By Goke Ilesanmi
Let me ask you this question: “Why is it that success is so elusive to most people despite the fact that there is a pathway to it?” If you cannot tell me the answer, then I will tell you. The simple reason is that most people refuse or fail to tread the success path.
Whatever you conceive and believe, you definitely can achieve. Whatever you desire, you can acquire. If you can visualise something, then you can actualise it.
It is a truism that (hard) work always comes before success, and the only place where “Success” comes before “Work” is in the dictionary. This is because letter “S” comes before “W” in the alphabetical order in which (head) words are arranged in the dictionary.
Elasticity of meanings
“Success” is a word that has elasticity of meanings as it implies different things to different people. To some people, success implies money, and to others, it is power. Yet to another group of people, success is self-satisfaction. Everyone wants to succeed, even people who are the most cynical and pessimistic want to achieve success in life.
Do you know you need to discover what you want in life and go for it if you aspire to succeed? Yes, you definitely need to and it does not require any spiritual intervention to know this. In other words, if what you want in life is success, then you need the wisdom to know what to do; the knowledge of how to do it; and above all, self- motivation.
Positive self-motivation
The purpose of self-motivation is to get specific actions. The willingness to act on your ideas is at least as important as the ideas themselves. If you want to be successful in life, you need to be a self-starter; give your success aspiration all you have; and dare yourself to act now.
In the words of Dr. Walter Doyle Staples, one of America’s most celebrated authorities on human-potential issues, motivation has long been recognised as vital to the fulfilment of human potential. It has never been so important, however, as in our current era of drastic social and technological change and the stress that necessarily results. There can be few subjects as fascinating as positive, stimulating motivation if only because it means so many different things to different people.
Most people would like to have motivation but do not know how to go about acquiring it. Only positive motivation will bring about productive results. Positive motivation concentrates on desire, whereas negative motivation concentrates on fear. Each is the other’s antithesis.
Core desires
One of the things to do in life to be able to motivate yourself to success is to identify your core desires. Everybody possesses what it takes to achieve greatest desires, but first, to find the motivation and direction your life lacks, you need to pinpoint your core desires. That is, those things in life for which you have an intense, unwavering and deeply felt need. Whether you want to earn more money, establish deeper relationships, boost your self-confidence or deepen your spirituality, you must first identify your core desires, those intense wants that drive you from within.
Focusing on ideas not capital
Another thing you need to do to become an achiever through self-motivation is to have ideas and prepare. Harvey Firestone, an industrialist says capital is not so important in business; neither is experience so important. In his words, “What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life.”
All accomplishments begin with an idea. Although ideas in general are not in short supply, creative and innovative ideas are, and so are people who can transform them into reality.
I will advise you not to wait for success if you really want to succeed. This is because success itself is waiting for you. When opportunity knocks, you are the one who must open the door. I firmly believe that people make their own success or failure. Also, you need to use your time more wisely; know the secret of success; develop an ability to communicate; and be independent but be yourself.
Planning
After having got the necessary ideas and preparation, another thing to do to be able to accomplish through self-motivation is to set goals and plan. Before any adventure, take time to plan. Design your own plan of attack and let life respond to you. If you are making all the first moves, you will be surprised at how often you can pin life down.
John B. Miner, the author of The 4 Routes to Entrepreneurial Success says personal achievers find it natural to think about the future and what they will achieve. But go beyond the dreams to more systematic planning. Write down specific goals that will really tax you. Establish timetable for getting to your goals and procedures for reaching them. This is not something to do and then put away in a drawer; do it on a continuing basis, constantly revising, as new problems are faced and new things are learnt.
Self-belief
Having a strong belief is another way to motivate yourself to the highest rung of the success ladder. Belief is an attitude, a point of view, the way you think about something. You form attitudes through knowledge and experiences. You can change your attitude if you motivate yourself to do so. Your attitude can be totally positive if you believe in yourself and in what you are doing.
Last note
On a note of analytical finality, if you want to succeed in life, apart from all that we have said, you also need to make your appearance an asset; develop a magnetic personality; build successful relationships; overcome worry, doubt and fear; learn from your mistakes and solve your problems. I wish you success.
GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of www.gokeilesanmi.com.ng and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.
Tel: +234(0)8056030424; +234(0)8187499425
Email: info@gokeilesanmi.com.ng; gokeiles2010@gmail.com