By Noah St. John
In Permission to Succeed, I lay out a seven-step
process to reverse success anorexia and give yourself permission to
succeed. Here are a few tips you can begin today:
Identify Your "Loving Mirrors"
A Loving Mirror is someone who can see you for who you really are, someone
who can love and support you unconditionally. While this may sound "touchy-feely,"
we all need the loving encouragement of someone like a coach, teacher
or mentor to become all we can be.
Make a list of the people in your life who can offer
you unconditional support. Then do something really weird: call them
and ask them for their support. You'll be shocked at how many people
will say "yes." (For more resources to help you find "Loving
Mirrors", click
here)
Become Willing to Succeed
Few people realize that what we want is also what we fear. If you're
afraid of success, no matter how many "how-to’s" of success
you know, you still won't let yourself succeed.
How to reverse this? Try doing a Ben Franklin on yourself.
Whenever Benjamin Franklin had a difficult decision to make, he would
make a list of the pros and cons of the decision on a piece of paper.
You can do the same thing with the idea of success.
What could possibly be a drawback to succeeding? For
one thing, you may have to face your fear of the unfamiliar or of people
being jealous of you. Another possibility is that others may expect
more of you once you start to let yourself succeed.
List the drawbacks and benefits of success and you
can take the first step to facing—and overcoming—the fear
of success.
Establish Goal-free Zones
A Goal-free Zone is a time and place where you don't do anything. So
many of us are overwhelmed by our "to-do" lists every day
that we can get to the end of the day and feel we’ve accomplished nothing,
even though we’ve been running around like idiots all day.
I encourage my students around the world to establish
Goal-free Zones, because that way we learn that the world won't end
if we take time for ourselves. This can be one of the hardest steps
for people who are used to doing everything for others and feeling guilty
when they do something "selfish." We are victims of circumstances
within our control.
Stopping yourself from the success you're capable
of means you're not sharing your true gifts with the rest of humanity.
Yet the world hungers for—and rewards—people with the courage
to express their true selves. Use the steps above to stop pushing away
the success you want and are capable of achieving, and let your light
shine in a world that so desperately needs it.
Plus, take St. John’s self-assessment, "Are
You Pushing Success Away?" from his book Permission to Succeed.
Want to learn more? Consider these AMA seminars:
Author Bio: Noah St. John, along with Denise
Berard, is co-founder of The Success Clinic of America. His first two
books, Permission to Succeed and The Great Little Book of
Afformations, have been translated into six languages. and sold
on five continents. He can be reached at noah@SuccessClinic.com
or 978-957-9999. His free newsletter is available at http://www.SuccessClinic.com
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