Understanding the Makeup of You (Chapter 7 - Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success)

Be the kind of man you want to be by taking on the right makeup, which will make room for your gift.

In order for you to properly fuel your gift, you have to embody the proper makeup, and that sometimes requires change on your part.

You have to get the right caliber of traits together that will lead you to your biggest dreams.  Your makeup is the driving force behind the vehicle that you have attached yourself to that will lead you to success.

You first need to be the kind of person who attracts rather than repels others.  You have to be easy to work with, or at least be willing to create the atmosphere that makes it easy to work with you.

You must also recognize your shortcomings and be willing to improve on them.  You have to be willing to grow and to allow your failures to shape you.

Finally, you have to respect time - yours and others - by being punctual.  You have to be a person of integrity.  You have to be honorable and reliable by doing what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it.

Look In The Mirror and Be Honest
Go to a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and be honest with where you are right now in every aspect of your life.  If you are not happy with where you are, ask yourself what is the thing that keeps blocking you.  Look beyond your excuses and ask yourself, Why?  

Get Real
Replace your bad habits and characteristics, the things that are blocking you, with a strategy that will get you into action.  Make a commitment to get real and find positive and responsible replacement actions.

Get New Habits
Once you have identified the habits that are blocking your growth and success, replace them with positive habits.  Focus your energy on developing new habits.  Don't worry about the amount of time it may take to replace these habits; just take it one day at a time, one action at a time, one step at a time.

Write down your new habit actions and check them everyday when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep.  Every morning, plan how you are going to attack your new habits for the day, and every night, assess your success with your new habits for the day.

Growth In Integrity
When changing your makeup, you have to focus on becoming a more positive person with integrity to get the job done.  

As we grow in our integrity, one of the first pieces to focus on is learning how to lead.  We get too focused on looking to other people at times when the real answer lie inside of us.  We have to take the time to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses.  

The Blessings You Already Have
You have to make sure that your core makeup has the right balance.  You have to prioritize your life, and take care of the blessings that you already have.  How do you think that more blessings will come to you if you won't take care of the blessings you've already been given?

You can't get stuck in how you do things that you aren't open to seeing and doing things in a different way.  You must be ready for new opportunities.  Always be prepared to answer: What's next?  Knowing what's next is paramount to future success.

You're calling has to be stronger than your current circumstances to help your dream keep moving forward.

Catalog the Skills You Have and Identify the Skills You Need to Grow
If you aren't sure what traits you need to work on, think about the skills for which people give you the most compliments.  

Next take stock of the characteristics that people constantly tell you that you need to improve on.  Perfecting your character is as much a part of your development as executing your gift.

Be the kind of man you want to be by taking on the right makeup, which will make room for your gift.