Five simple steps to getting back to success

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up – Thomas A. Edison

Everything started out so well. You had this marvellous idea; your motivation was sky high. You were full of passion; taking action was fun and easy, but suddenly your good fortune turned sour. Everything seemed to go wrong, nothing went as planned and your drive and motivation started fading away.
What happened? Where has all your energy and passion gone? Everything looked so easy, fun and straightforward at the beginning. Now, nothing seems to be working out. Don’t worry, things are not as bad as they may look like.
On your way to success, things almost never turn out exactly as planned. Sometimes, you need to be ready to adapt your plans to your current circumstances. It may even be required to slightly change your direction every now and then. In other words, you always need to remain flexible. When one way is blocked, most probably there is a different way that leads to your destination. However, if you close your eyes and fight, struggle and push to continue on the planned route you will waste time and energy and you may never reach your goal.
Here are five simple steps that will allow you to get back on the road to success when everything seems to be falling apart:

Have a crystal clear vision of your goal
Always keep the mental image of your goal in your mind. Constantly think about your goal. Feel as if it is already part of your reality.
By all means, this should not be some sort of daily “must do” exercise. Play with it and have fun. Imagine yourself having already realised your goal – this should be exciting and it should feel tremendously good.
Every now and then, your mind may tell you: “Come on, this doesn’t work, forget about it…” Dismiss those negative thoughts and put your focus back on those thoughts and visual images that correspond with the reality you would like to experience.
What you focus on long enough and with sufficient intensity becomes your reality!

You still need a plan
You need to come up with some ideas on how to proceed. Of course, your initial plan will not be perfect and many of the details will change over time.
A plan provides you with a structure and it tells you what to do in order to get from where you are to where you want to go.
If you don’t know how to get started, do some research on the internet, read some books, check out autobiographies of people who already did what you would like to achieve.
This doesn’t need to be complicated; just a few starting points. Once you start taking action, you will get new ideas, your knowledge will grow, you will meet new people and your plan will become more and more refined.

Nothing happens until you take some action
This is much easier than what most people think. You have a clear vision of your goal, this fuels you with passion and motivation. You have written a basic plan on how to get started, so you know what needs to be done, and inspired action will follow naturally and easily.
Just get started taking some action and then some more and some more… Soon you will see first results, this will fuel your motivation and you will want to take more action to get even more success. The dynamics of the entire process will pull you forward and taking massive action will be experienced as play and fun rather than hard work.

Dealing with obstacles and challenges
One thing is absolutely sure: There will be obstacles, challenges and failures on your way and they cannot be avoided.
But, as you already know, those obstacles and failures are great, because they will make you stronger and they will get you closer to your goals.
So, each time you fail, know that you just moved one step closer to reaching your goals. Look at your failures, learn from them, be grateful for them and then move on. By all means, never allow a failure to take away your passion, drive and motivation.
It is all about how you look at your failures and how you react to them.
One person encounters a failure and thinks: “This is a disaster, it will never work, I feel so stupid, I just give up.” Someone else who encounters the same failure may say: “Not a big deal, I will try a different approach and it will work better next time. Anyway, I learned some interesting lessons from this experience.”
When one way is blocked, just take a different one. Sometimes, life is just trying to tell you: “Hey, there is a better way for you. You cannot see it yet, but trust me; this will be so much easier and so much more fun.”

Do your part, life takes care of the rest
Remain open and flexible. Take opportunities when they arise and if necessary, be ready to change and adapt your approaches.
Just keep your focus on your goals, listen to the tiny voice within you and act upon it, that’s really all you need to do and actually that’s all you can do.
You set the direction with your thoughts, feelings and mental images (your goal) and life will guide you. It will put the right kind of people, information, ideas, circumstances… on your way exactly when and where you need them.
On the other hand, if you are too rigid and if you try to control every tiny little detail, you will quickly lose your drive and motivation as soon as things turn out differently than what you planned initially.
When this happens, passion and excitement quickly turns into doubt, frustration, fear and anger. And, as long as you are stuck in this vibration, success is pretty much impossible.
Take on a playful attitude, don’t be too serious and know that everything will work out great as long as you keep your focus on the desired outcome and continue walking towards your goals.

–  thebridgemaker.com