Are you unstoppable or average?

Do you get derailed by prior success?

Are you thinking linearly or exponentially?

Do you do these 10 things?

1. Don’t get crushed by success.

Success can become a catalyst for failure. – Greg McKeown

Most people can’t handle success, authority, or privilege. It destroys them. It makes them lazy. When they get what they want, they stop doing the very things that got them there. The external noise becomes too intense.

But for you, no external noise can push harder than your own internal pressure. It’s not about this achievement, but the one after, and the one after that. There is no destination. Only when you’re finished.

2. Completely own it when you screw up.

Implementing extreme ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team. —Jocko Willink

No blame. No deception or illusion. Just the cold, hard truth. When you mess up, you own it. And as the leader, you own it when your team fails. Only with extreme ownership can you have complete freedom and control.

3. Let your work speak for itself.

Well done, is well said.  – Anthony Liccione

Cal Newport’s recent book, Deep Work, distinguishes “deep work” from “shallow work.” Here’s the difference:

Deep work is:

  • rare;
  • high value; and
  • non-replicable (i.e., not easy to copy/outsource)

Shallow work is:

  • common;
  • low value; and
  • replicable (i.e., anyone can do it)

Talking is shallow. Anyone can do it. It’s easily replicated. It’s low value. Conversely, deep work is rare. It’s done by people who are focused and working while everyone else is talking. Deep work is so good it can’t be ignored. It doesn’t need words. It speaks for itself.

4. Always work on your mental strength.

Mental resilience is arguably the most critical trait of a world-class performer, and it should be nurtured continuously. Left to my own devices, I am always looking for ways to become more and more psychologically impregnable. When uncomfortable, my instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to become at peace with it. My instinct is always to seek out challenges as opposed to avoiding them. – Josh Waitzkin

Remaining focused under pressure will take you further than those who don’t. Because the pressure will cause them to crumble.

The best training you will ever do is mental training. Wherever your mind goes, your body follows. Wherever your thoughts go, your life follows.

5. Confidence is your greatest asset.

You’ve heard it before: Running a marathon is far more mental than physical. A person’s ability to run a marathon — or do anything hard — is more a reflection of confidence than actual ability.

Your confidence determines:

  • the size of challenges and goals you undertake;
  • how likely you will achieve those goals; and
  • how well you bounce back from failures.

If you’re not confident, you will never put yourself out there in the first place. When you’re confident, you don’t care how many times you fail, because you’re going to succeed. And it doesn’t matter how stacked the odds seem against you.

6. Surround yourself with people who remind you of the future, not the past.

When you surround yourself with people who remind you of your past, you’ll have a hard time progressing. This is why we get stuck in certain roles, from which we can’t break free (e.g., the fat kid or the shy girl).

Surrounding yourself with people whom you want to be like allows you a fresh slate. You’re no longer defined by your past, but only by the future you are creating.

7. Let things go, but never forget.

Being unstoppable requires carrying no unnecessary mental or emotional baggage. Consequently, you’ll need to immediately and completely forgive anyone who has wronged you. However, forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget. And it doesn’t mean you have to do further business with those who have wronged you.

8. Have clear goals.

While a fixation on results is certainly unhealthy, short-term goals can be useful developmental tools if they are balanced within a nurturing long-term philosophy. – Josh Waitzkin

According to loads of psychology research, the most motivating goals are clearly defined and time-bound.

Your goals can be focused either on your behaviors (e.g., “I’m going to write 500 words per day”) or on the outcomes you’re seeking (e.g., “I’m going to get published in The New York Times by June 1, 2016″).

For most people, behaviorally focused goals are the better and more motivating option. But when you crave the results so much that the work is irrelevant, your aim should be directed straight at the outcomes you want. However, results-focused goals are better when they are short-term and grounded in your long-term vision and philosophy. When yourwhy is strong enough, the how will take care of itself.

9. Respond immediately, rather than analyzing or stalling.

He who hesitates is lost. — Cato

Anticipation of an event is always more extreme than the event itself — for both positive and negative events.

Just do it. Train yourself to respond immediately when you feel you should do something. Stop questioning yourself. Don’t analyze it. Don’t question if it came from God or from yourself. Just act.

You’ll figure out what to do after you’ve taken action. Until you take action, it will all be hypothetical. But once you act, it becomes practical.

10. Think and act 10X.

When 10X is your measuring stick, you immediately see how you can bypass what everyone else is doing. – Dan Sullivan

Most people — even those you deem to be “world class” — are not operating at 10X. In truth, you could surpass anyone if you radically stretch your thinking and belief system.

Going 10X changes everything. As Dan Sullivan has said, “10X thinking automatically takes you ‘outside the box’ of your present obstacles and limitations.” It pulls you out of the problems most people are dealing with and opens you to an entirely new field of possibilities.

When you take your goal of earning $100,000 this year and change it to $1,000,000, you’re forced to operate at a different level. The logical and traditional approach doesn’t work with 10X. As Shane Snow, author of Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success, has said, “10x progress is built on bravery and creativity instead. Working smarter.”

The question is: Are you willing to go there? Not just entertain the thought for a second or two and then revert back to common thinking. No. Are you willing to sit with 10X thinking? Are you willing to question your own thought processes and open yourself to believing an entirely different set of possibilities?

Could you convince yourself to believe in your 10X potential? Are you willing to undertake goals that seems lunacy, to you and everyone else? Are you willing to take the mental leap, trusting “the universe will conspire to make it happen”?

Conclusion

We live in an exponential world.

If you’re not thinking and living exponentially, you’re going backward.

You have to become unstoppable.

You have to become iterative and adaptive.

It’s not about having a five-year planning anymore. It’s about moving forward, reworking, adjusting, and tweaking.

Are you unstoppable?

Or are you stopped?