Photo Courtesy of Tony the Misfit
“Be Incredible.”
Fantastic advice, but how exactly do you get started? How can you “be incredible?”
Far too many people want to be incredible, but they are often left wondering how to get started. They focus on abstract ideas and advice, but they do not come across specific ways to start being incredible.
I am going to change that. I am going to show you how you can be incredible.
1. Ignore Everyone Else
Warren Buffett became the richest man in the world using a selective contrarian investing style. When other people were running, he was on the front lines swinging the money bat full-force.
Following the herd means you are a part of the herd and they are average. Incredible people focus on themselves and their goals.
2. Become Action Oriented
John C. Maxwell once said, “A pessimist complains about the wind. An optimist expects it to change. A leader adjusts the sails.”
How simple, but effective.
Complaining and waiting is not how you become incredible. Big ideas are meaningless without action. You can’t use a sailboat to get where you want to be if you’re not willing to adjust the sails.
3. Focus On What You Control
As a sales person, how would you rather sell a product to a new customer? Would you prefer to spend 8 hours trying to convince one customer to buy your product or would you rather try to convince 8 customers in 8 hours (1 hour per customer) to buy your product?
You should always pick the latter because you can’t control one person, but you can control how many people you talk to.
4. Make Your Goal Public
Do you want to know the best way to lose weight? Wake up every morning and weigh yourself. Then, write it down and put it where you and everyone else will see it all day. You will adjust your lifestyle when you can’t escape the truth.
Incredible people are not ashamed of their goals. They are willing to share them with everyone and will not falter in face of criticism.
5. Create An Action Plan
Far too many people want to become millionaires. They want to become financially independent and retire wealthy. However, very few people realize what it takes to become a millionaire. For example, if you are 20 years old and want to become a millionaire by the time you are 30, you need to earn around 273 dollars per day and not spend a penny.
Incredible people keep their goals in mind and have specific action plans to attain these goals.
6. Monitor Your Progress
You developed a great action plan and keep your goal in mind daily, but you need to keep track of how you are doing. If you are are not achieving your daily goals you need to alter your action plan to adjust for your shortfalls.
Incredible people keep track of how they are doing in relation to their goals. They understand the world is changing and they look to change themselves to adapt.
7. Keep Good Company
Isaac Newton once said, “If i have seen further than anyone else, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.” Newton obviously knew the importance of the people around him.
In a quest for value, you don’t want to be a diamond surrounded by coal because you already won. Incredible people surround themselves with incredible people and it pushes them to become more incredible.
8. Ask For Help
Don’t waste your time trying to learn how to write on your own when you know people who are professional writers. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel. You should be humble enough to ask for help, and generous enough to reward your teacher with success.
Incredible people are not scared to seek help because they know it will expedite achieving their goals.
9. Use Fear Constructively
Do you know what drives me to wake up everyday and improve myself? I fear mediocrity. I fear being average and I do everything in my power to avoid it.
Incredible people will not settle for less than incredible.
10. Develop Confidence
The most experienced people often fail at seemingly simple goals, because as Stan Smith, the professional tennis player, once said, “experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.”
Incredible people have the conviction to carry out their actions and the confidence to make them succeed.
11. Focus On Your Strengths
If you are an excellent writer, you should write. If you are amazing at math, you should do math. Turning a weakness into a strength could take forever, but turning something you’re good at from a 7 to a 10, can be much easier.
Incredible people know how to discover their strengths and how to develop them.
12. Expect Incredible
Steve Jobs created an environment where excellence is expected. He teams with the best designers, the best partners, and hires the best people. He once was quoted as saying, “Be a yardstick of quality. People are not use to an environment where excellence is expected.”
Incredible people create environments where excellence is expected and anything less is unsatisfactory.
13. Compete With Yourself
Many people find themselves competing with other people, but this is a flawed approach. You may not be built the same way.
Incredible people compete with themselves. Not only is the competition fair, but you always have someone to beat.
14. Choose Incredible Heroes
Heroes are inspiring. Heroes are motivating. Heroes make you strive to become incredible.
When I started earning money on the internet (back in 2006), Darren Rowse was my hero. I read his blog religiously and acted on his advice. I earned six figures in 2007 on the internet because of Darren and I will never forget it.
Incredible people find incredible heroes and it drives them to become successful.
15. Make Incredible Mandatory
A co-worker told me a story of a boss who use to ask his employees, “is this the best you can do” before he read any of their work. It’s passive aggressive, but he made “the best” mandatory. He never settled for someone’s second best work and his employees delivered the best as a result.
Incredible people make incredible mandatory and there are no excuses.
Lets Start Incredible Today
These 15 tips will help you be incredible. However, it is up to you to apply it to your goals. Remember, making the choice to start your journey today is the first step to completing it. As Maria Robinson once said, “nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Incredible people start as soon as possible. So, what are you waiting for?
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I like the action oriented tip. This way you save time and get more things done.
I don’t think I could personally choose a favorite tip. What I did like is how the author was able to address each fear and/or excuse a person might come up with that would prevent a person from being incredible. Kudos!
I’d also add “visualize yourself as incredible”. Visualizing where you want to be has a powerful effect. How would you act? What would you wear? Who would your friends be? Have fun with it. It keeps you motivated and focused.
Nice post.
Derek –
I think you have some great, and realistic tips. I think adding “Don’t Be Afraid to Fail” is a good one. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sometimes failing actually opens up new possibilties. I actually wrote a post about it today!
Incredibly sel-centered, you forgot about reaching out entirely!
Can you elaborate Uncle B?
@Milena That is a great point and I will check out your article.
@Max – I will include visualize yourself in a follow-up article. You need to think you’re incredible before you can become it for sure.
Great post. All ring well!
I like these, and two others come to my mind as well. One I would say is being positive. There are so many negative, complaining people out there and I think if you view everything as a drag, you take yourself and those around you down. If you approach everything as a good thing then you make your life a lot more fun and set yourself up for success because you’re more likely to put effort into things you enjoy.
Second addition that comes to my mind is being friendly. Sometimes this dovetails right into number 8, asking for help. If you’re friendly it can make you feel really great about yourself, but it can also make others appreciate you as a person who is genuinely interested in them and willing to help them. In turn, they might be willing to do you a good turn when you need it. It’s so much easier to ask for help if you have an established relationship where you’ve already helped them out.
Great post!
I think #11 is by far the most important. Always play to your strengths and bring in others who have complementary strengths.
Great post Derek! Thanks for sharing, you’ve got several valuable pointers. Stumbled!
You’re right on the mark, however, I’d keep something in mind in regards to #8: When asking for help, accept the help that is offered. Nothing irks me more than when someone asks for my help or advice on something, only to immediately dismiss it.
Very impressive…
Great post. Perfect image for the topic.
My favorite was the “Make it Public” tip – I think accountability is incredibly important, especially for Gen Y. We need someone to answer too and to reward us or provide constructive criticism. That’s how we were brought up and it’s difficult to transition into the real world without similar support.
I like this post, esp ignore what others say. You’ll be amazed how many naysayers we encounter daily and if you actually listen to them, you could really bring yourself down. I think people are naturally social creatures and need approval from their peers but I think this is highly over-rated. But having said that, never tune out of good advice and criticism.
Striving to be incredible takes much discipline. Thanks for the reminder and listing out the steps for success. For me, I can confess #8 is difficult for me. Thank you for putting it into perspective for me.
Laura
@ Laura: I totally agree. Number is is very very hard to do. Asking for help requires humility and confidence and it can be daunting. I know I struggled with it for a while, but eventually… if you do it enough… you stop being scared of it.
Great list — each and every tip… and Rebecca – we baby boomers need strategies to be accountable just like gen y-ers do.
I read something cool from Aaron Wall in the SEO book today — “If you keep reaching out to people you will be successful. It might take 3 months. It might take 5 years. But eventually it will happen.”
This list is incredible. I’m printing it out and posting it on my desk!
I do not see how the actions you have listed would make a person any less credible.
Man, this is great, you have just gave me the ideals I need to really move forward, thank you and be blessed.
@Jimme Your welcome.
This post is great. The title is caught my eye. The content provided here works. I have used some of them in my life thus far.
Gratitude,
Baker
I think I am an incredible person, hehe.
All you said is very very true and very important for a happy and successfull l life in a lot of senses.
Nice thoughts ; )
This is skool. Pay attention, learn and make it happen. If you want to be incredible like me, you’ll need to get it right in the face to face, on the phone, and in the writing.
Great post! I like the quote “A pessimist complains about the wind. An optimist expects it to change. A leader adjusts the sails.”
Thanks. This article is inspiring!
Love this post
great post, thanks for sharing