Today I learnt about the top 10 rules of success from the great Robin Sharma by going through the below video,
Be Prepared to SUFFER to Reach GREATNESS! | Robin Sharma | Top 10 Rules
In this video, he has shared some real gems of wisdom for achieving true success in life. No matter which field you are in, these rules are applicable to all. Below I have tried to capture a gist of what I learnt from this video. Hope you find it useful.
Contents
Execute your ideas
It is not enough to just read books or learn online courses. You will have to apply the learnings in your life in order to be successful. Learning without execution is nothing but wishful thinking. So while learning is important it is also critical to apply them in real situations in your life.
Aim for legendary
Shoot for the stars so that even if you miss you at least reach the moon! Always dream big in life. Whichever field you are in aim to be #1 in that field and become the master of your craft.
Create a one-page plan
It is very important to be the master of your own life and take full control of it. Often it is seen that people drag through their life instead of being in control of it. Many people fill up their time with Facebook, Instagram, social media and other distractions just because they don’t know what their goals really are in life. It is very important to know your goals one year, two years and five years down the line. You should know what are the things that you need to achieve in a year in order to make it a successful year for you. Every week on Sunday, create a schedule for the upcoming week starting from Monday to Sunday. Block out times for things that really matter to you, e.g. exercise, meditation, self-reflection, learning, etc.
Become outrageously enthusiastic
Often the most successful people in the world are also the most enthusiastic people around. Leadership is all about being able to inspire people. And that can happen only if you are enthusiastic, positive and full of energy.
Be an instrument of service
No matter whether you are in a business or in a job, always look to serve. Deliver more than what are you expected to do. This is something which is rare in today’s world. Most of the times we see businesses delivering only what customers want or even at times less. Aim to be deliver 10X your customers’ expectations. Similarly if you are in a job don’t just stick to what your manager of your boss expects. Deliver over and above their expectations. If you keep doing this consistently soon you will become an indispensable asset to your organisation.
Accept failure
It’s OK to fail in life. If you try something new in life you will inadvertently fail the first few times. That just means you are going in the right direction. All the great people that we see around today started out as failures. The only thing that was different between them and others was that every time they failed, they picked themselves up. They learnt from their mistakes and moved ahead. They failed forward instead of backward.
Raise your standards
When you try something new or try to become the best version of yourself, you will often have to do things differently than the rest of the masses. That is a challenging thing to do. That is why initially most of the game changers in the world were mocked and ridiculed before they were revered. So if you find your friends or others making fun of you because you are trying to do something to improve your life, let them do it. You just keep working on yourself and aim to become the best version that you possibly can. And one day these same people will start respecting you and come to you for advice.
Run the 20/20/20 formula
Robin Sharma advises to wake up daily at 5 am in the morning. Then utilize the first 20 minutes up to 5:20 am for doing intense exercise. That will release dopamine in the brain so that we feel energetic. Additionally it will also reduce the amount of cortisol in the brain that will help to reduce stress. The next 20 minutes should be spent on planning the schedule for that day. In your journal write down the top 3 things that you want to get completed by that day in order to make it a productive one. Lastly the remaining 20 minutes from 5:40am-6am should be spent on learning something new.
Small wins matter
As the saying goes “Rome was not built in a day”, any great achievement in life is an accumulation of multiple small wins along the way. Divide your goals into multiple sub-goals and have an ETA for each of them. When you achieve each of these milestones remember to celebrate and reward yourself. That will help to build up motivation and momentum that will help to take you to the end of your journey.
Stop making excuses
Robin Sharma talks about an inspiring story of a janitor in Johannesburg airport. When he entered the men’s washroom in the Johannesburg airport, the janitor welcomed him cheerfully with “Welcome to my office”. He did not look down at his work as something which is insignificant or despicable. To him it was his duty to maintain the cleanliness of the washroom to its highest standards as that will also be a reflection of South Africa to foreigners. Such was the standards that he maintained in his duty which is often lacking even in some of the top CEOs of the world.