Fundamentals Of Achievement

Here are two quotes from Robin Sharma.

“Success is really, really simple. It’s not easy, but it’s really simple.”

“Success lies in a masterful consistency around the fundamentals.”

Robin Sharma is the author of a number of best-selling books, including The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and several others in that series and The Leader Who Had No Title. He is a speaker and consultant on Leadership and Personal Mastery, who numbers among his clients many of the top companies in the world, as well as leaders in governments, business, and entertainment. Robin has identified 8 fundamentals of achievement [Sharma] which I share with you today.

Foundation – Strengthen The Fundamentals

“A wise man . . . built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” [Adapted from Matthew 7: 24-25 ESV]

This parable reminds us how important it is to have a solid foundation, both for our buildings and our lives. The sand proved a poor foundation and the foolish man’s house tumbled down at the first big storm.

Nothing is more important than getting a good, solid, level foundation. Everything to come goes on top of the foundation. If it is firm and solid, the rest of the building has a better chance of being solidly built.

The same can be said for building a strong, solid life. In order to create an Excelerated life – a life of flourishing, of well-being, meaning and purpose – you must begin on a solid foundation. A strong personal foundation is the base upon which you can build a satisfying and fulling life.

You shore up and strengthen your foundation by focusing on the fundamentals. Here, according to Robin Sharma, are the fundamentals that make up the foundation of achievement.

The Fundamentals Of Achievement

Here are Robin Sharma’s “8 Fundamentals of Achievement”. [Sharma]

1. “Making no decision is a decision.” You can decide to do (e.g., practice your fundamentals) or you can decide not to do. Not deciding is the same as deciding not to do. And if you don’t do, the result is . . . nothing.

2. “The way of performing that got you to where you are today is not the way of performing that will get you to where you’ve always dreamed of being.” Compare this to the adage = “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” If you want your circumstances to improve, you must improve.

3. “Making excuses donates power to the very things you are excusing.” In the words of Mike Dooley, aka “The Universe“, “Show me someone who keeps getting in your way, and I’ll show you someone who keeps making excuses.”

4. “If you’re not being laughed at a lot you’re not doing very much.” and
5. “If you’re not scared a lot you’re not doing very much.” Here are two measures for how much progress you’re making – being laughed at and being scared. Brian Johnson says, “It’s not SUPPOSED to be easy all day every day—if it is, you’re DOING IT WRONG!” If you’re not doing it wrong (i.e., you’re doing it right), expect to be laughed at and scared.

6. “Investments in your personal development are the smartest investments you’ll ever make.” Time and money spent in improving your health, upgrading your skills, and building your knowledge base are repaid ten-fold or a hundred-fold or more. Brian Tracy said, “Invest three percent of your income in yourself in order to guarantee your future.”

7. “What you focus on always gets better.” Reminds me of this old saw I heard early in my career: “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” Select one thing you want to improve and focus on practicing it as perfectly as you can. You’ll get better as you grow.

8. “All great achievement begins with a single act of brave commitment.” Now this is easier said than done, but if you become fully — 100% — committed to something, you will achieve it.

Small Improvements Over Time

How can we put these fundamentals to good use? Jeff Olson tells us in The Slight Edge, that small actions repeated consistently eventually bring success. On the other hand, small errors in judgement – neglecting these small simple actions – repeated over time, lead to failure and disappointment. Simple daily disciplines are, as Jim Rohn tells us, easy to do but equally easy not to do.

Darren Hardy, author, keynote speaker, and former publisher of SUCCESS magazine, calls this concept the Compound Effect. The compound effect is at work every day. Either it is working for you or it is working against you. It depends entirely on what you choose to do. Or choose not to do.

Practice these fundamentals daily and, over time, you will master them. This is in itself a worthy achievement and it will lead to achievement in the other areas that are important to you.

Action Items

1. Make the decision to master the fundamentals. Then make a commitment. “All achievement begins with a . . . commitment.” Be all in – 100% – to do whatever it takes.

2. Invest one to 3 percent of your time and income into self-development. “Poor people have big TV’s,” said Jim Rohn. “Rich people have big libraries.”

3. Do something that takes you out of your comfort zone and closer to your BIG goal. You may be scared. People may laugh. You may be scared that people will laugh. Do it anyway.

Dig Deep

I’ve said it before and here it is again. If you want to know how tall a building is going to be, observe how deep the foundation is. The taller the building, the deeper the foundation must be. The higher you want to reach, the stronger must be your foundation. How do you build a strong foundation? By practicing the fundamentals – day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. Focus on the fundamentals. That is embracing the Excelerated Life!

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Excelerated accomplishment — achieving meaningful objectives — is one step in creating your Excelerated life, a life of flourishing, of well-being, meaning, and purpose.


Resources

Hardy, Darren. The Compound Effect. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2010

Olson, Jeff. The Slight Edge. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2005-2013

Sharma, Robin S. “The 8 Fundamentals of Extreme Achievement.” www.robinsharma.com. The Titan Academy Global AG,,. Web. 7 July 2018, <https://www.robinsharma.com/article/the-8-fundamentals-of-extreme-achievement>.


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