4 Magic Questions That Create Success

These questions, answered in this order, transform you into an irreplaceable resource.

Regular readers know that I'm big on simple ideas that can have a huge impact on personal success. This series of four questions, each building on the previous question, are adapted from a conversation with best-selling author Greg Wingard (The Red Bucket Strategy and Guaranteed Success). Simple though they may seem, these questions can literally change your life.

1. Is there a fundamental skill I've been neglecting?

Regardless of what you do for a living, you cannot succeed if you're failing to master the basics. For example, I've known managers who can quote from dozens of management books, but haven't even mastered the simple (and essential) art of coaching.
Similarly, I've run across dozens of marketing folk who can expound in detail upon worldwide brand strategy, but have no idea how to locate a qualified lead for their sales team.
The lesson here is simple: learn and do the basics of your job. Unless you're doing that, you can forget about success, because it's just not going to happen.

2. Is there something I should stop doing?

Great! You're doing the basics, so now it's time to look at the stuff that's getting in your way.
Look at your daily routine, your weekly activities, your monthly commitments. If you're like most people, you're probably doing things that aren't just useless, but counterproductive.
For me, it's computer games. If I play more than the half-hour or so that it takes to blow off steam, I emerge from the experience depleted, tired and uncreative. For other people, it might be web-surfing when you should be prospecting for customers, or watching mindless TV when you could be learning something valuable.
Whatever it is for you, you'll get a huge burst of productivity when you limit (or stop) these behavioral impediments to your success.

3. Is there a basic skill I need to upgrade?

Congratulations! If you've gotten this far, you've already gone beyond most people and are well on your way to success.
Now it's time to examine the basic skills required for your job and identify any that need improvement. For example, if you're in sales, maybe you're good at asking questions and presenting solutions, but tend to hem and haw when it's time to close the deal. If so, work on your closing skill.
Similarly, if you're a manager and great with people but weak at financial planning, find ways to shore up that weakness and (ideally) turn it into a real strength.

4. What extra skill will bring me the greatest success?

Wow! You're handling all the basics equally well and you've cleared the deck so that nothing will get in your way. It's time to SOAR, baby! Here's how.
Step back and look at the proverbial "big picture." From this perspective, identify a skill or habit that today is totally foreign to you but which, if you mastered it, would also propel you to a level of success far beyond your current situation.
For example, suppose you're a brilliant innovator and have mastered all the basics of engineering. What would happen if you mastered the ability to sell your ideas to anyone? Similarly, suppose you're making a decent living in Sales. How much more successful would you become if you mastered business accounting?
BTW, it's these "above and beyond" skills that turn you from a plug-and-play commodity (the status of most folk) into an absolutely irreplaceable resource

5 Reasons People Fail (& What to Do Instead)

These barriers to success are easy to overcome, but only when you know they're there.

 

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Why do some people achieve their goals while others fail? I believe it's because successful people manage to overcome five barriers that, in many cases, guarantee failure. Here are those barriers and how to overcome them:

1. Uninspiring Goals

When most people set goals, they envision a "thing," such as a particular amount of money, an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book). Unfortunately, these "things I'm gonna get or do" goals don't appeal to the core of what motivates you, because they miss the point that what you're actually seeking in life and work is the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that you believe those things will produce.
Fix: Rather than envisioning a "thing" as your goal, envision--with all the strength in your imagination--how you will feel when you achieve the goal. That way, you'll be inspired to do whatever it takes (within legal and ethical bounds) to achieve that goal.

2. Fear of Failure

If you're afraid of failing, you won't take the necessary risks required to achieve your goal. For example, you won't make that important phone call, because you're afraid that you'll be rebuffed. Or you won't quit your dead-end job and start your own business because you're afraid that you might end up without any money.
Fix: Decide--right now!--that failure, for you, is a strictly temporary condition. If things don't go the way you'd like, it's only a setback that, at most, delays your eventual success. In other words, accept the fact that you'll sometimes fail, but treat that failure as an unavoidable (yet vital) component in your quest.

3. Fear of Success

In many ways, this fear is even more debilitating than the fear of failure. Suppose you achieved something spectacular, like enormous wealth. What if it didn't make you happy? What then? What if you ended up losing all of it? What then? Would your friends start acting weird? Would your family be envious? Such thoughts (and they're common) can cause even a highly motivated person to self-sabotage.
Fix: Decide that you're going to be happy and grateful today and happy and grateful in the future, no matter what happens. Rather than focus on possible problems, envision how wonderful it would be to be able to help your friends and family achieve THEIR goals. (Hint: Watch the last season of the TV series Entourage!)

4. An Unrealistic Timetable

Most people vastly overestimate what they can do in a week and vastly underestimate what they can do in a year. Because of this, most people try to cram too many action items into the short term rather than spacing out activities over the long term. The inability to get all the short-term steps accomplished creates discouragement and the impression that the final goal is slipping away.
Fix: As you list the activities and steps required to achieve a goal, schedule only the 20% of the activities that will produce 80% of your results. (I explain more about this in the post The Secret of Time Management.) Beyond that, set ambitious long-term timetables, but always leave some "wiggle room" when you plan short term.

5. Worrying About "Dry Spots"

It's easy to get discouraged when you reach a point at which nothing you do seems to advance you toward your goal. For example, suppose you're trying to master a certain skill. You make swift progress at first but then, after a while, it seems as if you're not doing any better, or maybe a little worse. Some people use these "plateaus" or "dry spots" as an excuse to give up and therefore fail.
Fix: Whenever you reach a plateau or dry spot, it's time to celebrate rather than give up. A plateau is almost always a sign that you're on the brink of a major breakthrough, if you just have the patience to stick with it and trust that you'll eventually achieve your goal.