Gordon Peterson View all articles | Contact author

Its really not enough today, to be successful.  You want to
be brilliant.  At least this is probably what Michael
Heppell, author of How to Be Brilliant (2003) would say. 
One of his favorite sayings has got to be its no longer good
enough to be good.   Here's his logic:  If you do a good
job, you only ever get poor results, because if you do a
poor job you actually get no results.  Its a bit of a
reality check in some ways, along the lines of don't
overestimate the end result.  However you understand his
logic, the message is actually brilliant.  Why settle for
anything less?  Its like his motto - You've got to step up
continuously.

1: Start by Setting yourself a 90-day Goal.  

Lets say you're starting a new job, decide on what skills
you to acquire over the next 3 months.  Maybe you decide its
important to master the new database, or maybe you want to
be able to set appointments in the Outlook Calendar.   The
power behind setting a 90-day goal is that you'll likely see
progress because its a short-time frame.  If you set the
goal too far off in the future, its easy to not stay
focused. 

You want your goal to be personal, positive and present. 
Lets take for a minute a non-professional goal of losing
weight.  Its much more enticing to say I want a svelte body
than to say I want to stop eating fries.  And if you close
your eyes and can see yourself fitting the jeans you like to
wear, you're more likely to stay focused on your goal?  

2: Pay Attention to your Self-Talk.  Become a NLPer.  

Ask yourself frequently Is this the most empowering message
that I can give myself to help me get from A to B?.  Its the
message we keep repeating to ourselves that we end up
believing.  So this means if I keep telling myself that I
cant do something, then Ill end up believing this message. 
Usually, if you notice that you're not as motivated as you
could be, this is a good sign that you want to check your
thought patterns.  

This is the basis of Neuro-linguistic Programming or NLP. 
NLP is the 'science of excellence' and modeling of success. 
Neuro meaning brain.  Linguistic meaning language.  And
programming meaning patterns.  It was created by Bandler and
Grinder (a linguist), in the 1970s as a way of overcoming
learned limitations.  NLP basically says input empowering
language into your brain and you'll be empowered to achieve
what you want.   

3: Build on Your Strengths.

I just love the notion of Strength-building.  It matches my
own belief that we all have a particular mission to
accomplish on this planet, a gift from God, to create with. 
 The idea is to embrace what you do naturally well, and
build on that.  You will excel by maximizing your strengths
not by fixing your weaknesses.

Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton , authors of Now,
Discover Your Strengths (2001), are the forces behind the
Strength Revolution.  They define strength as a persons
unique ability to perform which feels natural, is recurring
and compels them.  To find a strength, start by noticing
your positive obsessions, what you do repeatedly, and
repeatedly well, that's a positive.   

Start by focusing on a goal, making your self-talk as
empowering as possible, and building on what you do already
well.  Enjoy your success.  See you at the top!

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