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Motivational Article

Success Myths and Mistakes - Part Two

By Nisandeh Neta

This is the second of a series of four articles expounding the 16 great myths and mistakes most people associate with the subject of success.

Learn how you can avoid these traps and in so doing turn your life into a success story.

People believe that they cannot succeed, cemented with such self-fulfilling prophecies such as "I'll never make it", "I can't", "I don't have whatever it takes..." or my all-time favorite, "I'm not good enough". 

So little time, so many excuses.

As long as you maintain your excuses, you never will reach your goals.

So snap out of it!

Take a look at the following list of excuses, identify yours and drop them...


5. You can't always get what you want

This is another one of life's classic clich?s. You were told this lie repetitively from an early age, thus conditioned to believe that you're not worthy enough to have it all.

Your parents and teachers contributed to this belief system, simply because that is what they themselves were conditioned to believe. It was often done with good intention, and with no malice intended, but the damage was nonetheless created.

Once my daughter wanted an ice cream - so I bought her one.
Two minutes later, "daddy, I want chocolate". "Sorry honey, but no".
"But I want it".
"I said NO!"
"I WANT CHOCOLATE NOW!!!"
"Sorry honey, but you can't always get what you want..."

OOPS. I did it myself.

Kids are like a sponge. Everything they hear they accept as reality and believe in it. So after years of our parents telling us "you can't always get what you want" it is stored in our internal computers forever, limiting our experience of success.

The truth is that you can always create what you are willing to have.
I'm sure you have your own experiences of this phenomenon.

Remember a time that you really, really wanted something, which appeared to be practically impossible. You wanted it so badly, that your whole being was focused on that outcome. And from seemingly nowhere, against all odds, suddenly it was manifested.

These are the situations you hear about when people "mysteriously" recover from a terminal disease; win the lottery, or journey beyond a major obstacle in their life.


6. It's impossible to be successful in everything I do

"I'm doing great at my work, but it takes so much time and effort that my relationships and family suffer. It is just impossible to succeed in both."
This is one of the most common complaints I encounter on a daily basis.

Or,

"I'm really good in painting and visual arts, but I'll never be able to sing as well."

The truth is that the more you practice creating success in one area, the easier it becomes to create success in another area.
This phenomenon is called synergy. When 1+1 equals more than 2.

It is like learning a foreign language. The first one is the most difficult. The second one is easier. The third one is even easier. It's not because you know more words, it is because you learned how to learn...

Another benefit when you become successful in ever increasing areas is that the skills are many times interwoven or interlinked.

I became a good communicator as a result of my desire to improve my intimate relationships. And these days, communication is the main tool I utilize in my daily working with people.
My old computer skills still serve me well these days, as I can supervise most of the technical work concerning our business' websites and desktop publishing.


7. Success is something out there

Believing that success is something separate from who you are, will always make it harder to achieve.

We tend to believe that in order to be successful we first must achieve a certain status or level, such as "When I'll become the CEO, I'll be successful." Or "when I'll get married, I'll be happy."

Or we believe that in order to be successful we first have to have something, such as: "If I'll have a million dollars in the bank, that is when I will have attained success". Or, "When I'll have a child, I'll be complete"

In reality, you'll never be successful whilst you rely on doing or having any external something.

The truth is that the reality of success works the other way around.
First you have to BE, and from there DO and/or HAVE.

For example, "when I'm happy, my communication is better and it is easier for me to create a better relationship."
Or "when I'm successful, I'm more relaxed and I have more time for myself".


8. I have to pay my dues

Another common destructive belief that has nothing to do with reality is that you have to pay your dues before you can reach success.
"I'm too young to succeed", "I'm only a beginner" etc...

In most situations, the direct opposite is the truth.
We call it "beginners luck" when the new guy hits success.
In reality, enthusiasm and freshness will beat pre-conceptions and old ideas almost every time.

I'll repeat myself again, there's no pre-requisite for success.
Drop this limiting "belief system" and realize how freeing it is.

A young, fresh, inexperienced but passionate lover will win always over the experienced, cultured, well-mannered lover. 
The owner of a company, will usually prefer a young and enthusiastic employee over the tired, experienced "been there, done that" candidate.

All you have to have on your resume whilst applying for success is passion, enthusiasm, willingness and commitment.

Bring these with you on your journey and you can't go wrong.