Character Determines Your Success

Originally posted on sheltonstevens.com

LIFE IS DIFFICULT

 Things don’t always go the way we want them to go. So how will you as a person overcome adversity? It is human nature to tuck your tail and run, its human nature to be average. This post is about being special and what it takes to be successful now and in the future.

Who you are is way more important than what you do; it’s your character. Your character is an accumulation of your thoughts, your habits, and your priorities on a day-to-day basis. Those three things determine the decisions we make, and it makes whom we are. Rather that is good guy, bad guy, hard worker, lazy, responsible, irresponsible, etc. All this takes a certain amount of discipline to do what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, and the way it’s supposed to be done.

GOAL SETTING (THE PROCESS)

 All the choices and decisions we make have consequences, and one must have enough foresight sometimes to understand how our choices can affect our future and others around us. Knowing what you really want to do in life helps with these decisions. It’s about having goals and buying into the process of what it takes to reach those goals. Now make sure your goal isn’t a result, because there is a big difference.

If you know what you want in life, commit to it, and have the passion for it. Then you are going to be willing to invest your time in it and have the work ethic and desire to accomplish anything.

INVEST YOUR TIME, DON’T SPEND IT

 Think about the time you spend and exactly what you’ve done today with your particular goal in mind. How much time was spent? And how much time was invested in reaching your goal? Also think about how positive was your attitude in trying to accomplish that goal? Because when someone has high expectations and those expectations are not met, you tend to get frustrated.  Stay focused, stay positive and stay in the eye of the storm.

Muhammad Ali said it perfectly in this quote, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses-behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights”.

It’s all about the preparation and the hard work it takes to reach your goal. You’re only going to get what you put in. So if you spend more of your time instead of investing your time, you will only get half ass results.

COMMUNICATION  (ITS NOT ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME)

 Communication is key to success, because having goals isn’t all about YOU. It also involves the people we come in contact with on a day-to-day basis. A lot of goals fail because of this reason:

“Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people.

 If everyone doesn’t buy into the same principles and values at the same high standard, the organization or team will not be successful. So one must choose if they are going to be the mediocre worker everyone wants to get off the bus, or the high achiever that is trying to organize the bus and have everyone traveling in the same direction. This means communicate the expectations you have for yourself, others, and the organization.

Again, it’s not about YOU, one must work with others and also serve others while trying to reach an individual goal. You may be motivated with the details of what you personally are all about, but sometimes we have to deal with things we don’t usually agree with and stay positive in the process. You must create positive energy that affects other people in a positive way. So putting that positive brand on yourself is very important for your future.

PERSEVERANCE

 This is what makes great things feel even greater. The things we overcome to accomplish our goals all starts with having tremendous adversity.  It usually goes like this

• You have a goal
• Your working towards that goal
• You make mistakes and have setbacks
• Then you learn from each and every mistake. That’s PERSEVERANCE

Michael Jordan says it best here:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”