3 Things You Need to Achieve Exceptional Results
By: Thomas Oppong
Tags: Work, Creativity, Productivity, Self

3 Things You Need to Achieve Exceptional Results

How successful people achieve extraordinary results

Photo by Max Williams on Unsplash

Exceptional results opportunities in life are endless, thus, learning how to focus your efforts on actions that will bring results is everything.

Improvement on output behaviours, actions and habits can have a dramatic impact on your ability to improve driving for results.

This is a simple but effective approach to achieve exceptional results.

Take a lot of shots — be prolific

You can persuade almost anyone, with anything, if you persistently share your body of work, and don’t go away. If you stay prolific, your efforts will pay off.

Repetition is persuasion.

Share generously and you will reap abundantly. Whatever you care deeply about and whatever you do — be prolific. Do it as much as you can and don’t stop. And most importantly, don’t forget to launch, ship, or hit publish.

Success will meet you because if you keep going. The key to unlocking your most prolific self lies in the consistency of action.

You might not know enough…but teach anyway. You might not see clearly enough…but make a move anyway. You might not be good enough…but show your work anyway.

Cal Newport says “Until you become good, you don’t have leverage.”

Thomas Edison accumulated a mind-boggling 2,300 patents over his lifetime. Picasso made 50,000 works of art in his life. Mozart composed over 600 pieces in his lifetime.

Hone your craft through unrelenting practice.

Keep shooting for a long time —be consistent

Success is sequential, not simultaneous.

Robert Collier once said, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Consistency and a series of purposeful actions will transform the way you work and hone in your chosen craft.

Consistency is important for making progress, doing better work, getting in shape, and achieving some level of success in most areas of life.

When you decide to be better than you were yesterday and maintain that attitude, you will reach peak performance. Benjamin Disraeli says “The secret of success is consistency of purpose.”

Warren Buffett, for instance, is famed for his discipline and the hours he spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets. He follows the law of compound interest. “My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest,” he once said.

Compound interest is such a powerful yet neglected idea — Albert Einstein famously called it “the eighth wonder of the world. Buffet understands it and uses it to his advantage.

Anything to which you apply consistent focus will show progress. Only sustained movement in one direction can bring tangible results. You have permission to change your goal, rethink, choose another, by all means.

To succeed in anything you put your mind to, build a system that makes it easy to stay consistent. Jim Rohn said “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”

As Anders Ericsson, author of “Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise” notes, “Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends.”

More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.

Follow the law of progression — go the extra inch instead of aiming for an extra mile

Progress in any field is not linear — it can take a few more steps than you imagined or planned.

Top performers focus more on the process, not just on the outcome. Success is not so much about the final performance, it’s about the continual practice.

“I’m convinced you can do almost anything if you are willing to clarify your goals and then make the incremental investment over time to achieve them,” says Michael Hyatt, an author, podcaster, blogger, and speaker.

Most people don’t follow the law of progression. They create big goals and aim to make progress or complete their goals in a few difficult steps — which can backfire. When you try to rush the process, it may seem like you succeeded in the short-term. But your long-term approach suffers.

Stretch your extra miles out into something far more approachable.

A better approach is to focus on the practice (consistent, everyday improvements) instead of the performance or a giant leap.

“The thing is, incremental daily progress (negative or positive) is what actually causes transformation. A figurative drip, drip, drip. Showing up, every single day, gaining in strength, organizing for the long haul, building connection, laying track — this subtle but difficult work is how culture changes,” argues Seth Godin.

For lasting success in any endeavour, focus on the small actions that can make the most impact. Make small steady progress you can sustain.