Seven Steps to Success

Wellness / By May McCarthy

 It is always interesting to see the differences between successful people who appear to be abundant, fortunate, and prosperous and seem tired, exhausted and struggling to make ends meet. Successful people know that it is crucial to set specific goals, consistently review them, focus on their skills, and act on opportunities to achieve them. They do not journey through life, reacting to every situation; they steer their course through life and expect good outcomes despite what is happening around them.

We all want to be consistent in focusing on our goals, but that can be tough when life presents us with unexpected situations. For example, your boss might ask more of you at work; your children or spouse might need you to be home more often and available to attend important events; you might even feel like you do not have enough time for yourself to relax, have fun, and plan for the future. Before long, consistency can seem like an unobtainable dream.

Often during a crisis, competitive pressures, and family obligations, we can feel overwhelmed and forget to focus on our goals’ desired outcomes rather than our situations’ circumstances. We can listen to the news, read industry reports, and hear colleagues who describe probable and dismal outcomes that they say are inevitable. The only way to keep yourself focused on the goals and results you want to experience is to follow a consistent daily routine that is deliberate in priming your brain for success in achieving your desired outcomes.

Since 1982, I have had the privilege of growing six profitable companies in a variety of industries. In that time, I have learned that the most effective way to keep your goals in the forefront of your thoughts is to wake up 30 minutes earlier each morning to meet with your inner self.

Treat your morning meeting with your inner self seriously. Hold your meeting in a space that is free of disruptions, and create a plan that you will follow. Ensure that you also have the necessary tools: an uplifting book that describes others’ successes in achieving their goals, a pen, and a notebook for you to write in.

Read something that inspires you.

Spend five minutes reading something uplifting to put you in a receptive mood. Then, as you read about others’ successes, your mind will look for ways to make those kinds of achievements familiar and routine for you. Suggested books to read are listed on the back of my book, The Path to Wealth.

Write down what you are grateful for

Spend up to 10 minutes writing a gratitude letter. Be thankful for the good things already in your life, as well as the things that you hope to have soon. Psychologists agree that gratitude and happiness help you be more focused and solve problems.

Express gratitude for what you have, like health, family, and significant employment. Also, express gratitude for what you want as though you already have received it, harmonious relationships with family, friends, customers, and co-workers, and increased sales at work. The subconscious will then be directed to search for ways to help make these goals a reality.

Read what you are grateful for out loud.

Spend up to five minutes reading your letter out loud with emotion. Studies have shown that when we read something out loud, we anchor it into our subconscious, which will help us notice more possibilities to make our statements accurate. For example, remember the last time that you were planning to buy a new car? Didn’t you start to see that car on the road everywhere just before you purchased it? So your subconscious was helping you to notice possibilities to make that car yours.

Visualize reaching your goals

Spend up to five minutes with your eyes closed imagining what it will be like to have your goals realized. What will you be experiencing, and how will you feel? Who will be celebrating with you? As you see yourself in your achieved goal, you will anchor the belief that it can be yours.

Olympic athletes use this technique as part of their training. They see themselves making the shot, winning the competition, and celebrating with teammates and family. If you want to win and achieve your goals, see yourself doing so first. One of the world’s greatest golfers, Jack Nicklaus, never took a shot, not even in practice, without having a clear, in-focus picture of it in his mind first. Author and motivational speaker Earl Nightingale put it perfectly when he said: “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” He knew that repetition would reap the rewards.

At this point, you have spent 25 to 30 minutes with your inner self establishing your goals and giving your subconscious directions on what to focus on attaining. Now, go ahead and get your day started. After that, your subconscious will begin to do its job.

Follow your intuition throughout the day.

During each day, be on the lookout for leads, intuition, directions, and opportunities that will point you toward goal attainment. Some of these leads might not make sense, but as Steve Jobs said, “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Take a step to do something, call someone who comes to mind out of the blue, or follow up on a gut instinct to go to a particular location. I once followed a gut instinct to drive 15 minutes out of my way in Cleveland and ran into a potential customer who later gave me a new contract worth over $400,000. In another example, I had a strong thought about my sister. I was led through a series of intuitive directions to have a spot on my leg removed, later diagnosed as malignant melanoma Clark’s level 3.

Many famous and successful business people have used intuition as a success tool. Bill Gates said, “Often, you have to rely on intuition.” Moreover, Oprah Winfrey shares, “I have listened to that still small voice of intuition my entire life, and the only times that I have made mistakes is when I did not listen.” All of us have intuition and can learn to recognize it and enable it to show up more often through a daily routine for success.

Celebrate your successes

Acknowledge your successes with someone whom you value and trust. Celebrating and happiness activate your brain’s frontal cortex, which helps you focus clearly and see more possibilities. Celebrating is a fun part of the process and helps you gather proof and confidence that your partnership with your inner self is working.

Let go of what is holding you back.

Give up anything that could be subconsciously holding you back. For example, if you are angry or feel any resentment toward another or yourself, give it forth. This may be one of the most exceptional characteristics of successful people. They release anything that is not consistent with the life they want to live. This can be tough, but it is possible.

To start, commit to saying the following each night before bed: “I release anyone and anything from my past or present that is not serving me well, whether I remember them or not. Moreover, if there is anything that I have done in my past or present that needs to be released, it is now done, and everyone is free.” Do this for a minimum of 30 nights, and you will feel lighter and more at peace. You will also be able to notice more possibilities to help you to attain your goals sooner.

Practice these seven steps regularly, and enjoy realizing your goals more consistently and enjoyable. May you be blessed on Your Path to all that is Good!

In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to clarify your personal and professional goals — and commit to a plan that will get you there. May McCarthy hosts The Path to Wealth at the Art of Living Retreat Center from May 17th-19th, 2019.

Mary McCarthy is the bestselling author of The Path to Wealth: Seven Spiritual Steps for Financial Abundance and has been a highly successful businessperson since 1982. She has founded and grown companies in various industries and is now an international speaker, radio show host, university lecturer, angel investor, and philanthropist. She serves on business, philanthropic, arts, and university boards, and her success is founded on implementing spiritual principles that underpin all her ventures.

This article originally appeared on the Art of Living Retreat Center’s Website

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