What sets anyone who is successful apart from others? Most likely, they practice this habit on a daily basis. And there is actually not so much a special skill, but just taking action in the right direction.
So what is the right direction for you?
Here is a small exercise that will help you get perspective and some clarity to where you want to go and what you need to do to get there.
Get a pen and paper before you read on.
Ready? Here goes 🙂
What is the most important habit that you can develop to be successful?
As human beings, we are creatures of habits. I believe that no one succeeds overnight and no one fails overnight.
Usually, it is a series of decisions that you make that leads to where you are today. Daily decisions we are taking are nothing more than habits we have developed.
Now, in order to become successful, I believe there are many habits we develop. But one habit that you MUST develop, that will change your life and change your world, is the following one…
I want you to imagine and to draw a circle.
Go ahead and do that now.
Draw your circle
And within the circle, I want you to draw everything that you have in your life right now.
Maybe it’s the car that you drive, the income that you have, the house that you live in, the vacation that you would take this year, the people around you. All the things that you already have right now, that you possess in your life. I want you to draw them within the circle.
Fill it with what you have today
Then, outside the circle, write down everything that you want in your life, but you don’t have yet.
Maybe now you’re driving a Hyundai and you actually want a Mercedes. Draw a Mercedes outside of the circle. Maybe you’re living in a small flat, but you actually wanna live in a big house.
Write that down outside of the circle.
Write or draw all you want outside of the circle
So, within the circle is everything that you have right now. Outside the circle is everything that you want, but don’t have.
What is the circle?
The circle is your comfort zone.
Everything you have right now in your life, that is all within your comfort zone.
And your comfort zone is your income zone! Remember that.
I want you to look at everything that you want but don’t have. Where are those things? They’re outside of your comfort zone because you’ve put them there, right?
So in order to get what you want, but don’t have in life, what do you have to do?
You need to stretch and expand your comfort zone.
Learn to stretch your comfort zone
If something is within your comfort zone, guess what? You already have it.
I believe the number one habit you need to develop to be successful is to do things that make you feel uncomfortable on a daily basis.
It’s that simple.
Look at what holds most people back, what holds you back? It is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of success.
All these things are outside of the comfort zone.
As Justin Woolf, one of the SFM mentors is saying: “Life begins at the end of the comfort zone.”
We tend to do the same things, again and again, every day, because they are in our zones of comfort.
But if you develop a habit to do things on a consistent basis, that you don’t usually do…
Look, I know how it makes you feel. It makes you scared. It maybe scares the hell out of you. But it is the only thing that stretches your comfort zone.
That’s how you gradually expand it and get more of what you want.
Maybe it’s going to the event you’ve never been to before. Maybe it is to meet a successful person. Maybe it’s reading a book. Maybe it’s taking a new path to go home after work. Maybe it’s watching a video that you don’t normally watch. Maybe it’s spending money on educational products. Maybe it’s an investment in a business. Maybe it’s saying “sorry”, or “I love you”. Maybe it’s jumping out of an airplane, whatever is frightening to you… you just have to do it!
When you’re constantly pushing yourself outside the comfort zone, guess what happens? You will learn. You will take action. You will acquire new knowledge. You will meet new people. This will lead to new opportunities. You will develop new skills. You might start a new business.
Instead of avoiding the fear, you are facing the fear, and you are pushing the limit.
And suddenly this Mercedes is within your comfort zone and in your garage. The person you were always afraid to ask for a date is holding your hand…
Start developing this habit today!
Do something that you don’t usually do. Do something that scares you. Do something that makes you uncomfortable. Do something that makes your stomach sick, that makes you wanna throw up, that scares the hell out of you!
Do this today, do this tomorrow, and the world around you will never be the same.
