Action Steps for Success

Successful people are ordinary people with a success orientation. —Wayne Nalls

In this article, I provide a list of what I consider 22 salient self-improvement doables—one for each workday of the month. These are presented for your consideration.

Once you complete one month on this suggested program, you will have an overview of what it takes to be a success. I don't expect you to master or even highly value each of the doables. But among the list is at least one idea that you can use for the rest of your life to change the rest of your life.

Week One

1. Daily bring out the best in others.
2. Because you choose your attitude, choose wisely.
3. Be a Problem Solver.
4. Accept yourself for who you are. Be comfortable with yourself but never complacent.   Everyone has room for growth.
5. Think. Think. Think. Everything we do begins with a thought.

Week Two

6. Never get mad at someone for being more successful than you, it’s not his/her fault.
7. Expect to excel and assume the responsibility for your own success.
8. Keep your eyes and ears open and learn from others. Everyone has something unique to offer.
9. Keep your knowledge current and your skills marketable.
10. Concentrate on giving and not getting, it puts you in the best position to achieve success.

Week Three

11. Always look for ways to change, to improve every single thing you do.
12. Never lose sight of the goal.
13. Devour books. Read every day. “If you spend one extra hour each day in the study of your chosen field…you’ll be a national expert in five years or less.” —Earl Nightingale
14. Render a greater service than your competitor.
15. First you have to conquer the day before you conquer the week, the month, the year.

Week Four

16. Listen for what isn’t being said. As management guru Peter Drucker wrote, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
17. Be a person of action. Focus on the task at hand and don’t get distracted by tasks with fringe benefits.
18. Believe you can do it, plan to do it, and do it! In the end, it is always belief, planning, and execution that determines success.
19. Celebrate your uniqueness. For the next 30 days let your first thought each morning be one of thankfulness for who you are. Like fingerprints and snowflakes, you are one of a kind.
20. Uncover and understand what you’re here to do.  Then pursue that purpose with passion and enthusiasm. If you don’t know your purpose read, The Seed by Jon Gordon.

Week Five

21. Don't settle for mediocrity, commit to being the best you can be.
22. Live in the moment. Focus your energy on the present.

Of the above 22 success action steps, which one is a priority for you?

I end this reflection with this candid thought: The achievement is not in winning. It is in the struggle that we achieve. And like all successful people before us, we must hold on until we succeed. “Without a struggle,” wrote Frederick Douglas, “there can be no progress.”

This Success Reflection ends where it began with the thought that successful people are ordinary people with a success orientation.

BOOK REMINDER: My book, Mentor In The Mirror is available on Amazon, iBooks and Barnes & Noble. Go to my website: www.waynenalls.com for additional information and a review of the book.