I love the ending of one year for the next. The break is a tremendous way to review and assess where we’ve been the past 365 days, and where we plan to travel in the year to come. Although many of us wrestle with this elusive concept called success, there is a common denominator that creates the universal formula for all forward momentum.
That common denominator is found in one simple word: habits. Healthy habits, financial practices, spending habits, relationship habits, and spiritual habits. The process of achieving success gets even simpler than that. If you are growing, you are practicing successful habits. If you are losing ground or stuck in a rut, you are not.
Many of us blame external circumstances, events, or people for what is not happening in our lives. The truth of the matter is we are the ones not meeting our end of the bargain. As my father, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones, used to say, "No one is a failure until they blame someone else.”
One of the first manuscripts my father shared with me as I was beginning my transition back home in 2008 was Albert E.N. Gray’s, The New Common Denominator of Success. I still remember marveling at it the first time I read it, as I do every time. I'm pragmatic at heart. Don't sell me solutions; give me the tools to get to work. If I can't apply it, I'm not going to buy it.
Our singular purpose for being on this planet is to grow; grow into a mountain and not shrink into a grain of sand. There is one thing and one thing only that will get us there: habits. My favorite quote from The New Common Denominator of Success is this:
“The common denominator of success—the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful—lies in the fact that he or she formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do. It's just as true as it sounds and it's just as simple as it seems.”
Habits are just as tricky for failures as they are for successes. When I hear others criticizing someone else’s success as if they hadn’t earned it, that is an excuse. The difference is that the successes have established the self-discipline, support network, and purposeful intentionality needed to keep them on track. So, this new year— this brilliant, shiny, hopeful 2019 that is just around the corner— can be chalked full of more successes than you could have imagined if you can commit to outlining and executing the action steps needed to get you there!
One way to keep yourself on track is to purchase this little gem and reread it every single day. This classic is perfect for those of us who want to accomplish as much as possible in the New Year. And we just had it translated to Spanish, El Nuevo Común Denominador del Éxito. You can also listen to my free online webinar about this masterpiece! It indeed is that tremendous and that transformative!
1 comment
jeremy
I think we need to get rid of our excuses, stop blaming others and get away from the “losers” in life that keep trying to hold us back. If you have a dream in your heart, and we all do, you need to follow your dream regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.19