Success Leaves Clues - 20 Questions to Help You Find Success

I just heard this quote while listening to a teleconference about the top five mistakes people make online and how to avoid them:

"Success leaves clues."

I believe the first person I heard say this was Tony Robbins. It's an interesting quote. The point is to look at how people or companies become successful and see if there are techniques used in their line of business that might be used in your line of business.

Some of the best ways to ensure success is to master techniques of those who win.

For example, to succeed online, you don't start and stop. You keep going no matter what. It is not easy to do when the rent is due and the bank account is low. SO, figure out your plan to ensure your success before you ever launch.

If you want to be successful, you've got to DO it. You can't just TRY it, you have to DO it. Remember Yoda (Star Wars) said "there is no try; there is only do or not do."

Commit! Don't start and stop. Get in and stay in.

What are you doing? Are you following the clues of those who blazed a trail before you? Even if you're blazing a new trail (a good idea) are you taking techniques used by people who succeeded in similar businesses?

I'm a sucker for documentaries, but especially documentaries about how great people, bands, companies, and leaders became great. What did they do? What challenges did they face? How did they overcome their struggles to succeed?

So, now, let's apply this right now in our own life.

Pick a mentor, say, Amelia Earhart. Or a leader of a company you admire, such as Steve Jobs and Apple. Now, start looking at what that person did when they succeeded.

Ask these 20 questions to identify the clues to your mentor's success:

1. Challenges: what challenge or need were they trying to fill or meet?
   
2. Commitment: when did they commit to meet the challenge and how did that decision impact their success?
   
3. Obstacles: what obstacles to success stood in their path?
4. Tools: what tools did they use to succeed?
5. Values: what were their values?
6. Differentiators: what made them different? How did they use their uniqueness to their advantage? What did they do that was NEW in their industry?
   
7. Copy/Creation: what did they copy or need to learn in order to create their solution?
   
8. Coaching: who were THEIR mentors?
9. Money: how did they finance their project or pay their bills when times were rough? How did they use money or create systems to fund their operations?
   
10. Value: what value did they give? At what standard did it match - 2x? 5x? 10x?
11. Public Relations: how were they unique in the way they spun their story?
12. Timing: in what ways did they put themselves in position to win?
    
13. Team: what type of team did they build? What made it unique or particularly adept at meeting the challenge? Who coached them?
14. Network: what type of network were they leveraging?
15. Competition: who were their primary competitors? How did competitors impact their ability to succeed?
16. Product (or service): in what ways was their product superior to any other product?
17. Failures: in what ways did they fail?
18. Coping: how did they cope with failure? What did they learn from their failures? How did they remain persistent when things looked bleak?
    
19. Wins: in what ways did they win? How did they capitalize on that success?
    
20. Gratitude: how did they express gratitude? How did they celebrate their wins?

Go back and study your leader and plug in the answers to each of these questions as you find them. See what I mean? These questions will help you succeed by identifying the key aspects of performance exhibited by WINNERS.

Take any great leader, team, group, company, or organization, and you can break down their success by asking these questions. Within the answers to these questions lie the clues for your own success.

Now, you'll be armed with INFORMATION to succeed.

But information is not enough. You must ACT.

When we don't just look for clues but actually use them, we're likely to find new success. So DO. Commit. Be who you want to be.

Bonus tip: look at ANY world class performer, leader, or player. Look at what they do to be successful. Look at who makes the least money. Look at who makes the most money. In almost every case, the person who makes the most money HAS A COACH.

Do you have a coach? I offer coaching, on a very limited basis one to one, but mostly in groups these days. Contact me through scott [at] aspirenow (dot) com to discuss coaching. Find someone who can mentor and coach you. Make sure that coach is someone who has been there and done that successfully. Get that person on board with you and start to use their pearls of wisdom.

P.S. this is NOT the way people should write articles!
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When Life Feels Like Failure

Ever have a bad day?

Sometimes, we all have days that could go better than others. During those days, it sometimes seems that life feels like failure. Can you relate?

Whether it be loss of a friend, being "under the weather", a break-up, loss of a job, or just people or life not quite working out the way we'd hoped, sometimes we are apt to experience "down" days. If you're human, it will happen.

The best thing to do when you're having one of those "bummer" days is to follow this process:

1. Allow yourself to feel your emotions and process what that means to you.
2. Give yourself a moment to breathe and remember you're alive now and alive for good reason!
3. Start moving, creating, building, and doing something again as soon as possible.
4. Be grateful for the opportunity in front of you!

Each step of this process to pull yourself from a bad day and change it to a good day is important. When we give our self permission to experience emotion, we give our self a chance to process and move forward, rather than stay stuck in the past or the present moment. When we take a fresh stock and remember life is an opportunity, not a bummer, we can start to re-frame our hopes for a brighter tomorrow. By moving, creating, building, and/or taking action we give new energy to our body, our being, and the natural chemicals this releases will boost our mood. When we express gratitude for this opportunity we gain insight into the spiritual underbelly of our mission.

Here is a perspective on FAILURE by Michael Jordan, the famous Chicago Bulls' basketball player:



If you're feeling a bit like life is a bummer today, go through the process. It's okay to fail, as long as we fail successfully! Don't worry - it won't last forever. Usually, a down mood lasts just a few hours or a day. Tomorrow is a new day! Embrace each day with the fullness of life in front of you and you'll live a more happy and fulfilled life.

See, if we are not failing, we aren't LIVING enough. So, embrace the failure! Learn from it. Then succeed next time you take the court, so to speak.

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