Clean Run - May 2012 - 33

Have you ever heard somebody say, “So-and-so is good at everything she does.” How is that possible? Is she just an unusually talented person? There is enough research out there to challenge the idea of “talent” to ask the question, “If talent is a debatable concept already, how is it that one person has so much talent that they can be successful in multiple endeavors?”

Formula for Success
By Kathy Keats The answer is that there is a series of steps that a successful person goes through to reach the goal she has set. You’ll note that I called the person successful, as though it had already happened, even though they had not yet reached the goal. A large part of being successful has to do with attitude, and you can read more about that component in the current Clean Run series, “Agility Mind Gym,” and in the book Success from the Inside. This article is going to address the actual steps, direct and to the point, you must take to increase your odds of being successful. The following points are on a continuum. I want you to read them with the idea that the degree to which you embrace each of these concepts, the further along the continuum you move toward being in a very small percentile of people achieving an extremely high level of success. I have written the points below as though each point is acted on with full intent toward one
May 12 | Clean Run

goal, but please understand that you can adjust your expectations according to your own personal situation and goals. I’d also like to point out that success is what you deﬁne it to be. It may be balance in your life, it may be having great relationships, or it may be winning a world championship, but the process is basically the same.

The Commitment
Without this, nothing happens. We’ve all seen New Year’s Resolutions die before the ﬁrst week of January has passed. There are often big sacriﬁces that need to be made and you need to decide if those sacriﬁces are worth it to you. Once that commitment is made, however, things will often seem to conspire in your favor. Some people will say it’s because you start looking for opportunities, some will say it’s because you’ve sent that energy out there. Whatever your belief is, the simple answer is things start to happen once you truly commit.

The Vision
The ﬁrst step is having an incredibly clear goal that you stay single-mindedly focused on. Yes, I know that is often covered in mental work, but it cannot be overemphasized. From a purely scientiﬁc, analytical perspective, you must know what you are working toward. It must be so clear that it seems real to you already, you can practically taste it. It already exists and you are just simply following through on it. Everything you do will move you in the direction of the goal and prevent you from getting very far off track.

The Time
The number one thing you must do is put in the time. Unfortunately there is no way around it. Generally speaking the 10 years or 10,000 hours of dedicated practice is a fairly good measure. If you practice 3 hours a week, it will take you approximately 64 years to put in 10,000 hours.You would have to put in approximately 20 hours a week to get to 10,000 hours in 10 years. (I want to add the caveat that your dog doesn’t have to practice for 10,000 hours. It is the time you
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Clean Run - May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - May 2012