FOCUS: SEPARATING SUCCESS FROM FAILURE
There are many characteristics that help people become successful in life: commitment, consistency, persistence, dedication… However, the most important ingredient of success at Epic Share is focus. It’s even one of the 12 principles in Kosta Gara’s book, “Organic Networker.” Today is about learning how to focus on what really matters: accomplishing your dreams.
25/5 AND 10/3
Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest men in the world, discussed the important of focus and created a rule known as 25/5. You must begin with a list of the top 25 goals you want to accomplish in your entire life, not within the next 10 – 30 days. Once you have a list of 25 top lifetime goals, review the list again and circle the 5 most important ones.
As humans, it’s easy to have goals and dreams, but unfortunately, many people will only be able to accomplish 2 – 4 major goals in their lives. Having a list of 25 is exciting, but unrealistic. This is why it’s more efficient to focus on the top 5: the ones that are of the most importance to you and your life. Eliminating the other 20 can be difficult to do, but ultimately, they are just a distraction.
Kosta has a similar rule he discusses in “Organic Networker” called the 10/3 where he prioritizes 3 goals from a list of 10. This rule can also be used in your day-to-day life by prioritizing what needs to be accomplished in one day, rather than in a lifetime. Kosta does this every morning; he wakes up, looks at 10 things he wants to accomplish that day, and begins prioritizing his tasks. Though he might not complete everything that day, he knows he can at least accomplish three items from his list.
This mentality of always moving forward is the meaning behind Kosta’s tattoo: “kaizen.” In Japanese, this word means constant and never-ending improvement. So, whether you’re creating a list for your life or a list for the next 12 hours, decide what you can do better today. Set your goals every day, every week, every month… Choose your top priorities by what’s important to you, not your friends or colleagues. What is it that you want to accomplish? Write it down and start focusing.
WHICH RULE SHOULD I USE?
Pick a technique that suits your needs. Kosta and Sammy support each other in everything they do, but they have different personalities and different minds. This means, what works for Kosta might not work for Sammy, and they’ve come to understand this fact. This is why although Sammy agrees with Kosta’s values, she often finds her own way to accomplish things. You must do the same.
Whether you decide to use Warren Buffet’s 25/5, Kosta Gara’s 10/3, or someone else’s rule, limit your list of wants or needs so you can focus on what’s important. It’s easy to get distracted or overwhelmed if you allow your list to be too long. The key here is baby steps! You need to learn to crawl before you can run. Focus on the main goals you want to accomplish and then devote, dedicate, and zoom into that list.
Whether you decide to use Warren Buffet’s 25/5, Kosta Gara’s 10/3, or someone else’s rule, limit your list of wants or needs so you can focus on what’s important. It’s easy to get distracted or overwhelmed if you allow your list to be too long. The key here is baby steps! You need to learn to crawl before you can run. Focus on the main goals you want to accomplish and then devote, dedicate, and zoom into that list.
I’VE MADE A LIST. NOW WHAT?
There’s desire in everyone. People want and people need. You deserve to have the things you want to accomplish! However, simply making a list isn’t enough. You need to constantly analyze your priorities. Reflect on what’s most important to you today, tomorrow, and 10 years from now. This is how Sammy and Kosta have both achieved success.
You can also visualize your priorities. This is one of the greatest gifts the human mind has: visualization. Sammy says, “In order to manifest something, visualize it.” Believe you already have it, you deserve it, you own it. Once you can picture your future, get excited. It’s impossible to succeed if you don’t feel successful.
Kosta is well known for his ability to focus and stay productive. This is because he’s very consistent with his actions. Every action you take must be one that will lead to success. Sammy lives her life today based on what she wants to accomplish in the future. Everyone has a dream, so make sure what you say and do are representations of what you want to achieve. People often behave in ways that do not contribute to their future. This is what is called wishful thinking. What you wish for needs to be what you’re working toward. In fact, this is another topic covered in “Organic Networker.” Focus is what allows you to zero in on your goal.
IS THIS ONLY FOR BUSINESS?
These rules for focusing on your goals can be applied to any aspect of your life and anything you want to accomplish! For example, if you wanted to go on vacation, what are you doing now to plan for that future? Are you saving money? Are you researching information? You can’t be sitting on the couch, watching Netflix, and daydreaming about the beach. Every action you take in the present determines where you’re going in the future. You have to take action and zoom in on the goal. If you want a vacation, what can you do today to work toward accomplishing that?
Another example could be relationships. Are you single and wishing you could meet Mr. or Mrs. Right? Well, what are you doing today to work toward that goal? Where are you going to meet people? What actions can you take right now to move forward?
If you surround yourself with successful people that you connect with, they will support you and help speed your accomplishments. Sammy believes likeminded individuals will even help you manifest your desires. This also means being around people you don’t connect with will hinder your goals. Sammy has been on a path of positivity for 25 years, but it only takes one negative person to suck her down again. Why? Because she’s human.
If you want to succeed, surround yourself with success. Learn from people you want to learn from. If you want to make money, learn from people who believe they’re worthy of wealth.
CONCLUSION
Kosta has studied many topics over the years and learned from countless successful people. He’s fortunate to have so many successful people in his social circle today. Of all the self-made millionaires he’s met over the last 25 years, all of them attribute their success to one thing: focus. That should be your priority. To succeed, you need to focus.
- Published in Business, Coaching, Epic Share, Featured, Knowledge, Life, Networking, Success
The Power of Beliefs
It’s important to be conscious of your belief systems. There seems to be a lot of talk regarding beliefs, but today, Epic Share is breaking down beliefs into three categories: neutral, positive, and negative. To transform your beliefs into power, you need to first understand how negative beliefs impact you.
Neutral beliefs have no judgements behind them. They are black, white, and grey. Positive beliefs are beneficial in some way. Maybe you think having a glass of wine relaxes you; relaxation is a benefit, and so this is a positive belief. There are many examples of neutral and positive beliefs you experience in your day-to-day life. However, the focus should be on negative beliefs because those are what are really stopping you from moving forward. You need to be able to shift and transform your negative beliefs into powerful ideas.
NEGATIVE BELIEFS
Sammy once believed black cats were bad luck, but when she started the path to take control and move away from being the victim, she began analyzing her previous beliefs. She learned the black cat as a sign of bad luck was something she picked up from her father. From a young age she wholeheartedly believed black cats meant something terrible would happen, but her analysis of this belief brought her the chance to ask her dad why he believed black cats were bad luck. His response was, “I don’t know. My dad told me they were.” Generations pass down the beliefs we hold today. Sometimes there is no purpose. It simply gets inherited through the generations.
Kosta adopted a belief with true value from his parents: you can achieve anything you want. If you set your mind to it, you can have anything you desire. Kosta is a true testament to that concept. This concept helped him analyze and understand the belief system surrounding his culture and family; today, he has his own set of beliefs, which he views as a reason for his success. Being able to shift your mindset to accept changes to your belief system can help you overcome your limitations.
DIFFERENT BELIEFS
It’s important to recognize everyone has their own belief system. Everyone processes information differently and overcomes hurdles differently. Before every live show, Kosta and Sammy have a brief discussion about the concept; this week, they discovered something about each other: Sammy overcomes negativity through affirmations. Kosta, however, prefers to take physical action.
If someone were to tell you, “You’re not good enough,” how would you react? Sammy would create internal affirmations and remind herself, “I am beautiful. I am wonderful.” These affirmations would be a tool to shift her consciousness and build confidence before moving forward. Kosta, on the other hand, would use that negative comment as the fuel for his motivation to go above and beyond expectations. If someone told him he was not destined for success, he would go out and make success happen! Both are acceptable and effective ways of overcoming differences in opinions and beliefs. It all depends on your methodology and how your heart and mind work.
TRANSFORMING YOUR NEGATIVE BELIEFS
The key to being successful is to learn how to adapt and transform negative perspectives into positive ones. It’s very simple. All you have to do is shift your negative belief systems into positive belief systems. This is a transition everyone experiences in life. At the end of the day, we’re human. It’s in our DNA to want to grow and develop.
ANALYZE YOUR BELIEFS
Question everything. Sammy asked her father where the idea of black cats as bad luck came from, and discovered it had no purpose and no truth; this doesn’t mean her realization is a universal truth. It means, for her, the black cat was not a sign of bad or good luck. She realized it was an easy belief to transform because she took the time to analyze what it really meant to her.
DROP YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
Quite often we make assumptions without having any facts. If you are a fact-based individual like Kosta, you need to have proof behind information. It doesn’t mean you never make decisions without facts; sometimes you might still assume things. The difference between someone who accepts assumptions and someone who transforms them is whether they dive into the facts to understand assumptions and turn them into truth. Get to the bottom of your assumptions to understand what they’re doing there and if you even need them.
SHIFT YOUR PERCEPTION
When you accumulate a negative belief, shift it to positive! When you do this, there’s much more you’re allowing yourself to have in life. Assumptions limit people’s ability to grow, to be happy, to be successful, and to prosper.
Assumptions are much like a disease, but people who are happy and successful have learned how to quickly filter through assumptions and negative beliefs. Society simply doesn’t ask as many questions as it should. If someone says something, people believe it. Kosta and Sammy are confident their seven-year-old grandson would ask the question, “Why is the black cat bad luck?” This is because he has learned how to question the world around him and form positive beliefs.
Kosta believes there is no such thing as luck, good or bad. Luck stands for “labor under correct knowledge.” If you put in the work and you have the knowledge, it’s guaranteed you’ll be lucky every single time.
BE CONSISTENT
Any success is founded on consistency. Kosta discusses this concept in his book, “Organic Networker” and in his trainings. It’s important to be consistent in whatever you do.
CONCLUSION
What’s important is truth. Truth might differ for everyone, but the methods of finding positive beliefs is the same. Keep up with these steps to frequently check-in with your belief systems; challenge yourself to transform every day.
- Published in Business, Coaching, Epic Share, Knowledge, Life, Networking, Success
