I want to start this post by asking YOU: would you build your house without solid foundations and with poor-quality materials?
I guess you wouldn’t!
Solid foundations and a mixture of high-quality materials guarantee stability to your house.
Now, if you build a house without foundations and with poor quality materials, what’s going to happen?
It’s going to fall to the ground at the first breath of wind.
This is exactly what happens to goals when proper foundations have not been laid and when poor quality materials have been chosen, and challenges come around.
So, to prevent your dreams from crumbling right in front of you, and to make them come true instead, you must lay solid foundations.
Furthermore, you need to select high-quality materials.
What do I mean by solid foundations and high-quality materials when referring to goals and personal achievements?
Let’s start with what I believe represents the solid foundations on which your goal and personal achievements must be built.
FOUNDATIONS FOR YOUR SUCCESSFUL FUTURE: YOUR VISION, WHY, AND INNER NARRATIVE
1) You MUST have a VISION, a clear picture of what you want to be and achieve.
What do you want your life to be like in 5, 10, 20 years from now?
What do you want in your personal life, in your body, in your relationships, finances, spirituality?
How much do you want to earn?
How much do you want to weigh?
How much free time do you want for yourself and the people you love?
The more specific and clear you are with what you want to achieve, the more solid your foundations will be.
Clarity is everything, when you know exactly what you want, your brain will figure out a way to get you there.
Have you ever considered buying a car, or have you bought one?
If so, you have probably started noticing the same kind of car everywhere.
That was not due to a sudden “invasion” of the car you were thinking about or you bought.
They were there already!
So, why did you start noticing them all of a sudden?
Because of your Reticular Activating System, i.e. your brain’s filter!
It sifts through the millions of pieces of information, stimuli, and data coming into your brain from all your senses.
It’s responsible for filtering out irrelevant information and it brings only the relevant ones to your consciousness.
In other words, it acts as a gatekeeper, it enables you to start seeing what you are looking for.
“Whatever we focus on determines what we become”. - E. Stanley Jones
That’s why continuously refocusing on and reminding your brain of what truly matters to you is pivotal.
It enables you to move towards your destination because you know exactly where you want to go.
When you focus on your goals, your RAS uncovers the skills, information, people, and opportunities you need to achieve your objectives.
If you don’t have a target to aim for instead, YOU are at the mercy of circumstances.
“There is no favorable wind for the sailor who doesn’t know where to go”. - Seneca
Or, let me put it this way:
“If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere”. - Henry A. Kissinger
So, take the time to picture in your head exactly what your personal achievement is.
Feel the emotions that come from accomplishing your goals.
These emotions will drive your behavior and action to achieve your goals.
2) You MUST have a strong WHY!
Jim Rohn once said,
“Reasons come first, answers come second”.
You need to know why you want to make it happen.
When you pursue a goal you are faced with obstacles, so, unless you get enough emotional drive you never overcome challenges that come your way.
“There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that once unleashed can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality”. - Tony Robbins
One of the most stimulating reasons, or WHYs, for personal achievements, occurs when the accomplishment of your goal positively impacts other people’s lives.
In other words, when it’s not just about you, but also when your fellow human beings can benefit from your personal achievements.
Sometimes we do things for somebody else that we would never do just for ourselves!
Let’s have a look at a few examples:
Your WHY to get in shape may be that finally, you will be able to play with your kids.
Your WHY to double your income may be that you will be able to take your family on holiday to the Caribbean Islands.
Your WHY to work on your bad temper may be the desire to stop hurting other people and build high-quality relationships.
3) You MUST change the NARRATIVE that goes on and on between your ears.
You MUST unroot your DISEMPOWERING BELIEFS such as “I am not good enough, I cannot make it, it’s impossible” and root new empowering ones.
“I am enough, I can make it, it’s possible”, must become your creed!
In other words, you MUST work on your identity day in, day out.
Mind you, it’s not going to happen in a few weeks.
After all, how could you ever think it possible to reframe an identity that you have built over many years?
It’s just out of reach, it takes time!
Here is where having high-quality materials in place makes the difference.
When I speak about high-quality materials I refer to specific skills you must acquire and master to make your dreams come true.
NECESSARY SKILLS FOR YOUR SUCCESS: PATIENCE, A DEAF EAR TO NAYSAYERS, COMMITMENT, SELF-DISCIPLINE, AND SELF-AWARENESS
1) You MUST become PATIENT.
When you are patient, you can delay gratification.
Instant gratification in effect is one of the main causes that prevent people from achieving their goals.
Becoming good at anything in life takes time.
Sometimes it might take weeks, months, or even years.
That’s why PATIENCE is a skill you need to hone.
What’s more, when you develop your patience you don’t allow circumstances, people, or anything else to be an obstacle for you.
Many people give up on their dreams because they are impatient.
Don’t be one of them, get into the habit of finishing what you start, no matter what.
2) You MUST turn A DEAF EAR to the NAYSAYERS.
At each stage of your journey, you’ll bump into people who will try to discourage you.
The more they try to put you down, saying to you:
“You are foolish to pursue your dreams, you can’t make it, it’s impossible”,
the more you must turn a deaf ear to what they say so that you can prove them all wrong.
Work in silence, don’t allow the noise around you to stop you from achieving your goals and let your success echo.
When you turn a deaf ear you become able to go above and beyond all the horizons and make the IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE.
3) You MUST become COMMITTED; being INTERESTED is not enough!
When you are committed to something you become responsible.
In other words, you stop behaving as a victim, you take responsibility for your results and you take ownership of your life.
Commitment equals going all-in; doing whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
When you are committed to something you want it so bad that you become unstoppable.
In other words, you make yourself accountable and you never make excuses to justify why you cannot achieve your goals.
4) You MUST become SELF-DISCIPLINED.
Theodore Roosevelt once said,
“With self-discipline, almost anything is possible”.
Self-discipline is a skill that enables you to control your desires and not fall prey to your own bad habits, such as laziness, procrastination, and irresponsibility.
In other words, it is the skill that enables you to say NO to temptations and to take action even when you don’t feel like it.
Self-discipline is the skill that allows you to put in the work, to keep pushing, and go the extra mile.
When you are self-disciplined you are ready to work harder and smarter than anyone else.
Make sure YOU find out 11 tips to build lasting and solid SELF-DISCIPLINE.
5) you MUST become SELF-AWARE.
Being self-aware of what’s going on in our inner world is essential.
“Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world”. - T. Harv Eker
Becoming aware of our thoughts, beliefs, fears, needs, desires, and emotions is what enables you to draw upon your power.
Needless to say, the above-mentioned skills don’t comprise all the skills you need to become successful.
However, they are the fundamental ones that cannot be overlooked.
Let me emphasize the importance of building solid foundations and developing high-quality skills through a story.
It’s a variation of the Three Little Pig Story that you probably already know but clearly illustrates my point.
THE THREE TWINS
There were once three twins: Oliver, Michael, and Jacob.
They had lived in their parents’ house till the age of majority.
It was high time they left the nest and built their own houses and lives.
Oliver was lazy and careless, he didn’t like to work.
His main concern was to get into the new house ASAP.
He took the easy way, building his property without foundations, using straw and poor-quality materials.
He managed to finish the house in one day.
Michael was lazy too!
However, he was interested in having a good-looking property.
So, he didn’t bother to build his house upon foundations either.
Yet, he opted for a more resistant material, i.e. wood sticks; and he managed to finish the works in one week.
Jacob, who was a hard worker, was committed to building a solid house, a building that could last.
Therefore, he decided to erect his property upon solid foundations and he used sand, cement, rocks, and bricks.
He gave his best every day, and only after a year of hard work and patience was the house ready to be inhabited.
Even though the house was completed, he kept looking after it every day.
He was always looking for something to work on and improve.
His two twins instead used to watch TV and lie on the sofa all day long.
What’s worse, they made fun of Jacob: “You must be nuts, you will spend all your life working on this house. How silly of you”!
One day, there was a big storm, Oliver was scared to death; he could hear the wind blowing.
As the wind became stronger and stronger the straw house began to shake.
“I’d better get a move on and leave my house before it’s too late”, Oliver thought to himself.
He left his property just a few minutes before his straw house was wiped away.
Oliver decided to seek refuge in Michael’s place.
But, before long the storm became even stronger, and the wind blew harder.
The wood sticks started splitting and moving.
The two twins left the house in panic just before it fell to the ground.
“Let’s go to Jacob’s”, Oliver and Michael said with one voice.
The sound of the wind grew louder and louder.
Yet, inside the house made with bricks and rocks, the noise was almost inaudible.
Oliver and Michael, at last, felt safe and celebrated the day.
Despite losing their homes, they had learned three priceless life lessons.
1) Never make a fool of somebody else - what goes around comes around!
2) There’s no easy way to success, work hard today to reap the rewards tomorrow - as you sow, so shall you reap!
3) If you don’t lay the foundations and select high-quality materials chances are your house - your goals - will crumble down.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you are in a hurry to get the house built, you skip the most important part, i.e. the solid base needed to keep it all together!
The same holds for the goals you are shooting for.
To become successful in whatever you are trying to achieve you really need to lay the foundations and use “high-quality materials”.
The future is in your hands!
Getting it right from the beginning is the KEY to your success and saves SO MUCH TIME later on.
Just think for a moment, what happens if your house falls to the ground?
You have either to build it from the ground up again or become homeless.
Likewise, when pursuing a goal, you have either to start all over again or, even worse, to give up on it.
I really hope this post has drawn your attention to how important laying solid foundations and developing relevant skills is for your future and the future of the people you love.
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