Why you need to build a strong Foundation for success

The best way to maintain success is on a Solid foundation.

Too many times in a bid to succeed with others we’re tempted to skip the process.

This process may be different for each of us as our “learning phase” may differ.

Mastering the fundamentals

Amateurs skip the fundamentals in a bid to focus on the “big stuff.”
Professionals have expertise primarily because they have hold of the “small stuff”

If you want to become good at anything; take time to master the fundamentals not just once but deliberately return to it.

I found more examples of this difference between Amateurs and professionals from a tweet from Sahil Bloom; a few of them include:

“Amateurs love the prize, Professionals love the process.

Amateurs blame others, Professionals are accountable

Amateurs fear being wrong, Professionals enjoy it.

Amateurs hope for good breaks, Professionals create them.

Amateurs enter the arena with their fingers crossed. Professionals enter the arena with a plan.

Amateurs are a part of their environment, Professionals are the master of it.

Amateurs attribute success to skill and failure to luck, Professionals understand the role of both.

Amateurs fear incompetence, Professionals own it.

Amateurs fear failure, Professionals embrace it

Amateurs make it look effortful, Professionals make it look effortless via practice.

Amateurs are flashy, Professionals are relentless.

Amateurs are patient with actions and impatient with results. Professionals are impatient with actions and patient with results

Amateurs act quickly, Professionals act methodically.

Amateurs let the day come to them, Professionals have a routine.

Amateurs try to be good at everything. Professionals identify their unique edge and exploit it. 

The fundamentals become responsible for majority of your success.

What is a solid foundation for success?

A solid foundation has a purpose (your why), character and values, is patient (long term), has a plan (vision), competence and is still flexible enough.

To always take time to do things right should be your goal.

“Measure twice. Cut once”

If it matters to you can always create time for it. Everyone’s situation is different but we figure out how to get it done if we really want to get it done.

Flexibility 

Be flexible enough so you can embrace change as change is the only thing constant.

Your values cannot align with every opportunity that comes your way.

Saying No 

You have to be comfortable with saying no to interesting opportunities that does not align with your purpose and values.

Make plans

if you don’t have a plan for yourself you become part of someone else’s plan on achieving their dreams.

Competence 

Experience is the best teacher. But smart people also invest the time to learn from others experience.

Have a Vision

Where do you want to be in five years’ time? You can create a vision board to keep you focused.

Are you leaning on the Right wall?

Steve Covey proposed a remarkable idea on making sure you’re leaning on the right wall.

Imagine a kid who cheats his way to study a “professional” course. How much meaning and fulfillment would it provide him compared to one that took his time to burn candles to study?

At whatever you do, if you have no solid foundation in getting to the top, you won’t find it funny when you fall.

Enjoy the process

Life has its ups and downs.

The key is to “enjoy the process” which might not be as smooth as you expected but you can still learn a whole lot from it if you take time to reflect on it.

It’s okay to fail.

No matter how many times you fail, keep going.

Getting to the root of problems

The key to preventing and addressing problems more permanently is to tackle them from their roots.

Why do problems take more time to solve and cause more damage? When we only address “symptoms” and avoid tackling problems from their roots.

Sometimes we make the mistake of ignoring them completely thinking they’ll go away. But they hardly do.

Getting to the root of problems also has to do with minimizing assumptions.

Quit toxic habits 

Quit any toxic habit that isn’t adding value to your life such as porn.

Quitting isn’t a cure all for your life problems – but it’s the foundation, a ploughed field in which you can sow seeds for a new future that isn’t bedevilled by the secrecy and shame that comes with falling into the seemingly inescapable pit of porn-related despair that so many of us know.

A life of hope and strength – not jizzy tissues, jealousy, bitterness, self-hatred, resentment and unfulfilled dreams. – Anonymous (Your Brain on Porn)

Avoid the Faulty foundation

If you can’t defend it, you don’t know it.  No matter how far you go, at one point or another, you’ll need to defend any role or title you play or own.

At such point those that fail the most, quit or cannot get back up are people with faulty foundations.

Be willing to undergo mental and physical transformation

To win physically you have to win mentally.

It doesn’t matter if its losing weight, becoming financially free, learning a skill; you need to deal with the things going on in your heart and head else you’re going to stay stuck.

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