is638979454 top 100 system largeOne of the strategies I was fortunate enough to learn years ago that I now talk about on a regular basis is a simple exercise that has the power of changing lives. Simply create a list of your 100 successes or victories. [quotesright]By creating a list of at least 100 of your life successes will change your entire perspective of yourself and your potential. [/quotesright]

Here’s how to apply the 100 Success List method:

  • List ALL the things that you have learned and accomplished: big or small, count them all. Start your 100-plus success list from the time you were born; think back and ask what have you learned?

    You probably won’t be able recall the early days of your life, that’s not a problem. If you have children or grandchildren, you can borrow from them. They’ll show you that you first learned to crawl then learned to stand up holding a leg of a bigger person.

    They will show you that they can drink out of a sippy cup just like you did. They learn to climb, to walk, to run, to speak, and they eventually pass kindergarten as you did. They pass grade one, where they learn to read, print, and develop social skills.

    An example of one of my successes is when I was appointed by the coach to be the captain of my Pee Wee hockey team; it still resonates with me today as I share this with you.
  • Keep adding to your list. It doesn’t need to be in chronological order, just get them all down and don’t take anything for granted.
  • Once you have added ALL 100-plus successes to your list, enjoy how you feel and embrace that feeling.
  • Next, narrow that down to a list of your top 10 successes. These are the ones that resonate with you the most.
  • Refer to your Top 10 list daily – or as often as the need arises – to help you develop your new extraordinary self-view. This is what I call the Flick Back – Flick Up system of accelerating change. [quotesright]It’s not just mumbo jumbo, it has a sound psychological basis for working. [/quotesright]

Psychologist Dr. Albert Bandura developed the theory of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person's belief in his or her own ability. He says that we tend to go through our successes too fast and we take them too lightly. We need to stop taking ourselves for granted and take time to sanction all that we have done and will continue to do, be and learn.

I recommend you use your successes to catapult yourself past mental images that hold you back because these are the “Obstacle Illusions” that can impede our way to great success.

On many occasions this strategy has helped to move me from being fearful and anxious of tackling an extraordinary opportunity and turning it into a success because my list had created a “new normal,” a second nature, a just-like-me kind of thing.

One example of when I was able to leverage the 100 Success List method was when I had moved to a new city and taken on an account that was five times larger in scope than any other previous account I had managed. I was way out of my comfort zone.

I needed help. I needed to increase my efficacy to take on the challenges. I was sitting in my hotel room on the weekend doubting myself, asking if I had taken on more than I could handle and wondering if I should I throw in the towel and go back to Calgary.

Throwing in the towel and moving back wasn’t an option that I wanted to take; besides, what would others think, right? Fortunately, I had several dozen books and audio programs with me. As I dove in on the weekend and applied the material that I was studying, I was introduced to the 100 Success List.

It saved me from my own self-doubts and super-charged my effectiveness.

Give It a Go

When you try the 100 Success List Method you will almost effortlessly create new habits, increase your causative power and self-efficacy, and be able to add more and more successes along the way.

The extraordinary psychological power of this method has enabled me to turn previously unimaginably challenging opportunities into successes. I made achieving them my new normal, my new habit.

I have been able to use this “Flick Back – Flick Up” method of reviewing my past successes to make the changes and spur the growth needed to take on bigger opportunities.

I shared the same stage as Brian Tracy where I facilitated a 90-minute program for a room full of Business Coaches. Talk about pressure! These were my peers and Brian Tracy – a legendary speaker, business coach, author, and consultant – is certainly way above my grade. Did the 100 Success List help me get past what could have been big time anxiety and jitters? Yes it did – big time! How did that opportunity work out? Several my peers asked me how many times I had delivered the training.

When I responded, “This was my first time, ever,” they invariably reacted with, “Really? It sounded like you have presented this several times.”

Why not give this a try, what would you dare to commit to? A new car, a new house, a cottage, a trip, business growth to double your current revenue?

Think of something that you have dreamed about but haven’t acted on. Pick something you don’t even know how to do yet. Now get out a piece of paper and start writing down your successes, note that I did say write, writing by hand activates our creative process and recall. Set aside some quiet time and do it in one sitting. [quotesright]You’ll be amazed at the results. [/quotesright]

Let me know about your experience; I don’t need to see your successes, but I am interested in what you learned, experienced, and whether there were any surprises when you recalled your successes. Remember: Big or Small recall them All!

 - by Phil Gilkes

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