The One Thing Successful People Do that Sets Them Apart

Those successful people. How do they do it?

My dog gave me an idea the other day.

Have you ever seen someone behave as if they really wanted something?

My dog is really good at it. If she wants a bone, you know it. She’ll do all the tricks she’s learned, one after the other, in the hopes of acquiring her prize. Sit down, lay down, play dead, sit up, shake hands, sometimes one after the other in a frenzied series of movements as if she’s doing some new sort of workout routine.

Then she’ll look at me with her caramel eyes, gauging my reaction to see if she’s done enough.

If I just stand there, she’ll wait, patiently. If I turn to leave, she’ll whine.
When I make some other motion, she’ll go through the routine again.

She wants that bone. And she does everything she knows how to do to get it.

She usually succeeds.

How Far Are Successful People Willing to Go?

I think most of us go after what we want to a point—especially if we’re really craving a chocolate donut, for example. But when it comes to pursuing our highest calling, we may want something, but resist doing anything about it.

“Wanting something is not the same thing as behaving consistently with your wanting it,” write Fred Mandell and Kathleen Jordan in Becoming a Life Change Artist.

I worked with a lady once who was a good example of this. She wanted more than anything to quit her job and open a dessert shop. She talked about it at least a couple times every week.

The office came alive when she brought her desserts in. She mused over what her shop would be like. She complained almost daily that she was still in the same dead-end position.

Yet over ten years later, she was still working in that same office, and had done nothing to move herself any closer to her dream.

Wanting Something is Not Enough

We all know that if we really want something, we have to take action toward getting it. So why don’t we? Why do we just wish and want and complain and daydream?

The reasons can be numerous. We may fear that we’re not up to the task. It can be tough to motivate ourselves. We may not really believe in our abilities. Or we may not be ready to commit to the hard work it takes to get where we want to be.

Are You Doing What Successful People Do?

If you’ve had a whispered want buzzing around in your head for awhile and you’ve done nothing about it, you may want to spend some time asking yourself why.

Find out what’s holding you back. Ask yourself how you’ll feel if you continue to take no action. Imagine what your life will be like if you, like the lady I mentioned above, continue to live your life just wishing and wanting and complaining and doing nothing to change your situation.

Where will you be ten years from now?

Business coach Mike Yates writes: “One of the definitive answers to the question, ‘What is one of the single most definitive things that successful people do that less successful people hesitate to do?’ is simply this: to decide on your dream and take action. Lot’s of it.”

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