Get ideas, put them into practice!
What is the key?
If i could blame all my failures in life on one thing, it would be a lack of consistency.
You don't need to be extraordinary, you don't need to be the best, the smartest, you just need consistency to succeed. Of course, it helps to be the best, but it is not essential.
Consistency = steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.: There is consistency in his pattern of behavior .
(Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consistency)
How to develop consistency and get things done?
These steps can be applied to anything you may want to achieve:
1. Write down ideas
This is so simple and yet so powerful. I'm sure you know that the simple things are always the most powerful. If you write down your best ideas on a little notebook you carry around, you'll soon discover that you actually have a lot of them. When people say they can't come up with new ideas, it's usually just because they forget a lot.
Occasionally you should check your notebook and figure out what ideas are the best, so that you'll be left with the cream of the crop. These are the ideas that should be implemented.
2. Set a plan for putting your most amazing idea into practice. Write it down!
This maybe seems a bit too much. However it helps by giving your future actions a structure. It creates a routine that can later become a reflex. If you have a checklist of actions, each action you check off will leave you feeling amazing and motivate you to push forward. If you never used checklists, this would be a good time to start. They really give you satisfaction and efficiency.
3. ONLY follow the plan you set
This is the key.
If you stick to the plan you made = consistency.
If you stray or obssess over constantly adding new things to your plan, making improvements or generally just thinking about other things except what you have written down = lack of consistency.
What should be understood here is that putting an idea into practice is not a test of who is the best/brightest/most creative. We must get things done. Thinking time is over. This is the time to act. We must focus our efforts on this.
It is also important to only follow one, or at least very few projects at a given time. Doing more will just postpone the results and steer you off course. Your brain will probably find excuses. You will generally be tired. You will be less effective because your subconscious mind will be busy solving many problems at the same time.
Be efficient and organized, follow your plan, take breaks when you have to and you will get results. That's what you should be after. Results. Thoughts are in your head, nobody can know them. Your actions present you to the world.
