Many of them focus on success in terms of our career and personal finances, which is understandable since most people tend to equate success – or greatness – in their career and finances with ultimate success in their life.

In Today You Do Greatness: A Parable on Success and Significance, authors Rex M. Rogers and Rick E. Amidon remind us that real success – and true greatness – goes well beyond career and money to impact every area of our lives.

In this Kindle e-book, the authors do a great job of describing what true greatness is, and why we aspire to do or achieve it.

They uncover the moral and biblical foundations of success and greatness, explaining how greatness is rooted in the life and love of Jesus Christ, impacts every area of our lives, and overflows into the lives of others.

If you want to make a difference, achieve your dreams, live to your full potential, and make the most of the talents and resources you’ve been given, I recommend you read Today You Do Greatness!

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This retrospection can cause feelings of disappointment if we haven’t accomplished some of the key goals we had hoped to do over the previous year, and discouragement if we don’t know how to make these things happen in the new year.

I read something recently which really got me thinking about how to put the dissapointments of the past into perspective while moving forward into the future to achieve our goals in a more clear and focused way.

It’s from The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, an excellent book that I’ve been reading each week with my teenage sons:

“One of the quickest and most direct routes to getting yourself up and onto the success curve is to get out of the past. Review the past, but only for the purpose of making a better plan. Review it, understand and take responsibility for the errors you’ve made, and use it as a tool to do differently in the future. And don’t spend a great deal of time doing even that! – the future is a far better tool than the past. The future is your most powerful tool and your best friend. Devote some serious, focused time and effort into designing a crystal-clear picture of where you’re going.“

I was struck by a few thoughts:

1. Reviewing the past is important because it helps us gain a better understanding of who we are and what does/doesn’t work for us as we seek to achieve our goals.
2. Clarify and focused time and effort are keys to success.  We need to paint a clear picture of where we want to go, why we want to go there, and what are some of the best ways to do it.  And then we need to focus time and energy to make them happen.

Earlier this month, I began using Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan to bring greater clarity and focus to some of my goals for 2012 and to design a crystal-clear picture of where I want to go and how I’m going to get there.

I highly recommend it, and I’ll share some tips from what I’m learning in future posts here at Life Compass Blog.

Do you have a crystal-clear picture of where you want to go, and how you’ll achieve your goals in 2012?

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Have you ever faced obstacles or problems that kept you from moving forward and achieving certain dreams or goals in your life?

Sometimes these obstacles seem so huge and formidable that we feel there’s no way we could ever overcome them.

But within each obstacle – big or small – lies an opportunity waiting to be discovered, if we know how to look for it.

Maxwell Maltz, the author of Psycho-Cybernetics, said:

“We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.”

Most of us, I think, would like to avoid obstacles, problems and pain. But Maltz says we need obstacles to conquer.

Life would be dull, and our growth limited, if we never experienced obstacles, problems, or pain…and, most importantly, if we never learned from these challenges and discovered within us the ability to overcome them.

Five Steps to Overcoming Obstacles in Your Life

What are your three biggest obstacles or challenges in your life right now?  Here are five steps you can take to overcome these obstacles in your life:

1. Welcome and embrace these challenges as opportunities for you to grow and to move closer to the achievement of your dreams and goals.
2. Make a list of possible opportunities that exist or may arise from these obstacles. Just start brainstorming – no idea is too far-fetched.
3. List possible lessons you can learn from this situation, or blessings you might receive while overcoming the obstacle.
4. List people who might be able to help you – whether you know them or not.
5. Take Action – Review the lists you’ve written down from the first four steps, and identify some action steps you can take right now…and do them!

Embracing Obstacles is One Pathway to Growth

Many freeze up and quit when faced with adversity and obstacles.

Yet somehow, adversity and obstacles can be a pathway to growth and opportunity in our lives, and can give us a greater sense of appreciation and satisfaction for blessings we’ve achieved and received.

Speaking of adversity, the 17th century poet Anne Bradstreet said:

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

How well do you embrace the obstacles in your life, and creatively design a way to overcome them?

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“If you don’t have a vision for the future, then your future is threatened to be a repeat of the past.”

Those words from A. R. Bernard, an American clergyman, remind us of the importance of dreaming of what our lives could be…of what kind of impact we’d like to have, and what kind of difference we’d like to make.

What’s your vision for your future? What kind of life do you want to have? What kind of difference do you want to make? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

If you don’t have your life vision written down, take 15 minutes right now to write down five things you’d like to be true in your life in the next five years.

Then for each one…ask yourself “Why do I want this to be true in my life?” Then ask yourself “Why?” again. Do it a couple more times.

Why ask why?

Asking “Why” several times will help you get down to your deepest hopes and dreams that will bring a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment in your life.  

It will help you clarify your vision for your future, and provide motivation to help ensure that your future won’t be a repeat of your past.

Have you written down a vision of your future yet, as part of your personal development plan?

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The world needs you to work toward reaching your full potential.

Whether you realize it or not, no one else has your unique mix of personality, gifts, talents, abilities, interests, passions, life experiences, dreams, goals, hurts, failures, learnings, etc.

Add these all up, and you are one unique and gifted individual — full of ability, experience and potential which can help make this world a better place.

We need you to be all you were meant to be!

Why?

Because, as Zig Ziglar says:

“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.”

Do you have a plan to help you reach your full potential and be all you were created to be?

If not, check out this article to help you get started: How to reach your full potential.

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Have you found your idea yet?

Thomas Edison said “Ideas are waiting to be discovered.”

And speaking of idea discovery, Albert Szent-Gyorgi explains that “Discovery lies in seeing what everyone sees, but thinking what no one else has thought.”

Don’t think you have to have an original idea, or that you can’t do something because someone else has already thought of it or is doing it.

No one else has your thoughts about the subject, or your unique experiences that can be brought to bear on the idea.

And chances are good that no one else is taking action on the idea anyway, or at least in the way you’d do it yourself.

Few people take real and sustained action on their ideas, to see them through from start to profit, causing one observer to say: “The capacity to do something with an idea is what distinguishes a leader from others.”

Everyone’s got an idea. Few make it personal. Fewer make it happen.

What will you do with your idea? What’s one step you can take this week to make it a reality?

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Motivational speaker Stephen Pierce says:

“The difference between what you had yesterday and what you’ll have tomorrow is hidden in what you do today.”

I know, today is just one day, right?  But it is the day you have right now.

Yesterday has passed.  And there’s no guarantee of a tomorrow.

All we have is today.

Today can be spent on come-what-may.  Or it can be invested toward your worthwhile goals and dreams.

So…what’s one thing you can do TODAY to help you reach your preferred future tomorrow?

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Today, through my own experience and observation, I’ve realized the big difference between success and failure is really very small and subtle.

Jim Rohn explains it this way:

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”

When I pause to reflect on my own life, in light of this quote, I know Jim Rohn is correct. What about you?

The big difference between success and failure comes from the sometimes subtle, little choices we make and the little things we do or do not do.

This week, ask yourself, “Am I doing the right things that will lead me to successfully achieve my goal of ________?”

If not, write down the things you need to do, and plan time to do them.

Then ask, “What do I need to stop doing, or change how I do, to help me successfully achieve my goal of _________?”

These just may be the little things that will make a huge difference between success and failure in your life!

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to wait until you can do something “big” toward your goal. That day might never come.

Remember, the way to eat an elephant is “one bite at a time.”

What’s your take?  Please share your comments!

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