By Craig Anthony-
Success coach / Inspirational speaker
I was sat in a café yesterday having my usual peppermint tea and reading the paper, now I don’t usually eves drop but on this occasion the gentlemen where speaking so loudly I couldn’t help but over hear their interesting topic. They were discussing their frustration at the difficulty of getting ahead these day’s and getting to the top. Out of the four guy’s the oldest one with fine greying hair seemed to be self employed and possibly doing rather well as the other three seemed to be leaning their questioning in his direction, however he didn’t really have much to add as a response to the questions, he only seemed to turn the question back around in an attempt to have the other three come up with their own answers, a smart move I thought.
Anyway the other three where really eager to know what it takes to get to the top in their career, they spoke about advancing in their company and improving their pay scale. They went on to say; with so many people trying to get to the top, how come so many people aren’t moving up? I think there are some fundamental reasons why. Reasons that can be addressed and changed!
Here are five steps that will go a long way to getting you to the top of that corporate ladder and to the top “as you define it” in any area of your life.
First you have got to DEFINE what the top means for you. This is extremely important because if you don’t know where you are going, you will never get there! What being at the top represents for one person may be completely different to another. One might define being at the top as becoming a high ranking officer in the military or owning their own company, while another may define the top as having the time to spend with family or fishing. It doesn’t matter what others think is the top, only what you do, since you are only gauging whether or not YOU get there! So where is it for you? That is the first question for you to answer.
Passion is always in fashion. You’ve got to be PASSIONATE about your goal. Passion is the energy, the life force that drives us. If you enjoy sailing think of passion as the wind in your sail. Frank Sinatra the famous jazz singer and movie star used a great phrase “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life” what he meant by that is, if you find something that you love, working on that project will never seem like work. Take a look at the successful people through history, those who where passionate about what they did made history. You may get to the top doing something you don’t love, but it’s highly unlikely, however it also depends on how you define the top? Mmmm… Go back to GO and do not collect $200.00
You must insist to PERSIST. WE grow through our challenges and for us to get to the top we must continue in the face of hardship and adversity. No matter what we do in life there will always be challenges for us to face, it’s part of the game of life. Imagine playing a playstation game with no levels of difficulty or obstacles for us to over come, it would be boring and pointless. Think of life the same way and no matter what you face, approach it with a smile on your dial and enjoy the highs with the lows as part of the game. The difference between those at the top and those still stuck at the bottom is “the one’s at the top do the things that the one’s at the bottom refuse to do”.
LOVE is all you need. The Beatles summed it up nicely. Step number four on the ladder of success is to Love people and treat them right. You must be thinking; Craig Oh my goodness that is so soppy, what do you mean love? Well my growth seekers if you want to get to the top you cant do it alone, you are going to need people, consider Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Everest without Sherpa Tenzing? I don’t think so… Sir Edmund knows how to treat people well.
Focus on your area of excellence and the MASTERY of appropriate skills. Average skills will get you average results. Ensure you are growing daily, never let a day pass by without taking another step closer to your goal and mastering the necessary skills to get you to the top. Anthony Robbins talks about demanding more of himself than any other person could possibly demand. Hey, it’s obviously working for him, why reinvent the wheel, do what the people at the top are already doing and do it consistently until you have mastered the skills of the best. These five skills are your foundation, now go forth and build on them. Define the Top – Be Passionate – Persevere – Love others – Skill Mastery! These will take you to the top.