What do they do differently to guarantee them long-term success? I’ve studied a whole host of successful people and I’ve discovered a few things that they have in common. And today I’m going to share with you one key secret to long-term success. Out of all the habits that successful people share, this is definitely one of the most crucial ingredients for success ,yet it’s something that most of us are not implementing. Here’s the news flash:
Successful people understand that things take time
In a world where we are taught to love instant gratification, most people just don’t take the time to plan. The rapid pace of technology has only fueled unrealistic desires of overnight internet success stories, and this is where a lot of us go wrong. It can be easy to look at successful businesses and feel like they got lucky overnight, but I can assure you this is not the case. Let’s take Starbucks as an example: they had only 5 stores for the first 13 years that they were in business, and it was only after this 13-year period that they suddenly extended to a massive 16,000 stores. From the outside, it may have looked like they “made it overnight”, but they had put in 13 long years of hard work to enable them to eventually reach success. The truth is that there are no overnight success stories; there is only long-term planning and a lot of hard work! If you want success, you have to commit to it, and this involves planning for the next few years, not just the next few weeks. To put this theory into perspective, I’ve come into contact with some entrepreneurs who set 100-year plans. That’s right; while most of us can barely put together a plan for the week ahead, they are busy planning the next century!
Get started with your long-term planning
If you have a new business idea or a project you have always wanted to put into action, it might be time to stop what you’re doing and put aside some time to plan for the future. Here are a few pointers to help you on your way:
- If you ever dream of “making it overnight”, put a stop to this thinking. It’s unrealistic and will only jeopardize your attempts at true success.
- Make peace with the fact that it takes time to become a success – if it was really that easy, everyone would be successful!
- Put together a long-term plan. Be realistic about your goals and what it really takes to succeed.
- When the going gets tough, know that every single other success story went through what you’re going through. You are not alone.
- It’s not all doom and gloom – know that if you persist and keep going then your hard work will pay off. Just stay focused, commit to the long run and never give up!
