Despite what it may look like, any famous athlete, CEO or actor will tell you there are no overnight successes. In fact, success is built upon every move one makes – or fails to make. Each move either changes your life for the better or the worse. Entrepreneurs often think it is one significant decision, or one bold move, that will point their businesses in the right direction with the happy ending of sailing off into the sunset. But the truth is, it’s the mundane stuff of life – the daily actions we take – that propel us toward bliss or disappointment.
In his book, The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson describes success as the result of simple productive actions repeated consistently over time. That doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as having a eureka moment, but developing an underlying philosophy of “mastering the mundane” also makes success achievable for anyone; you don’t need to be brilliant or have special skills that others don’t. You need an attitude and a system for simple, everyday tasks that influence your feelings and actions.
If you profile successful people, you will see that they have a history of making choices that lead them toward their goals. If the choice takes them away from their goals, they don’t move forward in that path. It’s a mindfulness of knowing that we’re playing the long game and that the choices we make every day either work for us, or they work against us.
If we know that we can do simple things consistently to move us toward our goals and achieve success, then why doesn’t everyone do that? After all, simple mundane things are easy to do. But… they are just as easy NOT to do. They’re not exciting. They’re not visible, except cumulatively and in hindsight. Thus, mundane things seem insignificant. But they are the building blocks that create great success. By the time your results are visible, your choices are history, and the “overnight success” syndrome is what shows.
One way to work “mundane magic” is to involve more of our senses. Anyone who knows me knows that I counsel people to write down their goals/dreams in their handwriting and review them continually. If we write them down but do not review what we have written, those goals and dreams will not be at the forefront of our minds. To that end, I am also a big believer in creating a dream board – using pictures and creating a story, if you will – of what your goals manifested will look like for you. Finally, to anchor your goals, it is important to verbally share them with someone. This three-step method will help you work through the daily grind, making decisions that continually bring you closer and closer to your goals, and stay on course while doing so. And there is nothing mundane about achieving your goals and realizing success!
– Alesia Visconti
Alesia Visconti, CFC, is the CEO/Publisher of Franchise Dictionary Magazine and the CEO of FranServe Inc., the world’s largest franchise consulting and expansion organization. She has 20 years of experience as a C-level executive, driving organizational development and taking companies to the next level. An author, professional speaker, and entrepreneur, her motto in life is “Work hard, play hard, help others, repeat.” As a self-proclaimed nerd, Alesia loves all things “superhero.”