Siimon Reynolds has been an advertising guru for more than 25 years. He was the co-founder of Photon Group and has owned and run successful businesses since he was 23. A regular on the international speaking circuit, Reynolds is a widely published author and high-achievement expert.
More recently, he contributed to Joseph Rodarick Law’s book, Authentic Power and Greatness: A Practical Guide to Living an Enlightened Life, published by New Holland.
Here are Reynold’s top 10 tips extracted from the book on how to achieve greatness in the demanding world that we live in.
Decide what your purpose in life is
There’s no point sitting around and waiting for things to happen. Many people spend years trying to find their purpose but never do. Reynolds suggests you set a deadline. Give yourself a week, a month or a year to choose your purpose.
“Once you commit fully to any goal, your passion for it will massively increase.”
Once you’ve found your purpose, stick to it and look at it long-term instead of incrementally. Looking at the bigger picture drives us more and leaves no room for indecision.
Focus on holistic success
Taking a holistic approach means that, again, you’re looking at the whole picture. Society tends to celebrate those who excel in one single area but leave out the fact that they’re not doing so well in the others. That is definitely a focused goal, but not genuine success.
To achieve this, you need to make sure you understand the goal and find a way to be the most productive you can be when attempting to achieve it.
Be happy in life
This may sound a bit obvious and, frankly, difficult to do, but there is a trick to it. A lot of research suggests that in order to be happy, a person needs close personal relationships, positive outlook on life, reasonable control over our environment, a sense of purpose, a job that we’re deeply invested in and low stress levels.
Not all of us have this, but what we can do to achieve happiness is to decide that you are. As Buddha said, “Nothing is, but thinking makes it so.” Choose to be full of joy and you’ll soon notice that your mood is automatically going to improve. Look at your situation and be grateful, and happiness will come with that.
Do something you love
To quote Mark Twain: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
And it’s true. If you enjoy the “job” you do every day, then your tasks and long hours won’t matter because you’ll be loving every moment of it.
“Becoming great at anything is about deliberate practice and incremental improvement.”
Hard work and determination beats natural talent every single time. If you aim to hold yourself at a world-class standard every day, greatness will follow close behind.
Fake it ‘till you make it
Going back to that Buddha quote, “Nothing is, but thinking makes it so.” Reynolds says that top achievers see themselves as superb way before they’re even close to that level. Call it arrogance, but Reynolds refers to it as more “strong positive self-concepts”.
Choose greatness over mediocrity
In order to be great, you need to desire greatness. Those with weak desire fall to mediocrity. Not only does burning desire change your day-to-day actions, but it will also attract opportunities and luck into your life.
Be self-aware
Reynolds places importance on self-awareness. When you’re mindful of your inner balance throughout the day, you will start seeing ways of maintaining it. Whether it be through exercise, meditation or reading, inner balance helps with performance and confidence.
Set achievable goals
Reynolds says while we do need to reach for the star, if you will, but equally as important is making sure it’s possible to reach them. Your goals must be exciting; otherwise, you won’t want to achieve them — but they must also be reachable and manageable. Reynolds suggests setting no more than three goals at a time to ensure that you aren’t overwhelmed or discouraged.
Keep stress in check
Reynolds proposes two methods for managing stress: the Sedona Method and the Transcendental Meditation.
The Sedona Method involves thinking about the things that are stressing you out, accepting them and simply choosing to let them go. The other is the Transcendental Meditation which essentially puts you in an altered state of relaxation. Combine these two methods throughout the day and you’ll be sure to experience more bliss in your life.
READ!
Reynolds cannot stress this enough. Becoming wiser takes two things: experience or learning from others. The truth is, meeting people who can teach you these valuable lessons is extremely difficult; instead Reynolds encourages you to read about them.
“By simply reading their pages, you can get centuries of wisdom in just a few minutes. That’s why books are so magical.”
Siimon Reynolds’ three favourite books
- Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Buzan’s Book of Genius by Tony Buzan and Raymond Keane
