3 PRINCIPLES AND A BIG IDEA

I'm convinced that significant success in our lives, from
learning to ride a bike, to building a business, making a
fortune or changing our eating habits--all successful
change--is built on three Principles, and a big IDEA to
guide our behavior. The three 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 direct effective change!
How much do you want to make, and how soon? What, exactly,
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, methodical strategy or path 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, practical, 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 get
there! 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, set-
backs, and failures along the way. What did you expect? If
your goal is worth doing, it's going to throw you for a
loss at times. As the guy said, "Like, Duh!"
When you're shocked that something is harder than you
dreamed or didn't work the way you expected, you'll need
internal motivation that 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. 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.