SUCCESS REQUIRES THREE RULES & A BIG IDEA

I'm convinced that significant success in our lives, from
learning to ride a bike to building a business, to
maximizing income or changing spending habits--all
successful change--is built on three Principles, and a big
IDEA to guide our behavior. The three essential Principles
are:
1. --Clarity and Precision about Your Outcome.
What, exactly, are you trying to do? Most people believe
the changes they want to make are clear and specific, but
in my experience, most are far too vague. People want to
earn "more" or weigh "less." They want to be "happy" or
"fit" or have a "more loving family." These things are too
vague to motivate and support effective change!
How much do you want to make, and how soon? Exactly what do
you want to weigh? How do you define and measure "fitness?"
What, exactly does "happy" mean? What does it look like?
Ask and answer a handful of these questions and you fulfill
the first essential for success. What, exactly, do you
want? How will you photograph or measure your success when
you get there?

2. --A Path to Get You There
Success requires a precise, organized strategy to "get
there." Your plan must be feasible. When you explain it to
friends, they should exclaim, "I wish I'd thought of that!"
It should be easy, do-able, and practical.
When your path is clear, interesting, and fun, you'll
naturally follow it. In fact, the excitement and challenge
of the journey becomes it's own reward and the issue of
"motivation" is half-solved! All you have to do is "paint
by the numbers" or "follow instructions" to know you'll
succeed! A clear easy-to-follow path is the second
essential for successful change.

3. --Lots of Internal and External Motivation
Change is a journey into the unknown. It means creating a
"new you!" Of course there will be doubts, surprises, even
failures along the way. What did you expect? If your goal
is worth doing, you'll experience set-backs along the way.
As the guy said, "Like, Duh!"

When you're surprised that your goal is harder than you
dreamed or didn't work the way you expected, you'll need
internal motivation that pulls, pushes, and drives you
forward! You need to pick yourself up, brush yourself off
and try again. Only a heart-felt DESIRE will do that!
Discipline and determination, even pride, are rarely
enough. Only DESIRE will keep you going forward.
And you'll also need external REASONS. You'll need
cheerleaders, coaches, family and friends to cheer you on,
give you better ideas, and encourage you every step of the
way. No major success happens without the "fans in the
stands" cheering you along. When you're tired and
frustrated, it's the external motivation that makes all the
difference!
And finally, you'll need a Big IDEA. For me, IDEA stands
for:
    Intelligent
    Daily
    Effective
    ACTION!
Random action won't do it. Hard work, by itself, won't do
it. Periodic short bursts of effort won't do it. Only
INTELLIGENT (smart, well-thought-through), DAILY
(persistent, continuous), EFFECTIVE ACTION will get you
there!
Winning football teams know this. That's why two-a-day
practices are so common. That's why they lift weights, run
plays over and over, study video, have a game-plan, and
hire the best coaches they can find. A clear goal, a good
plan, and effective motivation, coupled with Intelligent,
Daily, Effective ACTION gets the job done.