How Do I Become More Successful?

You are what you do. This is some good advice from Mike Cernovich over at Danger and Play. To quote the old adage, “Actions speak louder than words.” You can talk about what a great Dad (or Mom) you are, but do your actions match up? You can talk about how rich you are, but what do your finances look like? And so on and so forth…

It’s a nice way to center your mind – focus on topics of action, as opposed to gossip. Of course, this will remove 90% of the conversations that occur, since most of these are centered around he said/she said. But no worries…you’ll be left with more time. You won’t waste your minutes on topics that go nowhere. And you can use this extra time to become better centered on your goals.

So how can you make this happen? Well, let’s start with a few reminders….

1.) Get in Touch with Your Selfishness

Ask yourself, “What do I want to do?” Focus on this for the first part of your day. Work on your writing, hit the gym, get your reading done, etc. This should take you at least half a day, minimum. Forget about what other people want you to do. When we focus our attention too much on others, then we become lost.

This hints at a larger issue, of course; do you know what you want to do? If you don’t know, then you have a problem. This is especially true the older you get. The longer it takes you to center on a skill or passion, the greater the likelihood that you never will. That’s why young people should be relentless about honing their skills. Try should try different endeavors, seeing what they are good at. Finding your bliss is an imperative goal.

Philosophers call this enlightened self-interest. You are being selfish for the benefit of your mental and physical health; your selfishness isn’t done to deliberately hurt others. You maintain a “you” centered existence to be a productive individual, to be healthy and well-balanced. Remember: if you can’t help yourself, then you can’t help others.

2.) Stay Centered on Your Daily and Yearly Goals

You can’t know what to do if you don’t have a plan. Making a set of goals (both daily and yearly) is essential. You should save these to areas that are easiest for you to access. For some people this might be on their phone, for others on a laptop: wherever you spend the most amount of time is a good place to store the information.

“I just take life as it comes” is a horrible philosophy. You are the creator of your reality, not others. You decide what your destiny is. Letting something this critical be decided by the wind is pure foolishness. Whenever I meet somebody that states this, or something to this effect, I know that I am in the midst of a time waster – the sooner we part ways, the better.

We have to be militaristic about our use of time, especially in today’s world. We are preyed upon by a malicious media that  uses art as a weapon of cultural subversion. If you allow yourself to become a passive receptacle for these influences, you will find yourself becoming spiritually poisoned. We can no longer allow our consciousness to be crafted by the demonic directors of Hollywood.

3.) Connect with Other People that are Doers

This is very important, and it’s perhaps the most challenging. We get better by surrounding ourselves with great people; conversely, we get worse by surrounding ourselves with toxic individuals. So it’s imperative that we connect with individuals that are high achievers, people who are working on lofty goals and achievements.

There’s the rub…where to find these people? As you get older, you find your associates disappearing. Some drift off to marriage, others move to different states. In addition, it becomes difficult to connect with people in many big American cities where neighbors are not in close quarters. In Los Angeles, for example, many people pull into the driveway, shut the garage door, and don’t come out until the next morning when they head back to work.

Nothing good comes easy. You have to force yourself into better social circles: go to events, be more social, approach people you think are interesting. One thing is for certain – great people are not going to knock on your door and give you million dollar advice. It’s up to use to go out into the world and connect with people.You have to make the effort – not them.

Conclusion

Everyday is a fight…a war against the battalions of apathy and indifference. We create our reality – we decide what’s important and what’s irrelevant. And we are besieged with a million narratives, trying to steer us into an infinite number of directions.

The solution is simple: know thyself. You goal is your own self-discovery. That is your journey, your path. You daily actions should work to serve this goal. And you should be unwavering in your pursuit of this.

Great men will clutch their destiny like a pit bull clutches his chew toy. You have to stay centered and you cannot let go.