Brett M. Miles

In this article we will discuss what it takes to be successful. Our premise is that you are leading your life. You may also be leading others and to do that well you must lead your life well. It starts with you, always. Why? Because followers are watching you and they decide to follow you or not. So, what does it take to successfully lead your life?

Let’s start with a few reminders for setting the context for the points to be made. First, you cannot control all of the situations around you. You play the hand you are dealt. Like great leaders who are called to lead in historic moments in time, this is your moment in time and see yourself as being called to lead your life. That means you have to ask yourself what “role” you must play, now, to be successful. Leadership is a role. If you “just” try and be yourself, you will not be asking yourself along the way, what it takes in your present situation to be successful.

Second, you must earn your way. You must earn the respect of others to be chosen for responsibility. With responsibility you will have the chance to lead your life and perhaps people. In those situations, all you have is the preparation you bring with you.

Preparation is making you into the kind of person who is going to be needed at a time and place and with a particular set of people. Preparation is getting your thinking grounded in principles upon which you can make decisions about what is needed and will work in the situation at hand. Preparation is empowering yourself to be trustworthy, dependable, committed to a purpose and goal, and enthusiastic for what you are doing.

Being ”had by” a cause, a purpose, or a big goal is the most powerful mechanism for being successful. When a cause has you, you become compelling in what you do and what you stand for. It engenders others to align with you and to follow. If you don’t have a cause, then make it your cause to at least perform a vision or mission. The very act of performing it from a commitment to perform it well will generate a similar result. At the very least, commit to high performance and let that drive you as you cause.

Enthusiasm is the emotional charge needed to ignite yourself and others. Enthusiasm is contagious. Be unreasonable in your enthusiasm. Be irrational. Your unwavering enthusiasm for what you are doing, for your cause, your purpose, your goal to be a high performer will sustain you and the people around you. Why is this important?

You cannot succeed alone. Your success is always directly tied to other people. Leading your life successfully requires that other people align with and follow you in your cause. Their support is needed to help you be successful. Leaders know that they need followers. Followers choose to follow leaders. Followers need to “catch” your enthusiasm for your cause. To be successful, you must surround yourself with people who are capable of and totally committed to making your cause, purpose, goal happen.

Your preparation is critical to your success. Constant, consistent preparation needs to be a way of life for you. Here are four commitments your must have with yourself as part of your plan to be preparing yourself for success:

1. Be best at what you do. Be competent. Study, train, and practice. Make it a “necessity” for you to be competent.
   
   
2. Follow well. Be a great follower. Make it your mission to help your supervisor or boss be successful. Great leaders are great because they were great followers.
   
   
3. Be responsible for making it happen. Be 100% responsible. No blaming. No excuses. Own your outcomes. Own the outcomes you are responsible for.
   
   
4. Identify and pursue the best role models. Watch what successful people do and model you after them.

Behind all of this is commitment. To the degree you commit to success and being successful, you will drive yourself to learn what it takes, to commit to practicing what successful people do, and to enthusiastically pursuing success. Your enthusiasm is the measure of your commitment. When you must do something, when you have the necessity to do it, you will then enthusiastically pursue it. How are you doing?

www.MilestonesInc.com Brett@MilestonesInc.com Success Series: Article 8