From two to five he worked at his trade. The rest of the evening until 10 he spent in music, or diversion of some sort. This time is used also to put things in their places. In the last thing before retiring was examination of the day. At the age of 79, he ascribed his health to temperance; the acquisition of misfortune to industry and frugality; the confidence of his country to sincerity and justice.

• Success is something of which we all want more
• Most people believe that success is difficult
• There are basically six key areas to higher achievement
• Believing in yourself and those around you
• Making a decision to do something

There are basically six key areas to higher achievement. Some people will tell you there are four while others may tell you there are eight. One thing for certain though, is that irrespective of the number of steps the experts talk about, they all originate from the same roots.

• Making the decisio
• Clarity – developing the Vision
• Commitment – understanding the price and having the willingness to pay that price
• Belief – believing in yourself and those around you
• Taking action – practice Ready, Fire, Aim…

Focus is having the unwavering attention to complete what you set out to do. There are a million distractions in every facet of our lives. Telephones and e-mail, clients and managers, spouses and kids, TV, newspapers and radio – the distractions are everywhere and endless. Everyone wants a piece of us and the result can be totally overwhelming.

• So, how can we stay on course with all the distractions
• The best way is to develop and follow a plan. Start with your goals
• What steps are required to get you to the goals? Make the plan as detailed as possible.
• Try to visualize and then plan for, every possible setback.
• Commit the plan to paper and then keep it with you at all times.

Along with your plans, you should consider developing an action orientation that will keep you motivated to move forward at all times. This requires a little self-discipline, but is a crucial component to achievement of any kind. Before starting any new activity, ask yourself if that activity will move you closer to your goals.

• If the answer is no, you may want to reconsider doing it
• I coach my clients to practice the 3 D’s – Defer, Delegate or Delete
• Can the particular activity be done later? Defer it!
• Commitment is something that comes from understanding that everything
• This is important because nobody wants to put significant effort into