Think Your Way to Success

Think Your Way to Success

I believe it is a well understood principle that proper planning leads to success.  What this means from a practical standpoint was brought home to me recently.  The book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill was recommended to me by two entirely different sources.  If you are not familiar with the book it was written many decades ago and continues to be one of the all-time best sellers.  Although it is a bit dated with some of its stories, it is dead on with its idea of setting goals and achieving success.  The overall premise of the book is that your thoughts mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence and a burning desire to achieve your goal is what motivates you forward.

Let me give you a practical application of this.  When I first joined B2B CFO® I set the goal of a particular earnings level that would allow me be become a senior partner in the firm.  I achieved this within my first year with the firm.  I then established, by mistake, the goal of staying a senior partner which was tied to maintaining the same level of earnings.  What I had inadvertently done was put a ceiling on my earnings potential by establishing the wrong goal.  This became clear to me when I wanted to qualify for another role in the firm that now had a higher earning level attached to it.  My desire was the new role, not necessarily the earnings, although that was nice too.   What I realized was that with the new DESIRE firmly in my mind I immediately achieved the goal.  When I say immediately I mean it, within a month or two I had achieved what I needed to qualify.  I have subsequently set a much higher goal for myself and am on track to achieving it, even though it is clearly a stretch goal for me.

Getting back to Think and Grow Rich, the author lays out 6 specific steps that cause all this to work together. He then gives example after example of how this works in action.  The six steps are as follows:

1. Fix in your mind the exact goal you want to achieve, the book defines this as the exact amount of money you wish to achieve.
2. Define exactly what you will do to earn this money or goal.  What product or service will you sell to achieve the desired outcome?  Unfortunately money does not come free.
3. Establish a definite date by which you will achieve the goal.
4. Create a plan to accomplish the goal.
5. Write out what you have created in steps 1-4 above.
6. Read what you have written multiple times each day to imbed it in your psyche.

It does sound a little farfetched but I challenge you to try it and see for yourself.  I am a believer and will always have clear and written goals going forward.  If you own a business in the Chicago Area, as a partner with B2B CFO® I am well positioned to help you plan your business success.  If I can be of assistance to you, just let me know.