Category Archives: Goals

Improving the Process

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James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, emphasized that focusing on the process rather than just outcomes leads to “success. He suggested a simple framework for process improvement:

1. Decide what you want to achieve.
2. Try different ways of achieving it until you find one that works for you.
3. Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.

Clear distinguishes between goals (the results you want) and systems (the processes that lead to those results), arguing that sustainable success comes from building effective systems and habits, not just setting goals.

If you focus on the controllable inputs and the process to improving your business, in the long term, you get better results.

Say somebody came up to me, Jeff Bezos, and said, “Jeff, I want your job to be to drive up the Amazon stock price, and just manage that directly.”

Many companies actually try to do this. They go out and try to “sell” the stock. That’s a silly approach, that’s not sustainable.

It’s much better to say, “What are the inputs to a higher stock price?” OK, well, free cash flow and return on invested capital are inputs to a higher stock price. Let’s keep working backwards. What are the inputs to free cash flow? And you keep working backwards until you get to something that’s controllable.

A controllable input for free cash flow would be something like lower cost structure.

Then you back up from there and say, if we can improve our picking efficiency in our fulfillment centers and reduce defects — reducing defects at the root is one of the best ways to lower cost structure — that starts to be a job you would accept.

If you’re a reasonable person, you would say, “I have no idea how to drive up the stock price. I can’t manage that directly. It’s not a controllable input.” But I can make picking algorithms more efficient, and that will reduce cost structure.

And then you follow that chain all along the way.

The same holds true for your business. Want to increase sales?

Focus on controllable inputs: the number of leads generated, the number of cold calls made, the type and frequency of follow-ups. Turn the goal into a series of controllable, manageable inputs

(“Manageable” not in terms of easily attainable, but a task or process that can be actively and objectively managed.)

Clear’s approach is to focus on consistent, small improvements in your process, trusting that good outcomes will follow from good systems.

Results and achieving goals do matter. But if you optimize for the outcome and goal, you win one time. But, if you optimize for a process and inputs you can control that leads to great outcomes, you can win again and again.

Sources:

  1. https://jamesclear.com/quotes/the-process
  2. https://jamesclear.com/quotes/why-focus-on-the-process-when-the-world-is-outcome-driven-dont-results-matter

Keep Showing Up

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Keep Showing Up. Slow progress is still progress!

Success doesn’t follow a schedule.

You can grind for years with nothing to show. Then everything changes in a moment.

But the point isn’t to win fast. It’s to become unshakable, grateful and positive, no matter how long it takes to achieve your destination or goal.

The men and women who endure aren’t lucky, they’re relentless and believe in themselves.

And the world eventually moves for those men and women who are relentless and refuse to quit.

Repeat after me:  I am an amazingly awesome person!, who has dealth with so many challenges, made it through it all, and is still handsome, smart, kind, grateful, intelligent and awesome.  

Dear Self:  I will win…I promise!

Keep going, difficult roads and journeys can lead to beautiful destinations! 

Success is often less about reaching a beautiful destination and more about the process and journey—about living with purpose, staying true to who you are, and finding joy in the everyday.

Own your strengths, believe in yourself, be always grateful, and have faith and confidence in your abilities. Your self-confidence relies on your ability to focus on your talents, achievements and advantages. By simply committing to spend a little time each day to remind yourself of your strengths, you can boost your self-worth and build that confidence!  

REWIRING YOUR SUCCESS

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BOOK TITLE : REWIRING YOUR SUCCESS:  |  AUTHOR : JOHN QURESHI
Success is not a matter of luck.
Successful people are not just lucky; they make their luck by taking action and persevering through setbacks.
Success is a journey, not a destination.
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for success. What works for one person may only work for one person. The important thing is to find your path to success and to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices along the way.
Success is not about money.
Money is important, but it is not the only measure of success. Successful people also find fulfillment in their work and make a positive impact on the world.
Success is a habit.
Successful people have developed habits that help them achieve their goals. These habits include setting goals, taking action, and never giving up.
Success is a choice.
You choose to be successful or not. It is not something that happens to you; it is something you create.
Success is a mindset.
Successful people have a positive mindset that allows them to see possibilities instead of obstacles.
Success is about personal growth.
Successful people are constantly learning and growing. They are unafraid to step outside their comfort zones and try new things.
Success is about giving back.
Successful people use their success to help others. They know they are not alone and feel responsible for giving back to the community.
Success is about leaving a legacy.
Successful people want to make a difference and be remembered for their positive contributions.
Success is possible for everyone.
You can achieve your dreams no matter where you come from or your circumstances. It takes hard work, dedication, and perseverance, but you can reach your full potential.

10 Lessons from The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less
  1. Identify the critical 20% of activities or efforts that yield 80% of the desired outcomes and prioritize them over less important tasks.
  2. Work smarter, not harder. Focus on maximizing efficiency in the tasks that deliver the most significant results rather than trying to do everything.
  3. Streamline processes and eliminate unnecessary complexity to increase effectiveness and productivity.
  4. Develop a strategic mindset by focusing on high-leverage activities that align with long-term goals and objectives.
  5. Recognize that not all decisions are equally important. Focus your time and energy on decisions that have the most significant impact on your goals and outcomes.
  6. Identify and leverage resources, talents, and opportunities that contribute the most to your success.
  7. Embrace a continuous improvement mindset by regularly evaluating and refining your strategies and processes.
  8. Remain flexible and adaptable in the face of changing circumstances. Be willing to adjust your approach as needed to stay aligned with your objectives.
  9. Recognize and mitigate potential risks that could derail your progress toward your goals.
  10. Seek balance and harmony in your life by focusing on what truly matters and letting go of unnecessary distractions or obligations.

Create The Life You Want

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How To Create The Life You Want in 2024:

You can make excuses all you want, try to escape reality through whatever makes you forget it for a while, and keep delaying achieving your goals and creating the life you want.

But sooner or later, you’ll realize that You will need to change yourself to get what you want. The longer you stay in denial, the lower your odds are of achieving your goals and creating the life you want.

Source:  Psyche Wizard https://x.com/psychewizard/status/1740995700052431228?s=46&t=mF_tsrQnjgviyl62GYfJjw

The Right Mindset

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“Your mindset is your biggest asset.”

Your mindset is what sets the tone for everything in your life. Changing your mindset is what will change your life.  What you think and believe is what you act upon. Success is a mindset. So is failure. You become successful the moment you decide in your mind that you are a success.

Below are nine keys to develop the right mindset:

1.  Define a clear goal.  Without a clear goal, it isn’t easy to define exactly what you want. Your mind does not need an invitation to procrastinate.

Begin to visualize what it is you want. Writing down your goal will help to bring it into reality.

When you write down a goal and problem clearly and precisely, you have solved half the problem

2.  Establish a clear plan. You may know what it is you want, but if you don’t know how to achieve it, the chances are you will fail.

Outline a plan that breaks down each step you need to attain your goal. Small steps lead to significant changes.

3. Strengthen your self-confidence. One thing the successful in society all have in common is self-confidence.

You need to develop the mindset that you are good enough to achieve your goals; otherwise, why even try?

You can do this.

4. Build good habits. Habits make life 10x easier. The more you have to think about what you’re doing, the greater chance that your mind will start to wander.

Systems and good habits remove the guessing and give you a straightforward step-by-step process to follow.

5. Evaluate your time. You often hear people say, “I don’t have time,” when in reality, they go to work and then spend the rest of their night mindlessly scrolling.

Plan your day; there is enough time to enjoy yourself while completing important tasks.

Stop using your time and energy to worry.  Use your time and energy to believe, create, love, grow, and heal.

You can’t control the past or predict the future. Wasting time worrying about the past or future is a waste of time and energy.

6 Start small.  Often, when you lack discipline, it is down to thinking that you must do it all at once.

Learn to break down tasks into manageable pieces. You’ll find that you get more done and be pleasantly surprised at how much more enjoyable it is.

7. Look after yourself. Strong mental, physical, and emotional health will aid in your battle to destroy the lack of self-discipline.

Develop a positive self-talk process, maintain an attitude of gratitude/appreciate of everything, and practice mindfulness / being present in the moment, as well as making sure you eat well and exercise on a regular basis.

Movement will help clear your mind and extend your life.

8. Hold yourself accountable. You can always ask friends or family to hold you responsible, but what happens when they are not?

Developing self-accountability puts you in control. You can identify your triggers and deal with them accordingly.

Master your destiny.

9. Consistency is key. Look, there will be days that don’t work out as planned, but don’t let this ruin your overall plan.

Get back in the game, never give up, and bring home the victory. Do your best and trust the system and process.

Trust yourself; you’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming. You can think new thoughts. You can learn something new. You can create new habits.

Your goal is to wake up every day feeling blessed to live the kind of life you have created for yourself.

There are Men who are 24 and boys who are 35. Maturity is a mindset, not age.

Source:  The Right Mindset on X (formerly Twitter )

Follow a Compass

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Conventional wisdom says that to be successful, you should build a career plan: Map out where you are now, where you want to be, and the steps you’ll need to take to get there. However, Seth Godin, a bestselling author,  disagrees with that conventional wisdom since he never followed a predetermined path. His advice: Use “a compass and not a map.”

Your compass is your vision — who you aspire to be outside of a job title. Following it means pursuing decisions that make you happier and more content in the short term rather than following a pre-planned set of steps that may or may not eventually lead to your “dream job.”

Maps are great! They get you from point A to point B and help you stay on the right track! Yet, everyone’s got the same map, following the same routes, visiting the same sights. So, if you try to run your business or career using a map, your business or career will look, sound, and feel like any other out there. How do you stand out like that?

As a business owner and individual, what you need is a compass!

This won’t give you a step-by-step guide. No, it does something better! It points you towards your goal, leaving the path to reach it totally up to you. Unpredictable turns and unexpected terrains provide the chance to craft a unique journey. That’s what will make your business stand out!

Now, I’m not saying that you should throw away the map! Glance at it from time to time to see what routes work and which ones lead to nowhere. Just don’t follow it unthinkingly, or you might end up like some of the drivers who follow GPS without using their judgment – in a lake!:D

Your business needs that compass mentality. It’s not about retracing steps but charting your unique journey.

Those decisions may not always pan out, but you’ll learn enough from each failure to succeed eventually, Godin said.

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

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Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative care nurse, recorded patients’ dying epiphanies and put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware wrote of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how you might learn from her patients’ wisdom. “When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently,” she says, “common themes surfaced again and again.”

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Bonnie Ware:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

“This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

References:

  1. Susie Steiner, Top five regrets of the dying, The Guardian, February 1, 2012.  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

Live Every Single Today

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“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” ~ Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:6-8

It’s important to live every single day without regret, with clear goals and with purpose

Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative carer, wrote a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. In it, she describes the five most common wishes she heard from her soon-to-depart clients.

  • I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Stringently adhering to cultural norms at the expense of your own passions will result in disappointment and bitterness.
  • I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. Time is non-refundable so if you spend it working, then you can’t spend it doing more meaningful things.
  • I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. It is only by being open and honest about your thoughts and feelings can you form genuine bonds with other people.
  • I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends. It is dispiriting to be disconnected from those who truly understand you and accept you as you are.
  • I wish I had let myself be happier. The expectations and opinions of others should not prevent you from being happy with who you are. Moreover, happiness can be found in the journey, not just the destination, which you often never reach.

Another regret heard most often is:

I wish I’d taken better care of my health.  Most people do not think about their health until they experience a health challenge.  And at that point, we  make promises to ourselves that if we get better we’ll do a better with our health and well-being. But, I t shouldn’t take a major health challenge to get us to prioritize and focus on our health, fitness and diet. Your body must be your major priority and should be cared for. Nourish it with healthy food, exercise it daily and get a sufficient amount of sleep. Small healthy habits every day will compound and make a big difference over the long-term.

Never give up on yourself

Life and how you live it everyday is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely and choose honestly. Choose happiness and focus on what is good and positive. Always be grateful.

References:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-s-biggest-decisions/202106/the-6-most-common-regrets-people-experience
  2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/10/18/the-25-biggest-regrets-in-life-what-are-yours/?sh=63f5f3f6488

10 Rules of Success According to Oprah

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Oprah Winfrey is known as one of the most successful individuals globally and her estimated net worth is almost $3 billion! To her degree of success and power, it took a lot of perseverance and wisdom.

Here are the ten rules of success according to Oprah Winfrey.

  1. Rather than overwhelming yourself with the big picture, ask yourself what the next right move is. It’s easy to feel intimidated by everything on your plate, so instead of facing such an enormous proposition, take things one step at a time. Make the best next move you can, then make the next move, and then the next one, each time going as carefully and as thoughtfully as you can. Success isn’t one giant leap — it’s a series of baby steps. And, if you make one misstep, understand that your life and your career won’t be defined by that one mistake. You have more steps to take, and you’ll arrive at success eventually.
  2. When you see an opportunity, take it. Success has been a result of grace and blessings, but there’s also been opportunity. The key to being successful is to recognize when opportunity is in front of you and seize it.  “Luck is preparation meeting the moment of opportunity,”
  3. Forgive yourself for your past mistakes. You’re not the person you were five, ten, twenty, or more years ago. A lot of wisdom just comes with age, so don’t beat yourself up for youthful transgressions. You didn’t know any better — but you know better now! Look at those past mistakes as teachable opportunities, learn as much as you can from them, and then move forward.
  4. Never stop improving yourself. This means continually working on your personality, your skill set, and your network so that you are in the best possible position to make a difference. You always need to be improving if you want to get ahead. If people are saying that about you, take it as a compliment. You’re doing a lot, and others are noticing.
  5. Go as hard as you can. Recognize and take responsibility that you have control only over your own performance. You can’t control what others are doing. All you can do is the best you know how, all the time. It’s like a race: you just run hard until you read the finish line, and all you can do is make yourself run more quickly, not make your competition run more slowly. That’s what brings you success: building yourself up, not looking behind you to see where your competition is.
  6. Don’t just dream — believe. It’s OK to have big dreams for yourself; we all do. But if you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to do more than dream. You have to believe that the life you aspire to lead will one day be yours. Winfrey always knew that she would live a big, fulfilling life; she had that strong belief in what her future held. Do the same, and hold firmly to that belief, even in the most difficult of times, and you’re likely to get exactly where you want to be.
  7. Remember that people are more alike than they are different. We’re all seeking the same thing, We all want to reach our fullest potential. Sure, we all go about that in different ways, because we all have different skills and different passions, but at the end of the day, we all just want to be true to ourselves and be, the “truest expression” of ourselves.
  8. Find your purpose in life. If you’re going to be successful, you need to figure out why you’re here on Earth. Most entrepreneurs already feel like they know their purpose, but if you don’t, stop! Put everything on pause, take some time for genuine soul searching and self-reflection, and find your purpose. Find your why!
  9. Keep yourself grounded and centered. It’s easy to get lost in your work, and it’s easy to let your ego inflate, but if you keep your focus, stay compassionate, and always seek to understand and connect with others, you’ll improve your chances of success substantially.
  10. Try to remember that everything will be OK. If you’re aiming for big time success, you’ve got to be patient and take the long view. Yes, it’s natural to be a little scared, but never lose faith that everything will work out just fine.

Source:  https://moneyinc.com/10-rules-success-according-oprah-winfrey/

Building Wealth ‘One Brick at a Time’

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“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.” – James Clear

Laying bricks systematically to build a city works similarly well for building wealth. Building wealth is a slow systematic process of investing over the long term and compounding returns over time for most savers and investors. Successfully building wealth is not an overnight success.

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems [habits] are best for making progress.” ~ James Clear