“There are people who make things happen, they are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.” James Lovell
Successful people are a catalyst. They make things happen. Driven by passion and fuelled by their dreams, they are determined to take action and make a difference. They are not content to sit idle or procrastinate. They infect others with their passion and courage. Hang around a catalyst such as this and before long you may want to join their cause! That’s one of the things that I love the most about spending time with other entrepreneurs!
Most people hope for a better future. They dream about things being different. Visionaries, however, see themselves making that difference. Dreamers dream about how great it would be for someone to do something. Visionaries look for opportunities to make it happen. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left over by those who hustle.”
You have dreams for your personal and professional life. Don’t wait for inspiration to take action! Conditions are never just right. People who stall until all factors are favourable do nothing. They procrastinate over and over again and their dreams never materialize. They are often filled with self-doubt and fear. If you are going to achieve your goal, you need to act like you expect to get into the end zone. Don’t wait for things to happen. Set yourself apart from the crowd and make them happen.
Most people look outward for success. They look for someone else to appreciate them, someone else to promote them, and someone else to motivate them. Success is not something external shining in, but rather something internal radiating out. If you can envision a better tomorrow, take action today and be a catalyst!
If you look for other people to define your success or happiness, you will never find your full measure of either. If you want a promotion, set up the conditions to get promoted. Make yourself indispensable. You promote yourself through actions and attitudes and ultimately separate yourself from the crowd waiting for the arrival of the S.S. Entitlement.
Take on more work and look for ways to build value in your organization. Take on projects that challenge and teach you new skills, so you grow in value in your current or future organizations. Find opportunities to do things better and more efficiently than it has been done before.
To get paid more, provide more service following the law of harvest: you sow what you reap. Work harder and smarter than your colleagues. Great success comes from hard work directed toward a clearly defined goal. The harder you work, the “luckier” you will likely be. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Shallow men believe in luck; wise and strong men believe in cause and effect.” In other words, successful people cause their own luck. By doing the right things, they get the results they want.
“Shallow men believe in luck; wise and strong men believe in cause and effect.”
President of Highpoint University, Nido Quebein said, “You may have the loftiest goals, the highest ideals, the noblest dreams; but remember this: nothing works unless you do.” If you own your own business, you need to take “ownership” of your business. Be responsible and accountable for the choices you make and the results that follow, good or bad. Make things happen by refusing to shift the blame or make excuses. Make progress instead!
Successful people are proactive. They take consistent action to create what they want in their lives. Ordinary people are different. They wait for things to happen and they are not doing anything about what they want. A lot of people will tell you that they want to be rich or they want to start their own business, however, they are not doing anything about it. All they do is to talk about it without any real and solid action.
Be proactive. Stop procrastinating. Take action to achieve your dreams. Start now.
Eric Deschamps, Business Coach/Advisor – Ottawa