Success is showing up

Be successful...show up.

How do you define success?

• Having lots of money in the bank?

• Being the go-to guru in your specialist field?

• Retiring before legal retirement age?

For me, success is all about the effort and attitude I put into my project. Little effort means not much to show for the time spent on the project. I can't regain time I spend. I can only move forward and choose to use my time to work toward my goal. If I put a ho-hum effort in to write my book each day, it's going to take me a long time to finish the book. If I arrive at the keyboard bursting with energy with the intention of getting lots of words on the screen, I know I've already succeeded. My attitude has gotten me on my way to achieve my goal.

Aiming for success is applying yourself to today's task - now, in this moment.

Some days showing up at the keyboard is difficult. It's usually because I feel distracted by random thoughts about all kinds of subjects demanding my time and wanting to be written. This includes my characters knocking on the door to come inside with me, too. To help me achieve the success on these crazy mind days, I take 30 minutes to an hour of my time to write out my thoughts and then I meditate to still the mind so that the creative process can begin. This hour is time well spent because it makes me more productive. It's better to spend an hour to clear the mind than to fight my way through the hundreds of things I'm trying to remember.

A computer works best with no bugs tripping the process and so our mind works best with fewer random thoughts.

Are you succeeding today? Have you shown up for success this week? I'd love to hear how easy or hard it was for you.

Attitude can change everything

Following on from the last post on passion, I’m coming from a different direction this post.

Attitude is what it's all about.

Work takes up about one-third of our life. That’s a lot of hours we are giving to someone else. If we like what we are doing, work becomes fun. If we don’t like what we are doing, it feels like someone has slowed the movie and we can't move faster no matter how much the boss is on our back.

The question arises: what are you expecting from your job? Are you climbing the ladder of success or are you working to earn an income regardless of the enjoyment in your job.

If you choose to become passionate about your job, you will reap the benefits of catching your boss’ attention resulting in that much sought after pay rise or promotion. Being passionate about your job is linked to what motivates you. If you are motivated by a bigger pay packet or a step up the ladder then being passionate about what you do will reap the rewards you are looking for. Maybe you are motivated by just doing a great job, then your passion will no doubt be fired enough for you to continue in that job.

When the motivation to succeed isn’t there though, it’s hard to be passionate about a project. If you are watching the clock, working through the tasks with your mind focused on when the next break is can make for a long day that sometimes feels as though it will never end. It’s probably time to take a long hard look at why you are doing what you are doing. Why are you there? Being there for the money is a good reason because it pays the bills, but this isn’t always a good reason to stay in a job.

Step back and look at how your lack of motivation is affecting the other areas of your life. Do you feel as though your job is sucking the life out of you? Do you feel grey inside with no hint of colour on the horizon? It’s probably time for change and it’s a good idea to take time out and focus on all aspects of your life and ask some serious questions. Because if you lack motivation there is no way you are going to become passionate about your job unless you change your attitude.

To change your attitude, look for those tasks that excite you. By focussing on what you like in your job you might find a way to exploit that and turn it into a passion.

Take time today, to find a part of your  job that you can become passionate about to make your work life more enjoyable. Attitude can transform our life overnight and give us a head start on where we want to go in the future. It may just put more colour in your life, too.

Changing your attitude will change your future...