Have you ever had such a huge challenge in business that you couldn’t do anything but think about how bad your situation was? When that happens it can cause you to feel out of control, unfocused and totally unmotivated. And it’s not just those big problems that can kill your motivation and wreak havoc on your progress toward your goals. Allowing a number of petty little challenges to “stack up” is just as detrimental. Often more dangerous than one big ugly monster of an obstacle.
If you’d like to learn a simple five-step, five-minute process that will finally put you in control of your focus, your motivation and your progress — here’s where you start.
Step 1: What’s great about this challenge?
Most of the time, when you ask this question, especially once you begin to use this system, your brain may answer, “What are you nuts? What’s ”’great? Nothing!”’ When this happens, understand you’re at a critical point in the process.
You’ll need to immediately decide if you’re going to take the easy way out, turn tail and run with the rest of the “herd”, accepting whatever life throws your way, or if you’ll step up and take action to join the ranks and soar with the few and very successful.
Step 2: What’s not perfect yet?
This question allows you to identify what needs to be changed, while still maintaining a proactive/positive mind set. This programs your brain to focus on solutions to the challenge, not on the challenge itself. Answering this question also subtly programs your subconscious to see how the situation could be “perfect” – in due time.
Step 3: What specific steps am I willing to take to make it right?
Answering this question will help you begin to layout the plan you need to follow in order to correct or overcome your current challenge. It will be up to you to follow though on these steps when you’ve completed this 5-Step process. If you don’t follow through on this step, don’t expect to have your challenge just disappear on its own. (At least not before it damages your life or steals the level of success that is rightfully yours.)
Step 4: What are the “red-flags” that can help me prevent a similar situation in the future?
Your answers to step three tell your subconscious specifically what TO DO. Your answers to this question will identify some warning markers that WILL trigger warning flags. This keeps you from pursing actions you DO NOT want to do.
Step 5: How can I enjoy taking the necessary actions in order to make things the way I want?
Increase your opportunity for success. Discover how you can have fun while taking action to get what you really want. Take time to come up with fun ways to take action. Make it a game. Link positive actions to rewards.
Now it’s your chance to put these five simple steps into action.
Let your competitors think like the herd. You now have an unfair advantage when challenging situations come up. You now have the strategic tactics you need to quickly regain control of your focus and motivation. Now you have the tools allowing you to achieve a higher level of success.
Plus you can read the full length 2100-word version of this article in the Personal Performance section of the “Article Archive” at www.rpmsuccess.com. When you apply these tested techniques you can actually make succeeding just as fun as success itself. Go and make it so!
”’John-Paul Micek is the lead Business Strategist and COO of the international business coaching organization RPM Success Group Inc.