Grant Gavin, Founder of the Durban Entrepreneurs Club, International Speaker, Business Coach and owner of RE/MAX Panache
Success is actually a fairly simple formula. First, you need to set a goal. Secondly, you break the goal down into actionable activities. Then you do the activities. Add in some patience, resilience, hard work and discipline, and voila..... Success!
Easy right? No. Not quite.
If you’re struggling at present then you are more than likely going to be falling short in one of two areas:

1. You don’t know your goal
“Most people aim for nothing and achieve it with alarming accuracy.”
Setting a goal or knowing what you want to achieve is the absolute first step in aligning all your efforts towards a desired cause. If you don’t know what you want or where you are going, how will you know if you’re on the right track at any point in time?
People who don’t have clear, defined goals often feel lost and lacking in motivation. Sound familiar?
Action: Set a goal that is going to inspire you. If you’ve never ever set a goal, set one for this week. What do you want to achieve? It might be as simple as “Wake up 30 minutes earlier each morning and have time for breakfast.” Or, “Find two new sales prospects this week.” Then prioritise and focus your activities on achieving that goal.
Go to work on forming the habit of setting a goal, breaking it down, and performing the activities until you achieve success. No matter how small.

2. You lack the discipline to stick with the activities
Yes, the goal inspires you, but the actual ‘doing’ part requires that you change habits, break comfort zones and work hard on your mind-set and insecurities that have held you back in the past.
You’re a human being and that means you have a brain. Your brain is designed to keep you safe, warm and comfortable. This creative muscle of yours is the most powerful creativity and visualisation tool that you have, but if you don’t work on it, it can get lazy.
You’re also more inclined to become impatient when success takes longer than expected, or you will end up quitting too soon when things get tough.
Action: Find an accountability partner. Give somebody you trust the permission to hold you accountable to the activities you need to do in order to achieve your goal. You cannot do this by yourself. If you could do it alone, you probably would have done it by now.

You can either get a coach and pay for accountability, or you can find a mentor. A mentor is a friend or advisor who buys into your goal and wants to see you succeed and prosper.
Believe me, I know all about quitting points. I’ve been trying to run 5 kms without stopping for the past six months. Being a complete non-runner has made this incredibly difficult. Adding a running partner to the mix gave me instant accountability and helped me transform my running in two sessions.
One final point - choosing your accountability partner is important.

Everybody wants accountability, until they receive it. Therefore, I would recommend that your accountability partner is not your spouse or life partner. At one point or another, your accountability partner is going to have to push you harder than you might expect and in that moment, you cannot afford to be sensitive to a few harsh truths. Someone too close to you might not be willing to ruin a relationship by speaking those truths.

Give it a try. Give someone permission to help you achieve everything to want to achieve. Do it this week.
Grant Gavin is the Founder of the Durban Entrepreneurs Club, International Speaker, Business Coach and owner of RE/MAX Panache, the largest real estate company in the North Durban suburbs. <
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