The Habit Called "Success"
Contrary to what a lot of people think about success as a goal, I have come to observe that it is more of a habit; that is what you do often and continually, rather than what you just hope to get done once. The success that you seek for is not a one-time event nor a destination, but it should be what you keep working to improve on and what becomes a lifestyle; a habit, not something you achieve and stop there. Success is built through your habit - through repeated actions, consistent and conscious efforts, and daily discipline. It is what you do regularly that actually determines and sets the pace for you to experience success.
One of the things you need to understand is that when you treat success like a goal, it will make you to focus more on the result and the outcome, like; graduating from college, launching a business, getting the job, winning the school football competition, etc, but what happens next? It is true that these achievements are very important, but the major bulk of it lies on what you do daily - what you do after you have gotten the achievement. If you want success as a habit, then you have to focus more on the process, the methods, and the journey, not just the final result or the destination. The prize is good, but you should also focus on what gained you the prize, not just the final result.
Take bodybuilders for example, they do not gain muscle mass in just a day or overnight. It is a result of what they have done as habit over time. They train daily and exercise daily even when they do not feel like it. Not just that, they stick to some particular dietary requirements, and they go beyond what would have been their natural limits. Even though that what is driving them is to build their body to a required shape, but it is their daily habit that will make it possible. The habit of doing something over and again is what leads to expertise and helps you to gain mastery.
Even in other aspects of life, this same principle still holds. As a student for example, if you must become successful, then you have to make studying your daily habit. In the area of finance, if you want to to achieve financial independence and freedom, then you have to make savings, investment, and budgeting your habit. If you want to master a skill, then you have to make it a habit of practicing the skill repeatedly. Success happens when you have built the systems that will support your goals into your life. If you have not achieved what you wanted to, then the reason might just be that you have not made it a habit to pursue after it. You cannot do something repeatedly and not master it.
Being absolutely dependent on motivation may not be enough to bring you the success that you desire. This is because motivation can come temporarily and go. That is, it may not last. Once you are motivated, it psychs you up and then fizzles away. But when you have formed a good habit, then you do not need to be motivated daily to take steps, you will just align and follow what you have already built. There is something that keeps you going even when you do not feel like taking any step at all - that is habit. In fact, you do not even have to be in the mood, but when you have formed something as a habit, it will keep you going.
In order to create a good habit, you need patience. Success, just like every other major achievement, takes time, and as such, needs patience. Building a good habit is not something that you do at once, but the processes starts at once. You may not even see the result at the start of it, but with time, the effects will begin to show. When the small daily actions become compounded over time, they will become something really great. This is the same way the small steps you take continuously will become giant strides with time. Creating achievements and success in life starts with the little good habit that you create.
Thanks for reading
