Self Mastery: Creating Progress and Shifting Results

Often in our life or career, when we look to create progress, learn, or grow, we wonder where we need to start. We can get stuck there or at any other place in the process of our development. Below are a series of options to help you jump-start or continue your progress. Our continual commitment to improving can allow us to become masters of our own lives and be the best version of ourselves.

Stop: Often it is not what we need to start doing first, but what we need to stop doing to create space for something new. If you currently have coffee in your cup and want orange juice instead, you first have to dump out the old, rinse it out and then fill it up with the new. This creates space for something new. The cup can only hold so much. Our lives are the same way. If we want to add something to our life or work, we often have to determine what we will need to stay no to first to allow space for something new. What do you need to stop doing to create space for something new? 

Eject: Some of the things we need to stop doing are temporary, not permanent. Unlike stop, eject is about those things that we need to permanently stop doing because things are either nourishing or toxic. For example, maybe there is someone around you that is toxic, and it is time to free yourself from the situation. Any toxicity must be ejected to cleanse and to create new possibilities. Otherwise, we will be pulled back to this place, and our progress can be slowed down or held back by these old limitations. What is something you need to eject from your life? 

Rewind: Often, we have something in our past that we associate pain with because we have not learned from it yet. Once we learn what we need from the situation, it can transform a challenge into new insights. With new insights, we can take action and prevent ourselves from making the same mistakes in the future. What is something in your past you need to learn from to shift how you show up in the future?

Fast-forward: Is about designing our desires on our terms, the way we have always wanted, envisioned, and dreamed. If we try to fast-forward without learning from our past, the same mistakes and challenges will show up. What do you envision in your future? How can you create a plan around it that you can execute to move you toward that future?

Play: Playing full out and not just dreaming about it but living it is what the process is all about! Living life on our terms, not just imagining it is what leaders do; they live the life they want. Are you playing full out, showing up at your best, and being all you can be? How can you show up even better? Where can you continue to improve to be all you can be? 

Pause: In sports, there is always a time-out or intermission. This break allows time to determine what is going great, not going great, what needs to be fixed, and what should continue for consistent results. This allows us rest, recovery, and reflection.

How do you spend your time when you need to break? Getting ready in the morning, getting ready for bed, taking a lunch break, or even driving? Does your time here nourish and inspire you, or does it pull your energy and drag you down? Being more conscious of how we invest this time can give us more energy and better results in daily activities! But, more importantly, investing this time right can provide us with more energy, make harder things easier, and make easier things more fulfilling.

How much time could you find? Could you invest an hour a day listening or learning something uplifting and educational? What might be most beneficial to your area or life right now? Could you read a book a month this way? An audiobook, podcast, or YouTube video, all are easy methods for making room for the most important person in your life; you! In doing so, you will give yourself the inspiration and tools for success.

Remember, investing an hour a day is equal to 45 working days a year! How would that shift your results in life? What healthy breaks and habits can you implement to clear your mind and allow you to continue to excel?

Record: Anything worth doing is worth recording. Our records of a successful endeavor capture our triumphs and help celebrate something greater than ourselves. One way to do this is to record your success from each day or create an acknowledgment journal for what was great. Every evening, or following morning, capture what was great about the day and your wins. This will condition us to focus on what was great, allowing us to build upon our success. Remember, success is built on success. How can you start acknowledging yourself more, and how will you capture these wins? 

Copy and Paste: Modeling after those that are successful is one of the most important ways to accelerate our success. Success leaves clues and can compress decades into days so we don’t have to make the same mistakes others made or so we can make less of them on our path to success. Observing the patterns of success and failure is key to our progress. Find someone that has been successful and model them. Be mindful of taking advice from people you wouldn’t trade places with. All stories and results are examples or warnings. Who can you model or learn from? What resources are out there? Is there a book about success published by someone you admire? 

These options can get us closer to the success we aim for, create more success in our lives, or give us a greater impact on those we live and work with. Which steps will help you create or accelerate your progress and results? 

If you need additional guidance on leading a successful business and better understanding your long-term personal goals, take our online Self Mastery course, where we cover simple steps, practices, habits, and tools that you can use to navigate life and become more successful and fulfilled.