Sneak Peek at 'The Power P's of Enduring Success'

Today I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek into my latest e-book;

The Power P's of Enduring Success

This book takes a look at twenty principals that motivate people to achieve a higher level of success.  Each of these principals are 'P' words, which makes remembering them easier.   The intent of the book is to be a tool book which you can refer to again and again whenever you feel like you're struggling in life.  It will help you identify which core principal(s) you might be neglecting or need to work on further to finally break-through.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 - Priority:



Is your goal actually a priority in your life or only in your lip service? Keep your focus and do not allow what’s urgent to sidetrack you from what’s truly important. Usually if you find you’re having a hard time keeping your desire a focal point, it’s because there’s still some pain associated to it or pleasure to doing something else. Revisit your values occasionally to reaffirm your commitment (Purpose). Keep your focus on one main goal. If you don’t feel like working on it, do it anyway, the feeling will follow.

There are times when you may have a clear Purpose, a burning Passion and faith in your Promise but still find yourself doing the same rote routine that has never gotten you anywhere or falling into the same set of behaviours that have never gotten you what you want.

Perhaps time is an issue. There’s simply not enough hours in the day to work on your goals.
Or you may feel conflicted as different issues, opportunities or people pull you in different directions.

If you having any one of these issues then it’s time to take a serious look at what’s your;

Priority

To put it simply: Have you made you goal (Purpose) your top Priority? Or is everything else getting in the way?

One of the most common missteps people make is in allowing what’s urgent to get in the way of what’s important. There’s a story of a man who spent all his time stomping out bush fires. As soon as he finished with one, another was underway. No matter how hard he worked or how fast he tried to accomplish his task, he never seemed to be able to get anywhere as there was always another bushfire starting up. He took a step away and accessed the situation. There in the tree above him was a monkey with his lighter. He watched as the monkey lit a twig and tossed it in the bushes. Quickly he ran over to stomp out the spreading fire.
Now if he keeps on stomping out fires, the monkey will be happy to continuing lighting them and watching him go. The bushfire may be the obvious and urgent threat but what’s really important here, is to get that darn monkey out of the tree and get his lighter back. Yet, so many of us spend all our time dealing with the symptoms of a problem and never addressing the cause.

It is imperative that we occasionally step back and get a different perspective of our situation.

When I was young, I worked at a Culture’s fast food restaurant. Once in a long while our manager would leave the restaurant and stand out in the mall, just watching us run around and serve people. One day I had to get a message to him as he was observing us. I asked what he was doing. He explained he was getting a different perspective, to see how he might get us to work more efficiently. The problem with you, he said to me, was that I was like a horse with blinders on. I only ever saw the problem that was immediately in front of me. If I didn’t see a problem I just kept on doing what I was doing. He was looking to find and overcome any issues before they ever became a problem. By watching what the customers were doing and what we were doing, without the distraction of serving himself, he was able to identify areas where the customers weren’t being completely satisfied or were being made to wait overly long, or where we were struggling to meet demand or maintain a welcoming attitude.

Are you being like a horse with blinders on? Only reacting to problems as they appear, or are you occasionally stepping back, getting the bigger picture and making sure you’re focusing your energy on what’s really important, thus preventing many issues from ever happening in the first place?


Preston Squire is an author of positive thinking, inspirational, motivational and success materials. You can find more articles by Preston Squire at http://www.thecuphalffull.com


©Preston Squire 2010