Success is boring.

I am often asked what are the most fundamental elements of success? Success means different things to different people. For me, success is being able to spend my day, just how I choose. This means that I need to have my finances in order so that I do not have to worry about where the next dollar is coming from. Success to me is spending my time socially with people who nourish me. I am super choosy about spending time with people and tend to stay clear of people who are just down on life. This may mean that you have to make some hard decisions and let some long-term friends and even family go.

What is it that separates someone that is successful from someone that is not?  We are talking here about success as a baseline in everything that we do. Success in work, relationships, friendships and family. After being in several successful businesses for many years, I have thought long and hard about what it is that I do to ensure business success is given the best possible chance.

 So, this is it. The key to success is to realise that success is really boring. Once you have a clear and well-defined operating system that is working for you, it is just about repeating the same steps daily, weekly, and monthly year after year. The problem is that people just cannot do this long-term. They think that they’re missing the mark as they constantly dabble with what is working, trying to find the sweet spot, that has been right in front of their face all along.  

This is the biggest reason that success eludes so many people. They just do not have the self-discipline to go into the boredom. But just turning up and doing what is incredibly unique to your business is all it takes. Success is about doing the boring mundane part of the business really well. In my office, I have distilled my office admin task to one page. All the tasks are set out in order to maximise success and to not waste any time. After having this business for almost 20 years, I still use the daily check list.

I have always said that being successful lies in the small stuff. Dusting the corners and removing the clutter.  Doing 100 things 1% better every day. Not cutting the little corners that make your life special but holding the line and doing what works.