How to Become Successful

Often we think from time to time on how to become successful. Somehow, someway we're all certain that we can do it. However, the likelihood of it ever happening is very slim because many of us truly don't even know where to start or eventually started but could not finish it. You're probably here because you want to know how to achieve that dream of yours from the beginning to the very end and become successful. But what does it really mean to be successful? At the end of the day, it really depends on the extent of what you define as success on what you've accomplished so far in life.

TL;DR

It all starts with you, your mentality.

Hope on the big kid's slide.

Think back to your childhood

Okay, you might be wondering "I didn't have a childhood...". Of course you did! Everyone has a childhood. It might not be all wonderful like everyone else's but that was your childhood.

Now, think back to when and where you really wanted something so bad that you did whatever it took to get it. Don't think about your teenage or adult years... think about your childhood. Why? Because as a child, we tend to be more sincere on how we do things. We did it because we really were desperate and had a justification that most likely could justify why we needed to do it. As teens and adults, we tend to be brainwashed with society on what is proper and what is not, influenced actions through others reasoning to defending why they did what they did that it was right than wrong. I'm not saying that in your childhood years you werent susceptible to it, but you were less likely versus your teen and adult years.

Now, ask yourself what was it that was so important to you that you felt that you needed it more than ever? As a kid, it wasn't really a want- we all feel that it was a need, as much as the air we breathe, the food we ate, and the water we drank. That's how much we needed it to survive.

• Tip 1 Think about why you need this. Are you doing this for your family? For you? Why??

Planning your success

Grab a BLANK piece of paper and a PEN. Do not use a pencil or a piece of software. If you do, you've already failed. I'll explain why later.

Now, without thinking too much about it, write exactly what you did to achieve that thing you needed so bad. Don't cross out anything, just write it exactly as it comes to mind. You can even speak this part out loud if you believe it'll help you out in this section. Don't worry about spelling things correctly or fixing that grammar or punctuation. Just write it exactly as it comes to mind or what you just said out loud, even with the "Ums", "uhs", etc.

• Tip 2 Don't think too much about all the details and jot down everything you did to get what you did to achieve your goals so you don't miss anything. You can always refine it later if needed. Start small, because everything technically starts very small with just a thought and need.

If you've made it this far, then you're on the right track!

Hope's road to success

Now, let's go back to the image I posted above with Hope on the big kid's slide. There's a reason why this picture is the perfect caption for this blog. That morning, Hope said "Daddy, I want to go to the slide..." and of course I took her thinking she wanted to go on her first kid slide, which was about 4ft high. I'm like, "Yeah! My baby girl is 2yrs old and she is ready for her first kiddy slide!".

I took her to the playground and as I took her up her first kid slide, she didn't want me to hold her or slide with her. She basically said "I got it, I got it daddy!" So nervously I told her to wait as I scrambled sliding down the kiddy slide, telling her to wait her turn. As I reached the bottom, having to actually push my own self down because 4ft high wasn't really made for big kids like me to ride down with embarrassment, she followed down as my heart raced for her. She made it down at most likely the speed of .01 miles per hour while I felt like I just graduated college for the first time for her achievement to solo her kiddy slide.

As she came off her kiddy slide, "Daddy, I want to go slide again..." and I'm all pumped saying "You got this baby! You go up by yourself this time and daddy will be right here to catch you" when I'm really thinking to myself "Dang, I'm out of shape and cannot climb up those 4 steps of stairs and come back down again or slide down like I'm having more fun then my daughter..."

So she climbed up the 4 steps of stairs, and then decided that she didn't care for the kiddy slide anymore and didn't want to tell daddy, so she made a detour to the left and climbed up 4 more steps of stairs and then a few more to the big kid's slide! I'm like "Hope! Where you going? Come back!" and she's all like "Daddy, I go to big slide!" At this point my heart is pounding do I run up after her, start screaming bloody mary for help, or stay the cool supportive dad that she can do anything dangerous as she sees fit even though I'm about to piss my pants.

I autopilot and became the cool dad running to the other side where the big kid's slide was as I watch closely to make sure nothing went wrong, even though I felt hopeless as there technically wasn't anything I could do unless she came at 100 mph down the slide where I stood. At this point she reached top of the big kid's slide. I decided to take my phone out at this point to record because I have no idea how to explain to her dad if something happened and I was going to get blamed for letting her go on the big kid's slide on the first day of her slide.

If you watch the video, you'll noticed that she actually came down the slide. My intentions was to catch her when she came down because I knew she was going to fall. I'm not 100% sure myself, but as she came down at 100mps, I autopilot again and automatically wanted her to fall on her bum. She did. Her reaction was "DADDY!!!" with a sad, embarrassed face as I actually laughed my ass off...

• Tip 3 Just start doing, even on autopilot. Whatever happens, don't give up. Expect bumpy roads and prepare to fall.

Don't expect anyone to catch you

Why didn't I catch her? Simple. She choose to go on the big slide. She had to experience her choice in her decision herself and I let her so she knows what is to be expected. She was mad and upset at first, and it probably didn't help because I actually lost all fears as I cracked up laughing so hard, but as she realized she wasn't in much pain for her boo-boo other than the shock of what just happened, she got up, hugged my legs, and then said she wanted to do it again.

• Tip 4 Get back up and figure out how to bounce yourself from your bum position.

• Tip 5 Cry if you need to, but don't cry too long to where your tears take over your sight of reaching your end goal.

You reap what you sow

At this point I surprised myself and actually patted myself for being a good dad to be there for my daughter when she really needed me (which was the hug and comfort) and was able to breathe easily again because I knew she was going to be okay going again a second time.

• Tip 6 Find a support group, whether it's your parents, friends, or others from forums where you can receive additional support. There's always a way you can get support but you've gotta look for it and do a little work.

She went up the stairs again to the big kid's slide, and this time she came down knowing what to expect. She fell on her bum again got right up and ran back up the stairs instantly.

• Tip 7 Commit to success, not to failure.

Point of this story? Hope had no clue what she was expecting her first try. She did it and fell down at approximately 100mph mentally taking her daddy along with her. She got up and did it again, but this time both her and her daddy knew what to expect. This second time we were ready to fall down again together but we knew it was less painful. She didn't give up and at the end of the day, we were both two confident people who have achieved something successfully because we wanted it so badly. Because we both trusted our instincts (I, that my daughter will be safe and just believe in her, and Hope, knowing that daddy will be there for her if she's hurt) we both benefited from it.

• Tip 8 Reminder yourself to repeat tip #3, don't give up. If you do, then basically you never even started.

Taking a closer look on your achievement

Now take a close look at your list of what you did to accomplish what your heart set out to do in your childhood years. Determine why it worked. You didn't write down what the struggles you had to go through because that didn't matter. What mattered was what you did in the process to achieve the end results. You can, if you wish, start writing down the struggles on any blank, open space of the paper. Most likely you did not plan exactly where you'd started writing unless your brain is an autopilot machine knowing that you must indent 2 inches left and finish 2 inches right with font size 12... hence why you needed to dk this with a blank paper and pen.

Explanation behind the process

There are things we can control and there are things that we cannot. The paper and pen is the foundation of what you semi can and cannot control. You either follow the directions I gave you to properly do the exercise or you don't (which you automatically failed if you didn't).

The blank paper is basically all the endless possibilities that can and will occur in your lifetime. The pen is what is, what can be planned/controlled, and will be set in stone. Whether you do what you planned or not, it will come to past. If you used a pencil or writing software for this exercise, you woukd have failed as basically in life things technically cannot be erased once done and history is in the past. If you somehow can go back and time and change history, please reach out directly to me and share how you did it, as I'm sure we can all benefit and improve on it. Either way, all you can do at this is remember what you've done and learn from it (or don't).

If you've strikeout anything currently written, that's something you've probably realized that is not important and probably won't repeat or something that you've come to realize that is insignificant to your process of becoming successful. All the white open spaces are all the other endless possibilities that will be added to your success (or failure) and will help guide you to better prepare for your next step. As long as you stay within this same front and back piece of paper, you would have likely been able to achieve your goal and become successful.

Remember at the beginning when I said don't think too much about all the fine details? If you did, one piece of paper would not be enough, and you probably would never achieve success. You might have been too unrealistic with your goal. Small successes in the end will create your overall success.

In Closing

If all this is too much to remember, take this small thing with it. It's not rocket science to becoming successful. Go back to the basics. There wasn't any textbook you read as a baby growing up to walk. There wasn't any textbook to have taught you to speak. You as a baby had the mentality to want and need something so badly that your brain was nothing but a sponge. You eventually started there and as much as you wanted to take that first step, you did it eventually.