To attain a goal, one must demonstrate courage.
Courage is the emotion used to charge forward even when acquiring the desired outcome is not guaranteed.
What stops people from being courageous is often not fear but conformity.
Conformity is when the actions of your peer group influence how you show up in life.
In simple terms, conformity causes you to act like everyone else, which is terrible news because, according to research done by Scranton University, only 8% of people achieve their goals.
That means 92% of your peers fail to accomplish what they set out to do.
If you are stuck, stressed, or unhappy, you’ve fallen into the same routine and rut as your friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
The 8% who are happier, healthier, and wealthier think differently and develop different habits than the rest.
Here are three ways to avoid conformity and join the 8% who enjoy a more fulfilling, purpose-filled life.
- Upgrade childhood beliefs. People don’t realize the opinions you formed or adopted by the time you were eight years old influence most of the decisions you make as an adult.
Those childish paradigms are responsible for much of the stress, misery, and failure we experience.
Those in the 8% select and reinforce empowering beliefs that make them feel worthy and more than enough to attain whatever goal they desire.
- Hang around other 8%ers. Conformity has a subconscious influence, meaning you’ll begin acting like the people you spend time with, whether or not you want to.
I’m in the 8% club, and many clients select me as their coach so they can get exposure to my type of thinking, support, creativity, and feedback.
When I decided to upgrade my speaking and teaching abilities, I became friends with 8%ers like Joe Vitale, John Assaraf, Patricia Fripp, John DeMartini, Les Brown, and Denis Waitley, among others.
These exceptional high-performers in the speaking and professional development industry think differently than the rest, which is why they are in the top 1% of their respective field.
That’s where I want to be, so I upgraded my mentors. If you’re thinking, “I can’t do that,” that belief and not reality will make this so for you. At first, I didn’t acknowledge this was possible either. So I changed that belief, and it transformed my reality.
Now, not only can I be friends with speaking legends, I am, and it’s incredibly fulfilling, which is why those in the 8% club are happier. We always have something or someone new in life that fills us with gratitude.
- Pursue specific and challenging goals. According to research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, the 8% avoid multi-tasking by taking one significant goal, breaking it down into milestones, and then putting their effort into attaining that smaller goal.
For example, instead of trying to lose 30 pounds, someone in the 8% club would do the following. “During September, I commit to losing five pounds by reducing sugar, breads, and soda by 50%. I will also walk briskly for 20-minutes a day for the first two weeks and then 30-minutes daily the last two weeks.”
They would also focus on making the pursuit of these daily actions enjoyable. Listening to hypnosis audio programs, music, or audiobooks, watching inspiring movies or videos, and finding delicious recipes for healthy meals add pleasure and increase follow-through.
Life is more enjoyable when you wake up with a mission and purpose and have the support and feedback of others who walk a similar path.
Whatever you do, resist conformity.
It’s the final days of August.
Make them count!
🙂 Tim Shurr
Your Success Coach