Stop acting as your own devil’s advocate. You have every advantage to succeed. With 2016 behind you, this idea can form a new lens to view the potential that 2017 holds for you.
You have every advantage to succeed.
Easy to say, right? In all seriousness, this is not a “hippie-love-child-cum-positive-affirmation” statement.
Let’s start at the beginning. It’s easy to fall into the trap of talking about how hard our lives are. This is the root of the problem:
- You’re too busy.
- You have a boss that is clueless.
- There are not enough hours in the day.
- You wish you just had “x” amount more money to do “y.”
How much energy have you invested (especially at this time of year when there are even more demands on our time) speaking in these terms? The tendency to talk this way gets worse as the calendar starts to close in on the end of the year. It forms the root of not realizing that you have everything that you need to succeed.
Here’s why:
At its core when you judge your situation in terms worse than someone else’s, by association you are saying, “You’ve got it easy. You haven’t had to deal with what I’ve gone through.” Most people get this far and get stuck in this spin cycle. The thought process ends with, “Life is hard and then you die.” Or your particular version of, “Suck it up buttercup.” These positions are short sighted and miss the mark. However, this line of thinking robs you of the greater lesson and ends on unnecessarily harsh terms.
There is an inherent goodness in the unique experiences you’ve endured, conquered or risen above. Sometimes (most times) the more crap you’ve muddled through, the better. More crap = more lessons. Some of these lessons are transformative.
All the people, places and experiences have laid a groundwork for you. The culmination of these things forms a valuable unique-to-you asset that you can share with others. It is your advantage to succeed. All the things that you are ignorant of can be useful as well, which is extremely heartening on bad days.
How many successful entrepreneurs have said, “had I known what I now know, I never would have attempted it.” Many people have thrown in the towel before they ever began, but they never walked the walk and got smarter by going through it all. The things that you are wise about are a unique mix of your personality, your circle of friends, the places that you have worked, your educational background and the places that you have traveled.
This is why you have every advantage to succeed.
If you are a startup founder, you are on your own path that you have blazed in large part by yourself. All of the things that have brought you to this point in time will be instrumental in getting you to the highest highs of success. Trust in this. Backfill and surround yourself with others that are radically different with new skills that can take you to the next level.
If you are a salesperson, you have a unique connection with your clients, a novel way that you view your products and services and articulate the value to prospects. You have endless opportunities (that you create) to engage with clients and broaden their interest in what you believe in. If you start from a position that you have every advantage to succeed, you will.
Whatever you have been telling yourself that you lack, or use as an excuse for not having achieved what you set out to do in 2016 is a damn lie. You have an array of tools, which if used correctly form the basis of everything that you need to succeed.
Do you want to know why? They are the cards you have been dealt. End of story. Struggles can form amazing opportunities. Advantage can (and often does) grease the wheels. Whatever these factors are, grab hold of them.
You have every advantage to succeed. Chew on that. Plan 2017 accordingly. Rock on.
Written by Anna Foat
