The Wannabe, Part Two

Well, I’m back again my fellow wannabes. I’m still training hard, and I have some big things in store this year that have been keeping me pretty busy. I’ve learned so much since my last article and I hope to impart my wisdom on to you. One thing that has really been on my mind a lot lately is how to set up the right environment to promote success. We're all masters of our own environments to one degree or another and it is up to us to set up environments that will push us toward our goals. As wannabes, we need to be proactive in forming our own environments and making the best decisions while focusing on always looking forward without ever looking back.

Here are some tips that I use to jump-start myself whenever I’m missing the edge that I feel is so necessary for success:

1. Cut out all the losers.

Let’s say that you call up one of your friends and ask him what’s new. His answer is always, “Nothing” or “Same old, same old.” I strongly suggest not calling that bum anymore. What could you possibly gain by having a conversation with that person?

Only socialize with the people who are constantly moving toward goals of their own. Forcing myself to do this has definitely made a huge impact on my life and forced me to not only cut out energy wasting relationships but also seek out positive ones. I'm a big proponent of loyalty, but don't allow yourself to be chained to negative people. You will have more than your fair share of naysayers if you try to do anything positive and out of the ordinary in your life. Control your inner circle as best you can and watch how much it affects your ability to move upward in life. This will inevitably mean that your current social circle of “friends” will certainly grow smaller at first, but in the words of Bruce Lee, “Hack away at the unessential” or, at least in this case, the detrimental.

2. Purposefully make your environment uncomfortable.

This has been an incredibly helpful tool for me when I feel like I've been missing that drive I've needed to push toward my goals. Despite what the news would have us believe, our world is much safer than it ever has been. Most of us live in relative comfort, especially if we live in the United States. This is a great thing, but it can also can kill the grittiness it takes to succeed.

Allow yourself to become scared to death of getting too comfortable. We've all been in situations where we've been missing that edge and we need to just plain get stuff done. If any of us wants to move from being just wannabes, we have to push through that wall. Here are some basic things I've tried for certain lengths of time when I needed that extra push to get going:

• Meditate for long periods of time.
• Take cold showers for several mornings in a row.
• Sleep on the floor instead of your warm and comfortable bed.

Now those can sound useless and silly, but they will allow you to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Many wannabes complain to me that they don’t have someone to push them and support them. Well, push yourself! Believe me, even the best mentor or coach won't make you any better unless you've pushed yourself to the limit and are willing to go the distance without any support from outside sources.

3. Tell yourself that you don’t care.

I've used this a lot on myself lately and it has made all the difference. At the end of the day right before you go to sleep, ask yourself if you acted like someone who cared about succeeding today. Look with an objective mind on all your downtime. I guarantee you that all the wasted hours on Facebook and all the mindless reality television shows you watched will come back to haunt you when you ask that question honestly. If you spent more time not pursuing your goals over pursuing them, you have to tell yourself that you didn’t care about succeeding today. This will make for some sleepless nights, but they will be some of the most beneficial nights for your personal growth. Maybe hearing yourself say that you didn’t care about succeeding today will hurt bad enough that it will stay with you for the next 24 hours, and the pain of not reaching your potential will hurt much worse than the pain of doing the necessary work.

4. Start the work before the motivation comes.

One thing I’ve learned as a wannabe is to not sit and wait until motivation comes. Time is short and your window of opportunity is closing every single day. Motivation comes after jumping in and taking big and scary risks. Go ahead and make that call to the mentor you've been wanting to learn from. Go ahead and start that website that you’ve been “planning” to start. Reading good books and being prepared before making a move is important, but it's also an easy vice to hide behind. You can become stuck as a wannabe by hiding behind being “cautious.” Soon you will fall into the trap of thinking that you're moving forward when in reality you haven’t even taken the first step yet. So make that first step because the timing is never right. The motivation will come but only after the work has started.

OK guys, I hope you put these tips into effect as soon as possible and hit the ground running. I promise I will be right there with you. After all, we wannabes have to stick together. Put the work in and leave the doubters in the dust. If you let destructive criticism from the outside slow you down or stop you altogether, you don’t deserve to be successful. Cut out all the energy vampires from your life. There are enough haters in the world as it is. You don’t need any in your close circle of friends. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Drop out of your commercial gym and join a gym where you're genuinely scared. Seek out the best of the best to help you along your path. You will only get as far as the people you talk to for no reason. Don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself and review your day to see if you acted like a person who cared about being successful. It will hurt sometimes, but if it were easy, everybody would do it.

Also, I believe in down time and relaxation, but there is a big difference between healthy recovery and just plain laziness. You will never move past being a wannabe if your downtime consists of Facebook and television all the time. Read some intelligent books on training and business. Ask for advice from your mentors. How you use your “down time” this year will determine if you stay a wannabe or if you become the success you want to be.