8 Mistakes Successful People Avoid Making
Do you keep making the same mistakes? If you do, you might find that it may be hindering you for getting to the place you desire for your life. With mistakes comes an opportunity to learn, grow and develop in every area of life. Those that successfully learn from their mistakes typically become successful in their personal pursuits. Those that struggle with making the adjustments unfortunately don’t see the changes that their heart desires. Just imagine with me, what would your life be like if you focused on being the best version of yourself every day? Think about the intention behind course correcting your thoughts and habits and how that enables you to achieve goals.
I know you’ve heard the saying, “no one is perfect”, so don’t feel the pressure of not being able to make blunders. The goal is not to be perfect; the goal is just to be a better version of yourself each day knowing that perfection can never be achieved. So, with that mind, below are just a few quick golden nuggets that successful people avoid.
- Successful people avoid making excuses. Successful people know the meaning of accountability and are aware of their strengths and areas of opportunities. They have no issue with looking in the mirror, as they know that the only person who stops them are themselves. An excuse in the eyes of someone who is successful is a path to failing or giving up on their goal. No one will resolve your challenges for you. Take responsibility and do the best you can.
- Fail to have an objective. Life without goals is a random experience. Unfortunately, without a direction, your life won’t progress. Ever hear the saying, ‘don’t let life happen to you’? Or how about, ‘don’t have a victim mentality’? Having a goal to achieve gives you something to work and strive towards. Sometimes people get overwhelmed by the sheer thought of their goals because they feel it’s too big or that they don’t have the resources. Don’t try to go from A to Z in a day. It doesn’t happen that way. Be patient with yourself as you move from point A to B, C to D and then find your way to Z. Just know that you have to go through the process to achieve success and it takes time. You don’t get a six pack of abs by going to the gym one time, there is a level of consistency that has to take place. So, let’s take a moment to think about your goals.
- What are your goals right now? Do you have them written down? If not, write it down and make your goals tangible. What do you think you’ll accomplish over the next six months if you don’t have any goals?
- Create 3-5 goals that you can accomplish over the next six months.
- Fail to have a plan. If you have a goal, you must have a plan for achieving it. One isn’t much good without the other. Avoid hoping and wishing your goals will come true on their own. A goal without a plan is merely a wish. Take small calculated steps to achieve your goal. What does this look like for you? What can get done today that will take you one step closer to the place that you would like to be. So, take the bull by the horns, you got this!!
- Expect others to change. Sometimes it’s a challenge to change our own attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors? And that’s when we want to change! Lol. Consider how hard it would be to change someone else. And they don’t want to change! Learn to accept people for who they are, see the value that they may bring, even if they may be a difficult person and learn to leverage their strengths. Be okay, with someone not being who you want them to be, that’s what makes us so unique.
- Choosing comfort over progress. Perhaps the largest mistake of those who struggle in life is the tendency to place short-term comfort over long-term advantages. This is a very ineffective way to deal with life. This is the friend that asks to sleep on your couch for a few days and is still there after three months. This is also the person who wants to save $5000 this year, but instead of creating small daily goals to hit the weekly, monthly and then yearly mark, finds themselves buying $6 coffee or reasoning why they need their nails done and saying they will make up for it on the next paycheck. See why short-term comfort over long-term advantages don’t lead to success?
- Not playing to their strengths. The most successful people avoid take full advantage of their strengths at every opportunity. While it’s admirable to work on your weaknesses, you must leverage your strong points. Take me for example, I’m not this super brainiac with an expansive vocabulary, and there are tons of folk in my circle way smarter than me. But the one thing I do have that a lot of people don’t is amazing people skills! I can connect with anyone, no matter the background, gender, or age. This wasn’t always the case, I must admit I was fairly shy once upon a time, but over time I realized I loved connecting with people and I began to do so, even if it’s just a smile. This of course has helped me to have many different opportunities that I never thought I’d have. So, what are your strengths? You can’t be good at everything, but find your strength and use it!
- Ignoring the little things. It’s the little things that will derail your efforts. It’s easy to ignore the seemingly mundane details, but those details can make all the difference in the end. So when you feel like sleeping in, instead of getting up to start you day, think about how sleeping in impacts your goals. Ugh…not a good start, right?
So, here’s what I’m saying, make use of your mistakes. Learn from them and decide to be intentional in trying to avoid them in the future. Life is easier when we can learn from our past challenges.
What are your areas of opportunity? Examine the challenges in your life and ask yourself why they occurred. What could you have done differently to avoid those challenges? It’s worthwhile to spend some time each week reviewing the past week. Watch how quickly your life changes when you couple that with an action plan!
Success and blessing always,
Lexi
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