The Four Secrets of an Extraordinary Life

We’ve all witnessed someone who seems to have mastered the ability to grab life by the horns and realize their most cherished desires. You may even experience a similar joy—at least occasionally, if not consistently. However, getting what you want is one thing; being conscious of how you’re doing it is another. So the question is: What creates an extraordinary quality of life? The details of what we really want—joy, love, passion, fulfillment—are going to be different from person to person, but we’re all after a certain quality of life that will truly make us feel alive. This is not dependent on the economy or any other outside factor. What’s most important is living life on your terms. For most people, a successful life is based on two things:

1) Achievement – the ability to turn any dream into reality or to produce any result. 2) Fulfillment – the ability to find joy in the process of whatever life brings; the power to understand and appreciate your life at the deepest level. Achievement is the destination; Fulfillment encompasses the meaningful experiences along the way. Once you define what an extraordinary life means to you, how do you make it a reality?

Whether it’s creating outstanding health and vitality, attaining the competitive advantage in your business, taking your leadership to new level, deepening your relationships or taking your finances to the next level, there are four secrets of an extraordinary life. Instead of willing all your problems to disappear, create the life you want, a life of your own design. Implementing the four secrets is the key. The four secrets for an Extraordinary Life are:

First, unlock, align and integrate. Ask yourself: What beliefs, goals or values may be in conflict? Re-align your psychology so you naturally take action in the direction you desire most. Second, get the best tools/map for coaching and for results: Model others who have already achieved the ideal result. Get a proven map – a step-by-step plan that moves you to take consistent action. Measure your progress. Have a coach, mentor or someone you respect to hold you accountable. Third, get focused and clear: Get a clear and compelling vision. Have strong reasons to follow through. Have total honesty about where you are.

And fourth, crystallize your thinking. Highly effective people including leaders use crystallized thinking to arrive at a decision, and then they act on that decision. For them crystallized thinking is the process that makes it possible to reach confident decisions about the goal they’ve chosen to pursue. Crystallized thinking is simply the act of clearly defining goals and objectives. Friend, if you are dissatisfied with your present rate of progress compared to your true potential for success, your goals are not clearly defined.

Understand that the same sort of crystallized thinking that brings highly effective leaders in touch with themselves and their potential is also the dynamic, shaping force that determines a course of action for the entire organization. At that level, questions like these serve to define vision and focus thought on possibilities for achievement:

1) What do I want? Asking this question helps isolate the specific dreams and desires. What is the reason for striving? What is the end result you seek? This is the foundational question that you must answer before you can continue to narrow vision and focus. 2) Why do I want it? This question seeks to uncover the true motivation behind your specific dreams and desires. Without this vital information, the quest for success at any level lacks real meaning. 3) Why do I not already have it? This question requires a certain amount of soul searching. If a goal is important to you, why is it not already a reality? Is it because you lack the skill, capabilities and motivation? What forces have kept you from achieving the goal before now?

4) Can I obtain it? This becomes a critical point that raises either a commitment to action or reluctance to move forward. 5) How will I measure it? This sort of question demands some sort of accurate methods of measuring success. Finding these accurate methods of measurement requires crystallized thinking and a willingness to think outside the box. Unfortunately, conventional thinking often restricts leaders and followers to methods that may no longer apply.

6) Whom will it affect? Will those affected include only members of your family or will they include members of society at large because the greater the impact, the greater the willingness to contribute to the overall effort? 7) Whom will it benefit? Will the goal or objective benefit only the leaders and their immediate families or those who work on the project? Or is there some greater benefit that extends outside the walls of leaders and their families or the organization? Like impact, benefit is a powerful motivator. The Larger and more widespread the benefit from achievement, the larger and more widespread the impact created.

8) Where will it lead me? Answering the final question requires considerable leadership foresight and the ability to forecast trends and changes. You may find, as you consider tracking data and trends, that the goal or objective you’ve focused upon will not take you where you want to go. This is important information – information that enables you to alter your course before the goal takes you someplace you don’t intend to go.

(Chealy Brown Dennis is a motivational speaker and offers training in leadership and organizational development; strategic planning, wealth creation and team building and offers on-location and train-the-trainer formats. He can be contacted through email at: dennisbc2011@yahoo.com or on phone at: 0886-264-611 or 0776-545-394)