How to Become More Extraordinary Than You Already Are

Many of us think that you have to be talented to succeed. However, recent scientific research has proven that the genes you are born with are open to influence. In his new book, From Ordinary to Extraordinary, Brian Colbert promises to teach you the practical tools and techniques to transform your life into the special experience you deserve to have.

In the excerpt from the book, Brian Colbert examines strategies of exceptional people, like Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Thomas Edison and Oprah Winfrey, and suggests that we all can introduce some techniques and strategies of these people to create a model of excellence for yourself.

- Decide Your Mission

Extraordinary people are planners: they have decided where their life is headed and they hold clear, compelling and precise inner pictures of what they want to accomplish. This ability is fundamental to your success, so throughout this book there will be plenty of guidance to help you on your way. If you don’t have a life plan, you might find my first book, The Happiness Habit, helpful in creating one.

- Choose Only the Goals That Excite You

No matter how well-meaning or noble your intentions may be, if your chosen goals fail to excite you, there is no way you will be able to remain focused in times of challenge or duress. Motivation is dependent on inspiration. If you want to live an exceptional life, you need to choose the goals that lift your heart and make your life worth living. The goals you choose need to be strong enough to pull you from tiredness, to lift you from laziness and to draw you away from passivity. In a nutshell, they need to light your fire! If your goal is well chosen, it will spark an enthusiasm in you that will sharpen your senses, fire up your feelings and make you feel compelled to get things done. You will do it not only for what it will do for you, but because you believe it is something really worthwhile. When Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring to fight, he was not only fighting his opponent: he was fighting racial oppression. If you struggle to muster enthusiasm or get yourself into action, chances are you have chosen the wrong goal. Take a step back and make a better choice; you deserve the best, so choose the best.

- Have Courage

You have to be prepared to face adversity. You have to resolve to stay on track. You have got to move beyond what other people think and stay true to yourself and your goal.

- Be Consistent

Every day offers you another opportunity. You have got to want your goals enough to be prepared to work on them every day, constantly fine-tuning, upgrading, improving and making progress.

- Be Honest

You need to be brutally honest with yourself. You need to accurately assess where you are, what you need to do and how you need to improve.

- Belief in Yourself

If you are not confident, you will need to work on that. If you need help with this, go out and get it. Confidence is not just something you either have or don’t have; it’s a learnable skill. Optimism is one of the cornerstones of confidence.

- Learn to Deal with Naysayers

There will always be someone who thinks they know better and will be more than happy to try to bring you down. Realise that this is a part of life and that they are probably criticising your dreams because they are not pursuing their own.

- Take Calculated Risks

Extraordinary people often take chances. The difference is that they work out the odds in advance. So if they fail, they accept that at least they have done their best. Get used to working out possibilities inside your mind before you take action. If they don’t go to plan after that, simply learn from your mistakes and move on.

- Seek Out New Opportunities

Extraordinary people are go-getters: they do not wait for the mountain to come to them, they go to the mountain! They know that life takes on a different pace when you seek out opportunities, rather than waiting for them to come to you. In every moment, you get to choose. You can let life happen to you or you can make it flow through you.

- Develop Your People Skills

No man is an island and on your journey to greatness you will need to have friends. It makes sense to develop healthy relationships with people.

- Keep High Standards

Extraordinary people hold themselves to exceptionally high standards and realise that this is the cornerstone of brilliance. My friend Tom Ziglar is the son of legendary motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. Tom once told me that his dad could do a practice session lasting up to four hours on a speech that he had already delivered hundreds and hundreds of times. Obviously, he was forever tweaking and perfecting; and if you ever hear him speak, you will hear an extraordinary master at work.

- See the Funny Side of Things

Extraordinary people don’t sweat the small stuff and in the midst of pursuing their goals they realise that it is important to bring fun into all that you do. Enjoy life, discover what you love to do – and do more of it!

- Be Flexible

Be prepared to make changes and try new things. Extraordinary people realise that, in order to stay ahead of the game, you must accept that the only constant is change. If you change, you grow.

- Be Curious

Extraordinary people have an insatiable curiosity. They are perpetually questioning assumptions and experimenting with things. They look for patterns and they examine differences. They are constantly on the lookout for the obscure, the new and the undiscovered.

- Tap into the Power of Your Imagination

Extraordinary people realise the power of imagination. Most of them spend time each day using their mind to come up with new ideas, solve problems, create opportunities and develop plans and strategies. They realise that everything comes from the mind; so, the better you can use yours, the greater your chances of success. Shakespeare, Mozart, William Blake, Nikola Tesla and Tchaikovsky all credited their imaginations for the creation of their works of art.

THE AUTHOR