Brian Tracy – the renowned motivational speaker and success coach – spoke to hundreds of successful people, interviewed them and found out that, there are 4 D’s of becoming successful.
Anyone who has the 4 D’s or learns them can become successful irrespective of his present circumstances. And, today, we want to speak to you about it, so that you can become competent enough to accomplish everything that you desire in life.
Desire
The first D as Brian describes is the Desire to perform and achieve a particular task. It is the same desire that Napoleon Hill talked about in his Think and Grow Rich. But what actually is the Desire? Well, it is nothing but having an intention so strong to become successful that all your energy, all your passion, and all your focus is directed only towards that goal and nothing else.
In other words, your desire should be so intense that you should be ready to take on the world if that’s what it takes to meet your goal.
Edwin C Barnes had a really strong Desire to be a business associate of the great inventor, Thomas Edison. Barnes had struggled for years to win Edison’s trust to actually reach his goal.
In fact, can you believe Barnes had to wait for up to 5 years before his dream could come true? He made relentless efforts and told himself, I’m not here to pacify Edison but to work with him. I’m already his partner, he imagined.
That in my opinion is a great example of incredible desire. When your desire becomes your obsession, only then you’ll work hard to attain it. Only then, you’ll refuse to lose.
The great philosopher Socrates was once asked by a student; I want to become successful, what do I do? Socrates smiled and responded – come to the seashore tomorrow morning and I’ll give you the answer. The guy showed up in the morning and asked the question again; Socrates took him in the water and drowned his head in it.
After a few seconds, when he pulled him out of the water, he said, your desire to be successful should be as intense as your desire to breathe was when you were down in the water.
So, that’s how important Desire is. It is the first step to success. 🙂
Decision
A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. – Tony Robbins
Not only Tony Robbins but all the leading successful people in the world say the ability to take quick Decisions and work on them separates winners from losers. Decision making is a skill taught even in the biggest educational institutes in the world including Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, etc.
Brian Tracy suggests that a decision to take action to accomplish a particular goal must be taken as soon as possible.
Martin Luther King’s decision to support the African-Americans in the US ended the long-term hatred and injustice towards his community.
It was the decision of Steve Jobs, an ordinary Californian, to get over his removal from Apple and start his Next Computers. He later went on to make Apple the biggest company in the world with market cap after his return.
Here is how you can take decisions that would literally change the way you lead your life:
1. First and foremost, get as many facts as possible, so that you can analyze the data and understand the situation better.
2. After comprehending the facts, data, list out all the possible options that you can consider. The key is to right down everything you can think of.
3. Obviously, some options would be worth-considering; others would be completely waste of time.
4. Right down the possible consequences of the worth-considering options. This might require some time but trust me, it would be worth it.
5. By the time, you reach the 5th step, everything would be crystal clear to you and you’d be in a great position to make a decision.
Remember, decisions should be taken as early as possible and the above practice can be immensely helpful to you.
Discipline
The third D is Discipline. While Desire and Decision makes a person take action, Discipline makes a person go in the right direction, avoid unnecessary hassles, etc. The fact is – just like our muscles grow when we exercise regularly, our mental capability also increases.
A disciplined mind is always clear about the approaches and steps. A clear mind leads to better action. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he removed all the clutter that was present in its products, in its strategies, so that he can think clearly.
Now, you don’t have to wake up exactly at 8:00:00 AM, nor would you require using multiple to-do lists to become disciplined. All you need to do is, figure out the most important tasks that contribute to 80% of your work, sort them out and then focus on finishing them off one after the other.
According to Brian, there are 4 ways to change and be disciplined:
1. You can decrease something that gives less value to your life/business.
2. You can increase something of high value.
3. You can completely stop doing an activity that is of no use.
4. You can start a whole new activity that is required for your business.
Another key aspect of maintaining discipline is to ask questions to yourself such as:
• What would happen if I don’t wake up at 9:00 AM?
• How a particular big task, if done on time, can contribute to the overall business.
You see, becoming disciplined is like building a habit. Your brain never forgets a habit, why? Because it is accustomed to it; similarly, when you work with disciplined, it becomes a part of your life, which will only improve with time.
So, remember that the third D is an imminent part of the entire 4 D theory.
Determination
The last and perhaps the most important D of all – Determination. It is your determination that will take you places. You see, persistence is the key to anything in life.
Have you heard of the quote, “it is not over until I win.” Will Smith once said, if you get on a treadmill with me to compete, then there are two possibilities; “either you’re going to get off the treadmill first, OR I’m going to die.” Wow, that’s what I call determination.
Your Desire, Decisions, and Discipline ultimately rests on how determined you are when you face obstacles and difficulties. Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries – India’s biggest company – faced so much challenges in his life that his close ones suggested that he should quit the business.
He refused and fought back. He made the company public and soon started receiving investments. Result? He was termed as the Greatest Wealth Generator in 100 Years in India. His son is the richest Indian in the world.
Anyway, this was about money. Your determination holds so much power that if pursued upon, any goal can become achievable quite easily.
Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times before inventing the electric bulb. When he actually invented it, he said, every time I found out one way of not doing it. That’s a true example of determination and persistence.
Bill Gates was determined to change the world with his operating system; Nelson Mandela was determined to end injustice to African men and women in South Africa, Hitler was determined to conquer the world. While some achieved their goals, Hitler didn’t. But the bottom line is, they made a dent in the world with their unmatched determination.
You can too, if you’re as determined as these great inspirational people.
Conclusion
To end the post, every individual that is born healthy, regardless of his name, religion, culture, or background is born with the same mental and physical abilities as everyone else. But only those who have/master the above 4 D’s actually manage to accomplish feats that others could only imagine.