What separates the average person, from the super successful? I’ve spent most of my life uncovering the differences between the mighty and the mundane. I’ve discovered the following 5 keys which cause the great, to be great. I believe if you practice these keys they will literally transform your mind and your life.
5 Keys to Transformational Success
1. Meditation, Affirmation, and Visualization – Every successful person I know either meditates, visualizes, or makes affirmations. If you want to see transformational change in your life, begin by taking 15 minutes to meditate, affirm and visualize the life you desire. This doesn’t work because of its strange “mystical” powers; it works because it reprograms your thinking. “As a man thinketh, so is he.”
Meditation, affirmation and visualization give you the “motivation” to make your thoughts a realization. Motivation is another word for “energy,” nothing great is ever achieved without first having a vision, and the “energy” to see it realized.
If you’re going to transform your life, you must begin by transforming your thoughts (this is why you must meditate, affirm and visualize). To-the-degree that you transform your thoughts will be to-the-degree that you transform your life. Taking time to mediate, affirm and visualize is the perfect way to consciously decide what thoughts will occupy your mind. In order to be great you must think great thoughts. Don’t think that you will eventually be great, begin to think that you are great now, and greatness will follow.
2. Reading – Once your mind has been expanded it never returns to its original state. I enjoy reading or listening to audiobooks daily because it stretches my mind with new ideas and new perspectives. Do you realize that by spending three or four hours reading a book, you can literally pick someone’s brain. What took them 20 years to learn through trial and error you can learn in a few hours, you can access their best ideas for a few dollars and a few hours.
You have daily access to the most intelligent and most successful people in the world through reading. They say, birds of a feather flock together, maybe you can’t hangout with the super successful yet, but by reading their ideas, you are hanging-out with them, and you will become like them. Daily reading will stretch your mind and will assist you on your path to transformational change.
3. Studying – It’s not enough to just read. Don’t learn the tricks of your trade, master your trade. In order to have transformational success, you’re going to have to decide to be the best at whatever you do. In order to be the best at what you do, you’re going to have to study the very best. You can’t cheat or skim your way to transformational success; you’re going to have to put in the time to get the results. Study what the “masters” study, obsess over the details, and you will become a master.
4. Pursuing Your Passion – The decision to follow your love. Do you know anyone who’s very successful who’s doing a job they hate? …Think of anyone who is famous or really successful, there’s a subject that their passionate about. Donald Trump, real estate; Bill Gates, computers; Michael Jordan, basketball; anyone who’s successful can be summed up by their passion. How do people sum you up? Is there a word that comes to mind when people think of you. If you’re successful there is?
5. Emptying Yourself – The decision to go to your grave empty. To empty yourself means to discover your purpose, and to dedicate your life to fulfilling that one purpose. If you dedicate your life unreservedly to fulfilling one specific purpose, you will accomplish it. There’s a quote that goes something like, you can do anything, but not everything. No one can ride two horses well. Determine what your life’s passion is, and empty yourself into this passion. This will define you, and transform your life!
These are the steps to transformational change, make a note of them and be sure to implement them today. Thank you for reading.
Photo by Tambako the Jaguar
I’ve realized that this too can be a 5 step roadmap to transformational success. Start off by visualizing, then reading up (research) materials related to growth / change in the area I’m targeting on, then studying (practical approach) to develop the skills and habits required, going out to pursue the passion (focus on improvement), and then emptying oneself to be able to continue learning and doing the cycle again for another area of success.
Yeps, taking action for #1 (visualizing) today. :)
Amazing points!
I especially love the quote about your mind not returning to its original state once it expands. I have never thought about it that way. I thought of it as more as a dynamic thing rather than in terms of boundaries.
The last point really brought it home for me. People are so focused on accumulating things and knowledge, but they can’t take any of that with them when they die.
This article reminds me of conservation of energy (energy is neither created nor destroyed). What you get from the world you must put back into it in some way. You can either chose to give it back as negative energy or positive energy.
I love the part about reading books and picking someones brain. And to follow one passion. This is very well written and inspiring!
Number 4 hits home with me. I feel happier and at my best when I’m doing things that are aligned with my passion!
Great article!…..I really like number 5….where you talked about emptying yourself….
This article has really motivated me…..thanks for writing…..
‘you can access their best ideas for a few dollars and a few hours’
That is a really powerfull sentence to me. I don’t want to buy some bucks just because they cost money, I forget what they can bring me. They can bring me ideas that can probably change my mind.
Thank you.
That was an excellent article and I especially liked this part:
“In order to be great you must think great thoughts. Don’t think that you will eventually be great, begin to think that you are great now, and greatness will follow.”
The way you put that is the best I’ve ever seen. Ultimately, it’s how we view ourselves that will determine how we change–a fact so astounding that it’s worth putting serious thought into.
Hey guys, really great comments….
Stephan and Tess….I love the fact that we can buy a book for $10, and save 2 years of our life…that’s what I call leverage….
Alex…I think so many people are chasing after money…they forget to chase thier passion…but if they chased their passion….the money would follow….I could write an entire series on this topic….
Valerie….great point about the conservation of energy….
Daniel, let us know how your visualizing goes today….I always say….when you feel motivated to get into action….your visualizations are working….
Please keep the comments coming….
Thanks for your sharing your thoughts! The Law of Attaction really works! I just realized lately how much power the human mind can have. When you start living your life based on that, you start feeling the change immediately, it’s amazing! Whenever I lack of motivation I read a few lines from the Secret or watch a great inspirational video. You might want to check it out:
http://www.timeforchangemovie.com
Isn’t it amazing that your five steps don’t require an investment of money, but only of time and commitment?
So many people are scrambling about looking for happiness, success and fortune, when the solution requires first becoming still as you indicate in Step 1 and transforming your thoughts.
Thanks for reminding us of these keys to meaningful and lasting change.
Flora, what a great point…..this means that everything we need to succeed we already have on the inside of us….we don’t need to go searching out there….the answer is in us….
…it’s the roots that produce the fruits…so we must dig deep roots in our time of study, so that we can produce great fruits….
Great points!
In my experience, true transformation happens with developing the non-thinking, gentle awareness which we already are, and learning to release stored negativity and emotions. The rest follows effortlessly.
@Kaushik,
Are you saying that to transform your thoughts or reprogram yourself permanently it is only done through meditation?
If i did visualization and affirmations with out any meditation will i still be able to reprogram my mind?
@jonathanfigaro,
Hi again, on a different site!
My experience over the last two years has shown me that joy and peace are our very own nature. We never lose that. What we manage to do is cover them up.
I feel a deeper peace and more joy than ever before. When we feel this, the rest of life naturally improves.
I do not meditate–not regularly, sometimes during quiet times I might meditate. I don’t do visualizations or affirmations. If these make people truly happy, it’s wonderful.
What I have done is release and expand awareness. Releasing emotions–even the big heavy negative emotions, is quite easy. I describe a very simple technique for that.
And I expand awareness. Some do this through meditation. I do it the easier way, but simply observing, noticing what goes inside of me. When we start observing thoughts, without interfering or analyzing, a higher consciousness settles in.
k
@Kaushik, Great explanation. But by just observing thoughts, how can we change our mind from negative to positive? don’t we have to interfere and attempt to change our minds state for the better?