Success is 25 “No’s” Away

The process of creating success in your life is truly not that difficult to understand. It’s in the execution where most people get tripped up because it requires a change of attitude and a change of heart.

When I have shared this with audiences, I hear many comments, or as I see them, excuses for why they are unable to say “No.” Success is a personal choice. Once you understand the road map to success, it is a matter of staying the course and expending the right amount of effort to realize the winning results of those efforts.

Many articles have been written about the “yeses” of success. I have one as well. But this is about the obstacles to success to be avoided and cleansed from your life.

1. Procrastination – Delaying your effort can quickly become an ingrained habit. Luck happens when opportunity meets preparation. If you aren’t prepared you will miss your opportunity.

2. Indecision – Gather the available facts, recognize what you want to accomplish, and then act. If you don’t take action your competitor will.

3. Unhealthy food choices – We don’t need nutritional facts to know what food is bad for us. Too many people simply decide to make being unhealthy a choice.

4. Sleep deprivation – Your body needs restorative sleep like your bank account needs checks. Too little of either will make you inefficient and cranky.

5. Ready-made excuses – Anyone can find a reason not to do something. Doers make success their personal reality because they ignore the excuses.

6. Television – The hours spent watching TV are wasted minutes you will never get back. The average American age 35-49 watches 33 hours of television a week. What could you do with 1716 hours a year spent being productive?

7. News noise – Broadcast news is more interested in getting eyes and ears than in truly educating the public. Once upon a time in the distant past news was informative, now it is negative opinion, conjecture and noise. Turn it off.

8. Social media – Social media is having a significant impact on society interactions and how people perceive others and themselves. Unfortunately, frequently it's not in a positive way.

9. Being a hater – Haters love to spew on social media and that negative noise can be infectious causing you to see everything in a negative light.

10. Being a hater on yourself – The hate effect will cause that hate to be turned inward. A self-hater never found great success in any aspect of life. In fact, it can be the largest obstacle to realizing one’s potential.

11. Bad jobs – Life is too short to languish in a bad job. Your self-esteem erodes, negative influences worm their messages into your mind and soon you don’t believe you are worthy of anything other than the situation you are in.

12. Clutter – Clutter is an obstacle. Whether it is junk laying around the house, in the back of your car, or bad thoughts you’ve not cleaned out of your mind. Clutter will never help you achieve the success you desire.

13. Spending for flash – Stop spending money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t know, on items you don’t need. Invest in your future, not in your flash.

14. Negative influences – Family and friends can be the most caustic elements in our lives if they are a constant source of negativity. Time to let those negative influences go.

15. Me first – Putting yourself first in every situation is narcissistic and creates a perception you don’t need anyone else. No one achieves success as an island. Be giving and willing to help others.

16. Me last – If you are always putting everyone else first leaving yourself only the scraps of time, effort or funds, you will never see your way to the top.

17. Impulse decisions – Being impulsive indicates a lack of planning, waywardness and a lack of focus. What-the-heck rarely leads to lasting success.

18. Laziness – Excuses are the fuel for the lazy machine. Success is about taking ownership of your life and taking action to achieve your goals.

19. Laissez-faire living – What ever happens, happens is not going to bring success to any aspect of your life. While I agree you can’t engineer every moment of your life, leaving your life completely up to fate is not a path to success.

20. Waste – Time and money are the two most wasted resources I see with unsuccessful people. Monitor your time and financial expenses to see where you are wasting your valuable resources.

21. Drama – As if we don’t have enough drama in our lives at the speeds we are living at today. People invite drama into their homes through media programming. Drama is an energy sucker than will drain you dry if you let it. It is also the tunnel into your mind of negativity, excuses and self-doubt.

22. Ruminating – Have you ever been in the shower and relived that conversation from earlier thinking of all of the things you wish you had said? Ever notice how your heart rate and emotions achieve almost the same levels as when you were actually having that conversation? Ruminating can increase anxiety and depression.

23. Bad people – With over 325 million people in this country there are bound to be millions of jerks, puddin-heads and ne’er-do-wells all around us. Choose not to let them drag you to their level. Their bad day wants your bad day to join them. Resist the temptation.

24. Old routines – Success is about being relevant, current and alive. Old routines are grooves that have devolved into ruts. Break free from the old routines to allow fresh ideas to engage your thinking.

25. I’m not worthy – People can create their own glass ceiling with this type of thinking. If you don’t think you are worthy, then you won’t believe extra effort will pay off, so why bother. When you think you are not worthy, you stop before even getting started.

The art of saying “No” is critical to achieving the success you desire. Now is the time to take control of your journey toward reaching your personal success. I hope this list helps you reach greater success in your life.

If you liked this story or found a few pointers helpful, give me a follow, a comment and or a vote. I will keep the content coming!