Hint: Stop focusing on "How to".
In today's world, there are plenty of "how to's" and "DIY" video's and articles out there to support and teach anyone who wants to do anything.
Yet there still seems to be an abundance of individuals who, for some reason, are still struggling to achieve their dream. Whether that be losing weight, learning to play guitar, or starting a business. People seem to be stalling because they don't know "how to".
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential" - Winston Churchill
One possible reason for this is because our society is proficient at making us believe that, in order to become successful, we must be educated. Because education teaches us "how to".
A possible reason why so many are struggling to achieve their dreams is because they believe that they must know "how to" be successful: we must know "how to" lose weight, we must know how to play guitar or read music, and we must know how to start and run a business before actually doing so.
We are led to believe that we must know how to do all these things before we take action, because if we don't know how, then we won't be successful.
But the reality is, when you're first starting out, you don't know how. So the search for how to do "x" begins.
Searches on "How to lose weight" and "How to start a business" brings in articles and videos by the 100s or 1000s depending on the topic. Yet still, nothing happens. People stall on taking action. Why? They are still focused on "how to".
Winston Churchill once said, "Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential".
This couldn't be closer to the truth.
Knowing the HOW is one of the last ingredients in the recipe for success. "Continuous effort", on the other hand, is all about taking ACTION.
Focusing on how first, which leads to spending enormous amounts of time on researching, tricks us into believing we are taking action; However, we are not any closer to achieving the results we want.
Effort is the application of motivation in order to accomplish a goal, not the use of knowledge, skill or experience. The more motivation you have, the more effort you will apply.
Knowledge, skill and experience increase the efficiency of effort, as you learn what works and what does not work. However, it is not effort. And without effort, there is no result.
For example, if you increased your knowledge on baking by reading everything there was to read on "how to bake", but never actually practiced baking, would you be a baker? Unlikely.
This is why continuous effort towards something is so much more important than knowing "how to", because Continuous Effort is actually Continuous Action that is driven by motivation.
The number one differentiating factor between those that are achieving their goals and those that are not, is those achieving their goals continuously apply effort towards achieving their goals. No. Matter. What.
Here is a simple graph I've developed to easily describe the importance of Continuous Effort to my clients:
The graph shows that, although having a high "Know How" is important to the efficiency of effort, by itself it does not get you any results. Applying continuous effort, even when you don't know how to do something, will.
The number one differentiating factor between those that are achieving their goals and those that are not, is those achieving their goals continuously apply effort towards achieving their goals. No. Matter. What.
For another example, I know very little on "how to lose weight", but if I show up to the gym and continuously put in effort, I'll lose more weight then the person who knows more than me but puts in very little effort.
The same applies to business.
Plus, the beautiful thing about continuously applying effort, even when you are low on "know how", is the more you do - the more action you take - the more knowledge you build, the more experience you gain, the more skill you develop, the more you know "how to" increases.
Just do an internet search for Successful People Who Failed, and you will find multiple articles on people who, if not for being motivated to apply continuous effort towards achieving their dream(s), they would have given up because they were not good enough (i.e. they didn't know "how to").
Why did they become successful? It wasn't luck. They were focused on continuously applying effort towards achieving their goal, not on the how to, not on the immediate result of their efforts.
Because of this shift in focus, they continued to build their knowledge, gain more experience, and develop their skills until they achieved the result they set out for.
So stop focusing on "How to", and start putting some continuous effort into achieving your goals today.
Lee Picco owns a consulting business focused on loss prevention and organizational behaviour. He has spent over a decade studying leadership, human behaviour, and identifying what motivates people.
In addition to his consulting business, Lee Picco is also a professional speaker and results coach who assists individuals & leaders perform at their best.
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