There are some keywords that are integral to enduring success: hardwork, perseverance, patience and discipline. Nobody ever achieved any mention-worthy success without putting in the hard yards. In fact, as Malcom Gladwell points out in his popular book “Outliers”, there is a 10,000-hour work rule for somebody to achieve great success in a particular field ie. a person has to put in a minimum of 10,000 hours of effort to be reasonably successful. Anything less won’t cut it. Look around and you will find this maxim hold true– no matter what discipline you are talking about. Great scientists, entrepreneurs, sports persons, writers, dancers, musicians have all had to put in enormous amount of disciplined hard work to achieve whatever success they did.

So, even if we live in the times of ‘instant’ everything, it is important to remember that there is no real substitute to hard work. Those who believe otherwise are probably deluding themselves.

Each time you stop working however, you break this cycle and move back up the curve to where every part of the task is more difficult and time consuming.

Self-Discipline Is the Key
Elbert Hubbard defined self-discipline as, “The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

In the final analysis, success in any area requires tons of discipline. Self-discipline, self-mastery and self-control are the basic building blocks of character and high performance.

The True Test of Willpower
Starting a high-priority task and persisting with that task until it is 100% complete is the true test of your character, your willpower and your resolve.

Persistence is actually self-discipline in action. The good news is that the more you discipline yourself to persist on a major task, the more you like and respect yourself, and the higher is your self-esteem.

And the more you like and respect yourself, the easier it is for you to discipline yourself to persist even more.

Focus Clearly on Your Number One Task
By focusing clearly on your most valuable task and concentrating single-mindedly until it is 100% complete, you actually shape and mold your own character. You become a superior person.

You become a stronger, more competent, confident and happier person. You feel more powerful and productive.

Build Your Self-Confidence
You eventually feel capable of setting and achieving any goal. You become the master of your own destiny. You place yourself on an ascending spiral of personal effectiveness on which your future is absolutely guaranteed.

And the key to all of this is for you to determine the most valuable and important thing you could possibly do at every single moment and then, “Eat That Frog!”

Action Exercises
Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100% complete. See it as a “test” to determine whether you are the kind of person who can make a decision to complete something and then carry it out. Once you begin, refuse to stop until the job is finished.

Article by Brian Tracy. Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.

Learn From the Experts
If you want to be a big success in any area, find out what other successful people in that area are doing, and do the same things, until you get the same results. When I studied the interviews, speeches, biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women, I found that they all had one quality in common. They were all described as being “extremely well organized.” They used their time very, very well. They were highly productive and they got vastly more done in the same period of time than the average person.

Be Both Effective and Efficient
High performing men and women were both effective and efficient. They did the right things, and they did them in the right way. They were constantly looking for ways to improve the quality and quantity of their output. As a result, their contribution to their organizations was vastly higher and therefore much better paid, than the contributions of the average person.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, develop a study plan today to learn from the experts in your field. This can save you years of hard work.

Second, decide what is the most important thing to do, and then decide how to do it.

Article by Brian Tracy. Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.

More than his cricket perhaps– and O’Brien himself will find it a bit annoying- he is becoming very popular with his daily blog. His honest writing about about the day-to-day events on the cricket field and the change rooms — with humility written  all over it– now has a huge following. The personal touch to the blog has endeared him to a lot of Indian cricket fans, who in fact wish him well, even when he is playing against the Indians.

Buried within one of his recent blog posts is a little lesson that I thought is definitely worth sharing. He writes, “If you find a job that no one else wants to do, learn to do it well- it’s yours for as long as you can do it for, and that’s been my secret on me making and staying in the Wellington team, and how I got my chance to play for the Black Caps.”

It’s a simple mantra that can take someone a long way anytime, but most certainly during one of the toughest economic times that the world is going through currently. Following that one tip stamps your personality with a host of highly valued attributes: risk taker, shrewd, determined, ability to overcome internal (self) resistance, and commitment.