Burn the Boats & Maximise Your Potential!

How to maximise your Potential

We could all improve ourselves, our situation and our life, but most fail to do so. Why?

Well it is said that 97% of people on Planet Earth just ask their brain to do what it did yesterday and Albert Einstein once said “The height of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”

So how best can we transform ourselves? My personal experience’s and my experiences as a Coach and a Financial Planner have taught me that there are a few key areas that one needs to focus upon, to increase the likelihood of being successful.

1.        Burn The Boats: To be successful you need to have a Plan and you need to take action, but more importantly you need to be accountable. So commit your goals to stone, share your goals with your trusted friends and family and you will increase your chances of success.

If you have done so, it is far harder to turn back or to quit and when the General who ordered his Lieutenant to ‘burn the boats’ on the beaches, before going to war, was asked why? His response was that he needed 100% commitment from his army, there had to be no alternative, no thought of surrender if they were to succeed.

Success is doing what you said you would do. Period! So to be successful there can be no turning back. By sharing my Goals, I have not only committed them to stone but I have put them out there, which escalates my commitment and there can be no turning back, no thoughts of slowing down, no white flag.

Ask yourself what Boats are holding you back from achieving your Goals? It’s a lot easier to move forward when there are no Life Boats!

Dream Big, but focus on winning the daily Battles (journey) and not the War (destination)!

2. Mental Contrasting:People who practice mental contrasting almost immediately start pursuing their dreams, putting a stop to procrastination (our biggest enemy). Start by imagining what it is you want to achieve, then contrast that with where you are now. The result is that your present situation becomes framed as an obstacle standing in the way of your dreams.

When I was getting back into training and chasing my dreams, my perception was that I doing okay, until a friend sent me a photo of me running in a race. I was shocked, as I looked like Ollie ‘The Burger King’ and this picture was the catalyst to me striving harder, to making more sacrifices.

It is important to see ourselves as we can become and not as we are.

3. Success Spirals: Accomplishment, no matter how small is the first step to self improvement and creates confidence, which creates effort and fuels our passion, resulting in more accomplishment.

The secret, however, is to start small (but start) and pay attention to incremental improvement, breaking down large and intimidating tasks into manageable bits. It’s also important to build in some achievable accomplishments and reward them as you progress.

When people aim to do an event like the Ironman, they very often cannot run 20 minutes without stopping. I certainly couldn’t 8 years ago. The key is to get started and one small step becomes two, the days become weeks, months and years and before you know it an extraordinary transformation may have taken place. Remember that progress fuels our motivation levels.

Dawson Trotman said “The greatest time wasted is the time getting started” and more often than not, it is the first steps which are the hardest, so focus with all of your might for the first two weeks and then momentum takes over.

4.       Keep a Journal: This is paramount to being successful and my journal is always at my side. They say that people who keep a food journal lose twice as much weight as those who don’t. Focus on your goals, chart your progress and acknowledge change. This will encourage you and then your confidence and enthusiasm will grow.

Have a daily to do list to focus upon, to help you achieve your goals, but never have more than five items on a To Do List, otherwise it becomes intimidating. It’s also as important to have a ‘Not to do” list, so you can focus upon the things that are distracting you from your Goals.

It is key to ask What’s Important Now (W.I.N.) and check to see if what your about to do (or consume), will move you closer to your goal, or further away?

5.      Quiet Time: Your opening minutes set the tone for the day. Choose to be positive, irrespective of the weather or which side of the bed you get out of.

Try to awaken 15-30 minutes earlier and spend some quiet time with your Journal, where you are in control of your thoughts. (Alternatively spend some quiet time before going to bed) They say that the mind is either a terrible Master or a fantastic Servant. It’s your choice.

In closing, remember that the person who challenges themself often and experiences the most wins.

Follow Alec on Twitter @alecriddle:

A Dream is a Wish until commited to a Plan!