The Science of Achievement: The Recipe in 6 Steps

[William Allen]

I have read many books, gone to workshops, and listened to people at the top of their game in a variety of industries. What I learned is that though a process can be individual, there are principles anyone can follow that will help them achieve success in their personal journey.

What does that mean?

Well, a lot of coaches and trainers come into teaching others with the mindset ‘if it worked for me it will work for you.’ This is a process, not a principle. Once the essence of a system or process has proven successful over and over again, it becomes a principle which we can apply to our own process.

I have developed this recipe for Achievement based on 6 principles that all highly successful people operate with.

1. Relentless ACTION

Why aren’t you taking action? You are doing something other than what you need to be doing because something in what you are using to procrastinate is feeding a need for you that isn’t being met by the actions you need to be taking to achieve. Our human personality needs are defined as significance, love and connection, certainty, and variety. If at least three of these needs are met in your work, you can actually get addicted to the actions that bring you achievement!

Consistent Actions over time become….

2. Habits

Do you like change? We have to train our brains to change.

We do this by changing our habits so the things that make us successful become instinctual. The brain makes 20,000 decisions a day, how many of those are conscious? Statistics say only 5% of our decisions made every day are conscious and controlled. That means 95% is based on what is instinctual or habitual. When you develop successful habits you are retraining your brain and that 95% is suddenly helping you achieve!

Positive habits lead to results which help in shifting your...

3. Belief System

Positive Beliefs are key in working with yourself not against yourself.

They are ‘I can’ and not ‘I can’t’ statements. Negative beliefs drag us into negative cycles. Like habits you have to train yourself to turn that cycle in a different direction. When we begin to grasp our full potential it can drive our action. And our belief of our own potential must continually expand. Do you feel you have tapped into all of your potential? When we take actions, we see results and our beliefs change. Make your results realistic by defining smaller actions, completing them, and expanding your belief of what you are capable of. How did your belief change after that first deal? How will it change after 50 deals? Believing in yourself paves the way to pursuing your purpose.

What is your purpose?

4. The Definiteness of Purpose

Your purpose is a longing or need that drives you. In the classic hero’s journey our lead character has a calling but something is holding them back. Many of us have a wound ‘ an unhealed source of continuing pain from the past that does not allow us to move forward powerfully. We are building our structures on wounds of the past. Many times in order to discover our purpose we must release who others have told us to be to become who we truly are. We have to ‘kill off the old self to move into the new self.’ When we do this we are moving from fear to courage. We are defining ourselves not from others but from within ourselves. When we begin living as our authentic selves from our essence we find our purpose.

For this stage of the journey you often need a guide. Don’t fall into the trap of being a ‘know-it-all.’

5. Be Openly Coachable

Mentors are important. If you already knew what you needed to do to get where you want to go, you would have already done it. Find someone who has values you share and is successful doing what you want to do, and learn from them. When you approach your purpose with humility and take on a guide that will help you on your path you can grow exponentially fast. Learn from someone who has been where you are at and moved beyond it.

If you are coachable AND you take on full responsibility for your life you are embracing...

6. Extreme Ownership

Everything in your world is your fault. All responsibility for success and failure rests with you. When everything is your fault you can always make changes to adapt, pivot, and solve whatever comes your way. Why? Because when you take all responsibility you also have full power to create solutions or implement solutions from your guide or mentor. Nothing will move forward on your success journey more powerfully than this.

I can tell you without a doubt these principles are the recipe to achievement. Each one of these principles works effortlessly with the others to propel you forward on your path to success. From the countless failures I have experienced and the guidance of mentors, I have discovered, distilled, and applied this formula. I promise you, it works.