This is a re-run of a post made in the middle of 2016. I especially liked it and wanted to post it again. Bear in mind that the following is not my work. I am not claiming ownership. Whoever wrote it ought to be commended!
I am asked regularly – “tell me the ‘one’ thing that made you successful?” And most do not find my answer uplifting, which is simply:
“The one thing is actually two things: hard work and persistence.”
I pose the question – “Is living a good life the same as a happy life?” Is the relentless pursuit of happiness more likely to cause unhappiness?
Does success mean living every day in happiness… or does success mean living a good life? A life full of the many human emotions we can experience – not just happiness — is what equates to a successful life. Indeed, it is the pursuit of happiness that makes us happy.
As a child my parents would say to me, “practice makes perfect.” And they were absolutely right. Mel Brooks talks about what his wife used to say,
“practice something not until you get it right. No! Practice something until you cannot do it wrong.”
What we practice (over and over again) is how we create neuro-pathways in our brains. Even brains have what the athletes call “muscle memory.” Such pathways can be altered but it takes a great deal of conscious thought.
- Practice cannot discriminate between constructive and destructive patterns.
- Whatever you practice is what you become good at.
- It is a conscious choice about what you want to practice.
- There is a difference between the mind and awareness.
Imagine your awareness is a ball of light. As an exercise to see how this works let your mind focus your awareness on a particular thing (the last wedding you attended) – that area of your mind lights up – when it lights up that area of your mind becomes conscious.
- Using your will power and your consciousness you can take your awareness to any area of the mind you want to – and you can hold it there for a period of time.
Remember this: Where awareness goes, energy flows
So here are the four pieces of advice that flow from all of the foregoing:
- Learn to Concentrate:
Concentration is the ability to keep your awareness on one thing for a prolonged period of time. The more you practice concentration the better you get at it. The power of observation is a natural by product of the ability to concentrate. The best way to improve your concentration is to practice every day – integrate it into your daily life. (May I suggest you put away your smart phone whilst you practice concentration – and turn off your emails and Facebook alerts)
- Develop your Will:
The ‘Will’ has to be cultivated, the more we use your will the stronger it becomes. Here are ways to develop your Will Power:
Finish those things you start (do you finish the sleeping process by making your bed?). Finish tasks well beyond expectations. Do a little more than you think that you are able to do.
- Learn the art of a balanced life:
“A balanced life is about managing your energy. A balanced life is when we are able to consciously direct awareness in turn energy, in a proportionate way to all the people and things in our life that matter to us.”
- And always have courage:
It takes tremendous courage, will and self-compassion to break habits, to challenge yourself to live a different way. Life is energy – harness it and direct it to the ones that you love and what matters most in your life and to the things that are fulfilling to you. Be wisely discriminating, and remember that where your energy flows, the result will be a channeling of energy to the people and things that uplift us. We can remain respectfully detached from others.
The key to success is practice – all success comes from within.
As I say “If it is meant to be it is up to me.” – I have the power to determine where my energy flows – and as such practice leads to success.
