I derived 8 important points for success.
Benjamin Hardy, a top writer in Startup caught my attention with his 240 k followers .
That is a great number of fans! I was interested to know why and how he attained those numbers.
I started with his article, “10 steps to become a millionaire in 5 years or less” . Despite a lengthy essay that spanned over 19 minutes, it garnered 47k claps!
I decided to evaluate his work because that is the only way to analyze why Dr. Benjamin Hardy is such a prominent and prolific writer as well as a highly renowned speaker.
I thought his title was very interesting and catchy. Who would not like to be rich? And to be shown the ropes by a top writer who is generous with his ideas and concepts.
His introduction immediately reined us in. It was for everyone rich or poor.
I liked how he immediately stated his objectives so that the reader knew what to expect in this lengthy article. He clarified the objectives. Many read on.
The body of the article was so succinct with 10 valuable points that I lapped them all up with great voracity because I knew that they would change my life if I applied them.
Here are the 8 keys to success.
1 Begin with the end in mind.
His “Create a vision” already showed where I went wrong. I had not envisaged a clear landscape for my future as I had not given it much thought.
I was drifting by each day doing my best in whatever I set out to do and what I have to do, all within the expectations of what is required of me. Such self-limiting goals!
I need to do what resonates with me well, regardless of what people think of my capabilities and reach the pinnacle of success in my own way. I need a clear vision of my destination.
My vision has to be more specific like painting a vista. One of my goals is to become a writer on Medium and I model myself after all the great writers on this platform.
To attain a humble one percent in terms of Dr. Hardy’s number of followers is a lofty goal for a start but is attainable as I would try all his ten steps.
2 Keep track of progress.
Measuring progress, in the short term of 90 days is a great idea.
To do this, one needs to do more reflection. This approach will make the vision more attainable, bringing us one step forward at a time.
What I do to improve my writing is to read as widely as possible mostly on good writers’ works and I would write down their recommended points to reinforce my learning. Then, of course, I would apply their principles.
In the last 4 months, I have only written 50 plus articles but I am more aware of the need to churn out more and quality articles for the next quarter. My capacity and interest in reading have increased threefold and should increase more.
3 Setting up my flow state.
Dr. Hardy highlighted the importance of achieving daily peak condition that caused me to review mine.
I always begin my morning after my usual ablutions to do my stretches, some yoga poses to be specific.
As a writer, one could get into a bad posture, staring at the monitor and slouching. I am a dentist to boot, which aggravates the posture further.
Yoga stretches are the most healing for the mind and body. At the age of 62, I have no aches and pain (touching wood) and I attribute it largely to this exercise.
The sense of well- being from Yoga certainly puts me in a flow state for my mind too.
4 What I do to my environment to improve my writing.
It is indeed true that the surrounding must be conducive to my work.
Though I write close to where I sleep, close to where my TV is, and close to where my collection of paraphernalia are, I would improve my flow when I feel stuck by getting away from my laptop for a while— to the kitchen to grab a bite, a walk in the garden or a short call to a friend.
Inadvertently, I find that my perspective improved and new ideas did surface. It is not going against the grain that frees the mind.
5 Stay Focused on results.
Recently, I wanted to create an e-book. With resources like the internet, one can learn almost anything. I knew nothing about ebook but I have a helper at home who is a great cook.
Youtube is like an institute of teachers. I manage to find a very good instructor who taught me how to create an e-book with his video. It was instructive and free of charge.
More exploration led to the discovery of websites that offer the creation of pages and transform them into a PDF file which is the e-book. It was amazing.
Focus on what you want, then work on it. Resources abound with the availability of the internet.
6 Engage mentors
A mentor-mentee relationship is a win-win one. I would request someone, a friend for example to mentor me whether they are older or younger than me as long as they are better than me in the field that I am interested in. Even if it incurs a fee.
I learned many useful tips for watching my specialist friends practice their skills and I was very grateful that they were very willing to share their tips on how to get a piece of work done more efficiently.
As a general practitioner, I aspire to practice a high level of skill, and observation is very useful. Many tips were not taught in schools but acquired through experience and common sense by these mentors.
I like young mentors too as they surprise me with their refreshing and current skills and wit. Especially where digital technology is concerned, younger people still make the best mentors.
As a mentee, I would benefit the mentors by word of mouth which brings them more potential businesses.
7 Ask questions and listen.
Most people prefer to talk but I prefer to listen and ask relevant questions.
Often, I leave the discussion with new knowledge but if they ask me, I would share what I am good at and they would be ready to listen.
Seek out the strengths in others. Everyone has their forte. If I want to improve on my slide presentation in my public speaking club, I would engage the help of my fellow member who does beautiful powerpoint presentations in his projects and learn how to do them.
In a group project, this aspect certainly would be best tackled by this member.
All of us have different talents, it is up to us to excavate them.
8 Continue to move forward.
One is not to live our lives status quo. If you looked at how Man had progressed from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution to the digital one, human beings are meant to progress.
Staying complacent will not do. “Shape out or ship out” as they say. The onus is on each individual to find your passion and your talent that you could advance further for the betterment of self and society.
Then you can truly taste success. You would move on to attain greater heights or develop interest in other areas which you can then excel to inspire a younger generation to take on.
In conclusion, I believe that for each life, one has many opportunities to live his life to the best of his ability. Regardless of age, if you are willing to learn and try, it makes for an exciting life.
Given the resources of today, the intelligent, exemplary people of the world whom you can seek out directly or indirectly, only you can have this success if you desire badly enough.
DON’T WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITY . CREATE IT! success.com
Leave a Reply