How to Make Failure Impossible

Today I'm going to explain something so simple, and yet so useful, that it's amazing that so many people don't get it.

It's a four-step process that literally makes failure an impossibility.  Pay particular attention to the final step, because it's the proverbial "doozy."

Here we go:

1. Set an achievable yet inspirational goal.

If you don't believe a goal is achievable, you won't take action to achieve it.  Therefore, any goal that you set must be within the realm of possibility and tied to actions that you can actually take.

A goal must also be inspirational enough to motivate you to take action. For example, "I will lose 10 pounds" is achievable but not particularly inspirational and thus not very motivating. "I will look and feel healthy, fit and sexy" are both achievable and motivating.

2. Decide that you must achieve the goal. 

Never start out by saying, "I'll try."

You might as well not bother–because you're going to fail anyway. The reason people say "I'll try" (rather than "I must") is that they're giving themselves permission to fail, which means that they really aren't committed.

It's only through being 100% committed to achieving a goal that you'll find the mental and emotional resources to follow the next three steps.

3. Treat setbacks as signals.

A setback is something that blocks you from achieving a goal. Most people treat setbacks as "mini-failures," and often use them as an excuse to give up ... and therefore fail.

The correct way to view a setback is as a signal that you may need to change your approach to achieve the goal. If an action consistently results in a setback, you must therefore take a different action, repeating the change as necessary.

4. Define 'failure' as 'failing to take action.'

Chances are, if you follow the first three steps, you'll achieve your goal–if not immediately, then eventually.

However, the simple truth is that you don't have control over anything except your own behavior.  Redefining failure as "failing to take action" puts failure (and therefore success) within your personal control.  When the only failure is inactive, you automatically take the actions required to achieve the goal.

Is it really that simple? Very much so.  Follow these four steps and, as long as you remain alive and kicking, you'll keep taking action–and thereby make failure impossible.

Source: http://goo.gl/aC0rV

WordList:

Proverbial	well known and talked about by a lot of people
Inspiration	a feeling, person or thing that makes you want to do sth or gives you exciting new ideas
Motivate	to make sb want to do sth, especially sth that involves hard work and effort
Mental	connected with or happening in the mind; involving the process of thinking
Emotional	connected with people's feelings, causing strong feelings
Setback	a difficulty or problem that stops you progressing as fast as you would like
Treat	1 treat sb/sth (with/as/like sth) to act or behave towards sb/sth in a particular way   2 treat sth as sth to consider sth in a particular way  3 to deal with or discuss sth in a particular way : The article treats this question in great detail.
Consistent	always having the same opinions, standard, behaviour, etc.; not changing
Failing	a weakness or fault
Inactive	doing nothing; not active
Eventually	in the end; finally