Peak Persona

Chapter 10 Avoid people who belittle your ambitions If you have lofty goals, it’ll be challenging enough working to achieve them and you certainly can’t afford to have the wrong people anywhere near you. The wrong people are those who hold you back, slow you down or ‘’talk down’’ on your ambitions and undermine them. Your ambitions are precious and are the seeds of your brighter future. Protect yourself and your ambitions from people who do not have any strong passions of their own or get a kick out of making others feel inadequate or unworthy of the big goals they’ve set themselves. You’ll know you have the wrong people around when you have people who are quick to tell you ‘’how crazy’’ they think you are to even think you can do what you are planning or how unqualified you are. The people you have around you should be those who support you and help you launch and keep going strong the dreams and goals you have. People to keep away are those who will shoot down your bright ideas, ridicule your big goals and make you start losing faith in ideas. Don’t let people who have nothing encouraging to say even remotely influence your choices or decisions or voice an opinion about your plans. Be in the driver’s seat of the path you wish to go in and pursue the positive change you want supported by people who truly care. Don’t ever assume the burden of having to justify your plans to those who don’t believe in what you are trying to do. It’s your business and only you and those who care need to believe in your plans. Make sure your relationships evolve on an ongoing basis and support you and focus on relationships with those who care about you so that you don’t struggle to keep them constructive. Draw closer to people who are helping you make you and your life better and distance yourself from those who do not hesitate to undermine and discourage you. Don’t think twice about dropping the naysayers or those who distract you with their own fears. Chapter 18 Have fire in your belly Good things do not come to those who wait; they come to those who get up and make it happen, those who rise up and push for progress. Your success can be right under your nose if you can whip up the enthusiasm to do the work that will bring you irreversible advancement. You won’t make a difference in your life if you make do with ‘’okay’’. If your days start to feel jaded or the same it may be time to stoke the fire in you. Think of possibilities, get out there, explore and be creative. Never wait for the perfect time to do what you know you should do because ‘’perfect timing’’ is a myth. You don’t have to have a perfect plan but you have to have profound commitment. Ignore all the reasons why things won’t work and focus on the one reason why it will succeed. Turning back on your goals should never be an option. Staying put may feel comfortable but you will pay the price by becoming mediocre and stifling your progress. Make the leap and absolutely avoid along the way pessimistic people who can make you hesitate to take action or make you doubt yourself. Don’t assume something is unreachable before you’ve attempted it or count yourself out before you’ve put yourself out there. Take action. If what you have in mind does not feel ‘’doable’’, don’t give it up. Find someone to help you make a plan on how to make it happen. If you’re going to do better and get better, you’ll have to push yourself and do the unusual. Success is an investment and how much you put in is what will get things moving in the right direction and achieve the relevant outcomes. Infuse each day with the highest enthusiasm you can garner and accomplish your goals faster than you ever thought possible. Chapter 25 Practice healthy quitting You’ve probably heard the saying ‘’winners never quit’’ so to suggest that quitting can be healthy flies in the face of the common advice that you should persist no matter what. But there are times when quitting is the right to do. It’s healthy to quit when the reward of sticking with something is less than the effort required. Don’t let ‘’persistence’’ become a millstone round your neck especially if all the signs indicate that your persistence is very likely to be a waste of time. Persistence should be a positive experience meant to enable you progress not to endure something just for the sake of it. Whatever you embark on, count the cost upfront and assess whether the input required is justified either to achieve specific outputs, strengthen you as a person or to present some other kind of benefit. If you are ever stuck with whether to continue in a situation or quit it is worth asking yourself ‘’if I were starting this over, knowing what I know now, would I make this choice or continue with this?’’ This will allow you to assess that you are investing your effort wisely. When persisting in doing something sucks the life out of you, it may be time to change course. If you have lost motivation and no longer feel invested or committed to what you are doing, quitting may well be the best thing you could do after you’ve analyzed why you are no longer motivated and conclude that you cannot carry on. Whatever you are willing to quit doing is as much a sign of strength as what you are willing to persist with. Responsible quitting can be the right thing to do, not at the first sign of challenges but where you have enough evidence to conclude that hanging on will be fruitless. Quit and free up energy and resources to kick other things into gear.