Deep down, we all want to be successful.
That doesn’t mean we all want fame and a jet-setting lifestyle.
But it does mean that most of us want to achieve something worthwhile in our lives and set ourselves up financially.
There’s no shame in being ambitious and wanting those things.
In fact, it’s important as humans that we strive for goals and push ourselves forward.
Yet, many of us get dismayed along the way.
We think good fortune is something that happens to other people.
We see people’s lives on social media and think that tells the whole story (and we all know deep down that it doesn’t).
So I’m going to talk today about some of the main reasons you’re not successful yet.
Ideas of success vary from person to person, but you may, nevertheless, feel like success is out of reach, or that you’re not getting anywhere, or you’re beating your head against a brick wall.
Here’s some of the big reasons:
YOU’RE IMPATIENT
One of the advantages of getting older is that you become wiser, like it or not.
You look back at things you worried about in your 20s and wonder what on Earth you were so concerned about.
You also get perspective and start to realise how life goes in cycles and patterns.
My property investment strategy, as you may know, is to buy and hold, not buy and flip.
Success comes from a long time spent in the game.
I think it was Warren Buffet who said: “Wealth is the transfer on money from the impatient to the patient.”
That’s why it’s important to be able to give your ideas enough time to take off.
The more time you stick at something, the better at it you become, and the more tuned in you are to opportunities.
It’s that simple.
When people start their own business, they spend the first few years fretting that it won’t take off.
This is to be expected, but as long as you’re not bleeding money with no end in sight, then it’s OK to experience set-backs.
I’ve found that seven years is usually the magical sweet spot for successful business ideas.
It takes that amount of time to find your unique offering to the market, and learn how to handle set-backs.
Which brings me to:
YOU THINK SUCCESS IS A STRAIGHT LINE
There’s no doubt we’re sold a big lie about the nature of success.
Not only does it not happen overnight, it rarely happens in a straight line.
Success is failing sometimes.
It’s about factoring in things not going well in your life or business, and learning how to handle those bumps in the road.
You may have a few good years of success, but I can guarantee that there will come a time when things appear to be going backwards for a period of time, and you’ll have to get things back on track.
This may feel like failure, but it’s just par for the course.
No one, and I mean no one, enjoys a straight line to success.
Anyone who tells you so is not only lying, but they also lack humility!
YOU’RE WAITING FOR YOUR WAVE
Now, this is an interesting one.
Many successful people I talk to, often mention how they had their big ideas long before the opportunities came to them.
It’s like they were sitting in the surf, waiting for the wave.
There’s nothing passive about waiting for a wave, as long as you know the right wave when you see it.
Once that wave comes, then you’re on it.
Maybe your idea is a little ahead of the times and your wave is yet to come.
Maybe you caught the wrong wave because you didn’t really understand your audience and now you have to paddle out and find another one.
Timing is crucial and any smart business person knows that there is a time when their market is primed for their idea.
They just have to find the right wave.
YOU’RE NOT DIGGING IN
Achieving long-lasting success, the kind that gives you financial freedom, is not easy.
It takes a lot of setbacks and a lot of mistakes.
Most people give up after failure number one or two.
A smaller percentage keep going for a bit longer, but then usually bow out when the failures keep coming.
Successful people are like marathon runners. They just keep going.
They may be in pain, they may doubt themselves, but something — usually their passion — spurs them on. These are the ones who make it.
So do whatever you need to do in order to keep pushing in.
Don’t give up.
And take comfort in the fact that you’re in good company: many successful men and women have been right where you are today!
Michael Yardney is a CEO of Metropole Property Strategists, who creates wealth for its clients through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He is a best-selling author, one of Australia’s leading experts in wealth creation through property and writes the Property Update blog.
