7 Reasons Why Continuous Progress Is The Best Way To Find Outrageous Success

You will not be successful overnight. (Unless it’s 2745 nights later)

You are certainly smart and talented enough to get it right the first time. And with the right amount of luck, you just might.

However, the odds are not in your favor.

More than anything, you’ll try really hard and maybe even really “want it” and end up on the losing side of the equation.

It’s no wonder success is the subject of countless self-help books, articles, and seminars. It’s hard to do. And yet, despite all the training around writing the perfect business plan or how to generate the most profitable sales, we seem to lack interest in the most guaranteed way to achieve outrageous success:
Continuous Progress.

The concept is not groundbreaking in its originality and certainly not trendy enough to be part of anything in the Harvard Business Review. But it is exactly the formula you need to realize your dreams. Let me be clear about this:

The only thing standing between you and outrageous success is continued progress.

Here’s why you need to focus on it:

1. Time clears perspective

You are partial. It could be all of your experiences to date or what’s going on right now. Believe it or not, the last 24 hours of your life have a lot to do with how you feel about your goals. Your potential. your resistance. The guts you need to muster to overcome the pain and become a success. Everything changes pretty fast.

Within a day, what you know and how you feel will be completely different. By making progress every day, no matter how you feel, you learn to look past the pain and fear of the moment and simply “take it one step further.” Over time you get a better perspective. You realize that your emotions are less important than doing something.

2. Iteration builds momentum

Getting things done feeds your sense of purpose. And that sense of purpose and self-esteem is what fuels your ability to accelerate through obstacles and toward your goal.

Learning through the journey is the true destination. By building on small (but continuous) progress, you iterate through a series of significant steps toward what would otherwise be an unattainable goal.

3. Practice makes up for failure

You’re not going to do everything right at first. Success is not a day in time and neither is failure. Failure is just another round of practice. And it’s not just me blowing hot air at you.

We don’t think our 5-year-old is a failure when he can’t play Mozart’s 41st Symphony in C major the first time he tries. For some reason we understand that it takes thousands of hours of deliberate practice to play a concerto-level concerto. But then we get frustrated when we can’t tame our wildest dreams in a single six-week period.

Practice is the secret.

4. Movement trumps jerking

Stopping and starting causes massive amounts of damage, emotional and physical. Steady progress is the key to success.

Any of us can go “all night” once in a while. Maybe even do 50-60 hours straight on a single project. But it has a cost. Ultimately, you won’t find outrageous success.

Your behavior destroys everything that depends on you. Continuous progress is a kinder (more impactful) way to tap into the support of those around you as you try to get closer to your goal.

5. Passion generates investment

When you put enough into something, you work creatively to make sure you come out on top. When you launch into a quick “emotional fling,” you’ve invested so little that it’s easy to give up on yourself.

Your commitment to long-term success forces you to build a passionate investment in your success. That investment is the antidote to setbacks you can anticipate down the road.

6. Flexibility multiplies the opportunity

Success shows up in all the wrong places. Right? You work outrageously hard; And just when you think you know what you want, success points you in a different direction. Continuous progress allows you to adapt.

Instead of working non-stop through an obstacle that could redirect you to even greater success, you are mindful. You are calm. You are on the lookout for the first signs of greatness. And that flexibility leads you to find outrageous success.

7. Lasting performance differentiation

You’ve probably heard someone say that “showing up is half the battle.” Although it is more than that. It’s closer to 99% of the battle. If you don’t have the guts (the stamina) to keep fighting for your goal, you will eventually end up losing. You can not avoid it.

Continuous progress is the best way to stand out from others. You’re still here when everyone else has given up. When they’re gasping for air, you’re pumping your legs and pushing toward the finish line.
Move.

You don’t have to do everything today.

You have the rest of your life to achieve outrageous success.

You just have to start…