to know where to start. An inspiring text by an inspiring person with an inspiring life…

Success is a lot of small things done well. In this article, I urge you to question your vision of success. I am going to present the notion that we are in control of our future and consequently our success through the small things we do each moment of every day. There are many steps to creating a mindset of success. Here I just want to focus on sparking the image of your success and give you one simple thing you can do each day to bring you closer to your chosen path whatever it may be.

Most of us yearn for some sort of success. The question of what success looks like to each of us is central to this pursuit. Discovering exactly what success looks like to you specifically is critical to achieving success.

Sadly, though, many of us have never really thought about what success would look like for us. We know what the media portrays but how many of us actually put in the time and work to understand what it means to us personally?

Creating your personal vision of success and implementing it into each day is challenging and it requires work. The work involved requires us to be honest with ourselves and the world around us. This is not an easy task.

Some people are naturals at succeeding. We all know someone like this. Things just seem to work out for them. They have a great job, beautiful spouse, nice kids, and a fast car to boot. But what about the rest of us? For whatever reason, some of us developed a mindset of failure or limits. We believe we just aren’t lucky enough, not smart enough, don’t have enough talent, or simply aren’t worthy enough.

Personally, I once believed all of the above about myself. I went through most of my life without really discovering what success would look like for me. Once I did the work and created that vision my life changed in dramatic and beneficial ways.

Generally we see success as a nice car, a big house, fancy clothe; things. Deep down, however, almost all of us intuitively know this is not real success. True success is day to day fulfillment, moment to moment understanding, and unwavering intent.

This is not to say that material things are not important. Money allows us the space and freedom to create more joy in both our own lives and the lives of others. As a wise poet (Gift of Gab) once said, “Money is not the key to true freedom, but when I say that to the starving it doesn’t feed them.”

Success is an emotional state, not a material state. The material helps us survive day to day. It feeds and clothes us. But the emotional allows us to live.

I spent a large portion of my adult life working in a profession surrounded by death and dying. Do you know what people talk about when they know they are dying? What most people’s first thought is when they are resuscitated from near death? What old people tell the young to never ever go without? They talk about love, family, what their mother’s pasta tastes like, their child’s first word, the color of the sunset in the desert. When forced to reconcile their lives, importance rests in our experiences of success rather than objects of success.

So, how do we get there? How can each of us achieve true success? How do we begin creating a mindset of success?

The first and most important step in creating a more constructive mindset is clearing your mind of unproductive thought patterns. When we see the world as limited it perpetuates limits. What we focus on we feed. And what we feed grows. So why not feed thoughts that propel us rather than tether us.

Our day begins the moment we open our eyes in the morning. As soon as we open our eyes we begin thinking. And as soon as we begin thinking we have the power to create. The first step in creating a mindset of success is building positive momentum starting the moment you wake.

Try this 5-minute-five-step routine to jump start your evolving mindset of success. Spend one minute on each step. If you find yourself losing focus at any time, get up, stretch for 30 seconds and resume where you left off:

1. Gratitude: Focus on what you are thankful for in your life at this very moment. If you can’t think of anything then focus on the basics — be grateful for the air you are breathing, a roof over your head, a working mind, the blood that pumps through your veins. Say each thing and say it out loud (as an example), “Thank you for this day. Thank you for the air I breathe. Thank you for my partner. Thank you for…”

2. Affirmations: This is what it sounds like. Affirmations. Simple examples are things like, “I am ready for success,” “I am happy and healthy.” Use your vision of success and your ideal self to create your affirmations. Focus on what you can do rather than what is missing. For example, if you want to lose weight rather than saying I want to be skinny or fit, you might try, “I have the strength and will power to create a healthy life,” or, “I am strong and commit to making health a priority in my life.”

2. Visualization: Create a solid image of your success. See the way your day will go and know it will be that way. Indulge in the details and intricacies of this vision. Allow it to be real and believe in it. Next, imagine how you will feel when you achieve great success in your life. Feel the emotions of your success as if it is already yours and know that it is.

3. Exercise: Get up and immediately get yourself pumped up. Stretch. Do jumping jacks or pushups. Sing at the top of your lungs. Dance. Smile. Run in place. Whatever gets your blood flowing and your mind awake.

4. Priorities: Quickly jot down the 2–3 most important things you need to accomplish today. Write them on a sticky note or scrap paper and take that paper with you everywhere during the day. When you accomplish your priorities tick them off and throw the paper in the garbage.

5. Complete something: Unless you have a health problem that prohibits you, complete at least one task before you allow yourself to eat breakfast or have that cup of coffee. We are statistically most productive first thing in the morning. Take advantage of this. Whether it’s putting away the dishes, doing the laundry, or knocking out a few paragraphs of the novel you have been working on; complete something before starting the rest of your day.

That’s it! You are on your way to creating the mindset required for success. Try this routine for at least a week. If you need to, spend 2 minutes on each number. Stay consistent and committed and the results will follow. Remember, success is a lot of small things done well.

Michael M.