The 3 Keys To Success & Happiness
As a psychologist, I’m always trying to find more effective ways to help people achieve the success and happiness they seek. This is why I have spent the last thirty years of my life creating a system designed to allow people to bring their best to life by accessing a specific part of the brain, as well as, how to avoid the stress, anxiety, frustration, and anger that gets in the way of our success and happiness by avoiding a specific part of the brain.
I call this system “Life from the Top of the Mind,” and I have the pleasure of going around the world teaching my system to interested organizations and individuals. The challenge, of course, is that influencing how the brain interprets and processes information is no simple task, and, therefore, I’m constantly looking for ways to simplify the process without sacrificing effectiveness.
Recently, I have been reading an excellent book on leadership by Brene’ Brown entitled, “Dare to Lead,” and one passage inspired me to look at the process of achieving one’s goals in terms of three keys. I call them Purpose, Pathway, and Persistence.
The first key speaks to the importance of knowing the “why” behind our efforts and decisions. If we are making choices because we think we are “supposed to,” or out of some fear of failure, chances are that we will not be successful, because the motivation to achieve is actually coming from the lower 20% of the brain. This can be very helpful in a fight-or-flight situation, but not when our goal is bringing our best to life.
On the other hand, when our purpose, or the “why” behind what we do is both powerful and meaningful (for example, defining who we are in a way that we would teach or recommend to someone we love), this can provide an excellent foundation for success.
The second key is a clear pathway. We have to know how to achieve what we want, otherwise we will be left with a dream, but no way to make it come true, and the more specific this pathway, the better.
The third key is persistence, or the willingness to stay on this pathway long enough for our efforts to bear fruit, and for this practice to become a way of life.
In my “Life from the Top of the Mind” philosophy, I define the first key as our “Highest Purpose,” meaning it will need to be the most important thing in our life until it becomes hard-wired or a habit. I encourage participants to define this “Highest Purpose” as who they are when they are coming from the purposeful part of the brain (or the qualities and characteristics that represent them at their best), and make being this way the driver for all their thoughts, decisions, and behaviors.
The “pathway” or second key in my philosophy begins with becoming aware of the types of people and situations that have triggered our stress, anxiety, fear, and anger, in the past, and turn them from the problem to the “practice field.” In other words, when we have clarity about what we want to practice (our Highest Purpose), and when we want to practice, we can create a pathway for achieving the success and happiness that we desire. I even have a model for “rebooting” three times a day (morning, afternoon, and evening) so that we are able go in to life in this purposeful way and stay focused on this pathway by only practicing for three to four hours at a time.
The third pathway is persistence, and this is what most people find the hardest. While coming from the “Top of the Mind” is indeed rewarding, our old habits and the way our brain has interpreted certain people and situations in the past will continue to influence our experience of life if we are not persistent in the practice.
In other words, it will require a conscious effort to be clear about what we want to practice, and make practicing this way of thinking, feeling, and acting more important than anything else until these qualities and characteristics become habitual.
Therefore, the question is whether you have clarity with respect to your success and happiness? Are you clear about your highest purpose, your pathway, and the persistence it takes to bring this to life? If so, congratulations.
However, if you would like help with these three keys to success, I suggest that you contact me. Until we have clarity with respect to how the brain interprets and processes information, we won’t be able to access the confidence and creativity necessary to achieve our goals and create the life that we want.
~ All the best, Dr. Bill