7 Steps: Shortening The Path To Success

Many of us strive to find the quickest and most efficient route in the quest for success. We yearn for a shortcut that will allow us to bypass the obstacles and challenges along the way. However, it is essential to understand that true success is not about finding a magical shortcut but optimising our efforts, easing our neurophysiology (brain and nervous system) to stay in the game, avoiding quitting and making the best use of our resources. Once we're trained, there's a shortcut, but sometimes, the hardest question is the route to success: Why might I fail?

All the research that underpins my work reveals that only 1% of people are genuinely open to their full potential, creative geniuses and, therefore, success. Think of it like getting to the deep end of the creativity pool. We need training to learn new protocols and tools to navigate past daily currents, accumulated stress, chaos, and emotional and energetic drag that stop us from reaching genius depths. That is why I have been working on my new course, Ingenious Flow, merging neuroscience, innovation, and well-being. It unlocks your genius networks and fast-tracks success and flow. But in the meantime:

Follow these seven steps to shorten the path to success in any venture, idea, or project.

Break through to the deep end to create like a genius and avoid burnout, the new pandemic of our time. 

Know where you're going & be aware of the Approach-Avoidance Conflict.'

Oprah Winfrey recently articulated a key factor that she believes distinguishes individuals who achieve success from those who do not. According to her, success is closely tied to having a clear sense of direction—knowing where one wants to go. However, she pointed out that many people either lack this clarity or possess only a vague notion, resulting in a lack of coordinated progress.

In my experience with clients, I have observed a similar pattern; it underscores the importance of investing ample time in introspection, carefully unravelling their aspirations, and subsequently taking deliberate actions to bring those aspirations to fruition.

A well-defined vision lets us streamline our efforts and focus on what truly matters. When we do this, we can concentrate on the actions and tasks that will propel us forward by eliminating unnecessary distractions. After all, we only have a limited amount of energy and attention and:

"Where you place your attention is where your energy flows." (as said by lots of wise minds.)

Furthermore, a clear goal is one of the nine key conditions of a Flow experience. Flow has been defined as 'being in our most optimal self and consciousness' by the late psychologist and godfather of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This experience is common to top performers, creative geniuses, and meditators'.  

In the context of success and knowing where you are going, it is worth breaking down the bigger goal, e.g. getting to the top of the mountain, into mini-milestones or tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to mitigate against 'Approach avoidance conflict', which means our brains can become divided and lead to anxiety and procrastination. 

Think of approach-avoidance conflict as putting your foot on the dopamine-motivation gas pedal in the direction you want to approach, but then you slam your foot on the brakes due to fear. The brakes are governed by the part of your brain that runs your emotions, the amygdala and memory, part of the hippocampus. It can become fearful and want to avoid the pain, uncertainty, risk and overwhelm of such a large goal. The result: procrastination, the opposite of success.

Thus, start by setting a clear, meaningful goal, but break it down into smaller tasks. Otherwise, you won't even get off home base, never mind creating a flow experience.

Once you know your why and you are clear on your vision, all your decisions are more accessible from there, and as Oprah says, I agree: "The universe will align things to make it so."  

But I also know that the universe and our sense of timing are very different. And sometimes the form may be different to what you imagined. So be curious about the detours that life will often throw at us, but know your long game!

Once you know the destination, ask: What do I want to feel when you reach the top?

 2. Energy: What's the energy of the story to your destination?

Everything has an energy; as quantum physics tells us, we are energy, so how will you imprint a positive energy signature into everything you do? How will you ensure the right energy ripples into your team and into your final product and service? This is what people buy and experience. The energy. It's palpable. 

Spend time figuring that out. Know it and breathe life into it. As Disney Animation Academy says, Imagineer: image, create to engineer, but breathe a life and energy signature into it, like a character or archetype.

In 2021, I thought I knew what I wanted to create in my business. Still, in 2023, as I spent more time in the research and writing process and was pushed to unpack my why and vision during my eighteen-month Business and Spiritual Directorship course, I realised I needed to get deeper. The energy of my business still needed to be clarified, and when I spent time inviting it in, it felt like alchemy between us, and it grew. So I smiled when I heard the celebrated frontman of The Smiths, Johnny Marr, talking about his guitars on the radio with Chris Evans, who always talks about the energy of people and things as the key to success.

Marr said his guitars have their own energy. They created the magic together: an alchemy between him and his fingers, which unlocked the magic of so many brilliant songs.

The Smiths - Johnny Marr:

 "Many of my guitars had Smith's songs in them already." They provided the first strings to the song and then it flowed.

As I listened, I imagined them to be his wand of creative magic.

How do we cultivate the energy?

Sit with your instrument, product or service; let its energy speak to you. Think of it as a 'living being' that wants to create through, and with you. Let the alchemy live. Get out of your own way.

One of the best ways to access this is to allow ourselves to get into the right brain wave state called Alpha. This is the natural brainwave state where we are most creative and the least self-critical. It’s like pressing mute on the inner critic.

Most of the time, we stay in a high-beta brain wave state, especially at work, which is a stressed state and where the critical mind acts like an energetic drag to our creative endeavours. It acts like a circuit breaker to optimal states of success and creativity and stops us from accessing deeper flowing wisdom.  

The truth is, these last 3 weeks, I have been doing just that. The result?

A new website - but I don’t really remember writing or doing it: I was in total immersion - A Flow with the alchemy of my business. Check out the site. I’m now thinking of running a workshop, so you too can experience and create the same - if you haven’t already done so, sign up for the newsletter letter and I’ll let you know when it is.

Alterntaively a good time to do this is in the morning after meditation or journaling with uncensored writing. Try this Meditation on Insight Timer to help you get more creative and open to wider energies.

If that’s not your jam, go for a run, walk or play, and then sit down and see what comes up.

3. Perspective: What can't you see?

In Psychology, there is a tool called Jahari's Window. It's an essential tool I learned as a therapist to help people see where they are and assess their internal blind spots or blocks. In terms of shortening the path to success, we should ask:

• "What can't I see about myself that a discerning person, or even my higher self, can?"

Make it stand out

A mentor's guidance: spotting blind spots, avoiding pitfalls, offering insights and wisdom, saving time and effort, shifting internal narratives & breaking limits. In my mind, being coached to improve on a skill can only happen if we can get over ourselves. i.e. quieten our internal narrative and critical voice, but that takes courage. That’s the work.

Learning from others who have already achieved what we aspire is invaluable, but know your paths will and should differ.  Also, be discerning.

As my friend and colleague always say: "Take what works and leave the rest", but whatever advice you decide to leave, ask yourself why. Are you leaving that advice because it’s bypassing the hard work, especially if it is asking you to change, and that feels hard?

Personality is not permanent, but our habitual thought patterns make us feel like they are. From this state of permanence, we can become rigid in our idea of success and how to solve problems, so we repeat ideas or processes. Great if they work, but as the quote from Henry Ford says:

“If You Always Do What You've Always Done, You'll Always Get What You've Always Got.”

What are you holding on to that is stopping you from changing and full success? 

Invitation to ask:

• What in me needs to shift to open to success?

• What do I need to become to call in success? 

We are a movie in motion. Let yourself change, but be authentic to yourself! Maybe think of yourself as a character and ask: How could I succeed if you took on another character or trait? 

So the real question is: Are you open to change?

4. Continuous learning

Additionally, embracing continuous learning is instrumental in accelerating our progress. Staying updated with the latest industry trends and best practices is essential to thrive in an ever-evolving world and our creative economy. By investing time in enhancing our skills and acquiring new knowledge, we can adapt quickly to changes and stay ahead of the competition. But that’s the easy part.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, James Cordon, Steven Bartlett, and Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't stick to one thing. They went where their passions took them and then, to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger in a recent interview with Chris Evans: "Work your ass off to succeed."

But let me offer another dimension.

We can work our asses off, but how comfortable are you with taking on feedback, sitting outside of your comfort zone, and knowing the growing pains are worth it, even if they are painful?

As someone who left a successful career and went back to do a master's and do brain scanning studies and then learn new skills with teachers who didn't mince their words (ouch!), I needed courage and a good dose of humility to take on the feedback and self-worth.

The enabler?

Being able to regulate and ease my nervous system.

Learning to ease my nervous system and put it into a state of safety to allow me to process the feedback helped me to stay, not run away, reject the feedback, get angry, but learn!

Otherwise, as humans with a propensity to see the negative, we will find it hard to take on feedback and level up. We will find it hard to step outside our comfort zone for long enough to help us grow and deal with the messy middle of growth.

Taking a risk is risky for the brain and nervous system. I have shed tears and nearly given up, but the first line of defence is to ease our nervous system, which signals our brain to say it’s okay to keep going. The body-brain connection is real and is 80% afferent, which means more signals are sent from the body to the brain than the other way around. Thus, easing the system is essential.

Some simple somatic tools can help with this. One is tapping, a well-researched and journaled approach to dealing with stress and trauma. Think of it like acupuncture for your nervous system, but many protocols can be used, too. I teach the AFLOW Protocol, but a simple method is ARC, which I learned at the Institute of Intuitive Intelligence.

• A - Acknowledge how you feel and the fear. There is no bypassing this

• R - Regulate your nervous system. Try the Physiological sigh method (in the tools sections). Science proves this is the best method to ground and centre you.

• C - Connect. Connect back with yourself. From here, get curious to get some perspective and avoid the combat-collapse cycle we can enter when we are challenged or fearful.

Reach out if you want to try a few and see what works best for your individual nervous system type. This will help you unlearn and encode new neural pathways to make it easier to succeed in a stressful situation.

5. Resilient & Creative Mindset

When striving for success, it is vital to develop a resilient mindset. Setbacks and failures are an inevitable part of the joWhen striving for success, it is vital to develop a resilient mindset. Setbacks and failures are an inevitable part of the journey. Instead of getting discouraged, we must view these challenges as opportunities for growth. By embracing a positive, creative mindset and reframing failure as a stepping stone towards success, we can overcome obstacles more swiftly and move closer to our desired outcomes.

I believe fostering creative intelligence is the key here. As the author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert says: 

"Creativity is the hallmark of our species." So, that means we need to get compassionately creative and curious when we hit a setback, not fall into defeat. Think like an experimenter. I am passionate about helping people foster a creative, curious mindset. Seeing life as an experiment: it is okay to get it wrong.

I teach and empower people to open up to their creative geniuses by sharing the neuroscience of creative geniuses and open to their creative intelligence. However, a resilient mindset should be complemented by tools to regulate our nervous system, as that is the scorecard of our stress, and it needs to be released with somatic practices. Back to point 4.

 6. Leverage AI

Leveraging technology and automation can significantly speed up our progress. In this digital age, numerous tools and resources are available that can streamline our workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and increase productivity. By harnessing the power of technology, we can free up time and energy to focus on the activities that require our attention and expertise.

But remember, as the person behind the process or AI, you must ensure you are at your best and creating at your best. As I often said to the machine learning engineers in my old role as a product manager: “Rubbish in, rubbish out.” We can’t fake feeling good. Otherwise, feeling successful will always elude us.

7. Pre-postmortem: Ask, Why might it fail?

Consider the ways your venture or idea could fail. Be objective and thoughtful about this.

Steven Bartlett's book, "The Dairy of a CEO," emphasizes the importance of asking this question. Reflecting on his own experiences, he spent three years on a venture he should have exited earlier. He also stopped pursuing another business venture just hours before giving it the green light and after six months of exploration (although he eventually did start it again.)

One of my past behavioural psychology lecturers always said that human nature tends to make us overly optimistic about our own endeavours. Doing a pre-postmortem, a preventive step before a post-mortem analysis of a hypothetical death of a project, allows us to identify potential risks and consider whether our current resources and market conditions make it feasible to do this. Asking: is it accessible, profitable, achievable, and scalable right now?

This is not a reflection of personal failure but rather an opportunity to evaluate the timing and viability of the venture. These are tough questions, but try to approach them objectively and not as a personal tool for self-criticism.

In conclusion,

Shortening the path to success is not about finding a miraculous shortcut but knowing and strengthening our neurophysiology and optimising efforts and resources. We can expedite our journey towards success by setting clear goals, seeking guidance, embracing continuous learning, developing a resilient, creative mindset, and leveraging technology. But remember, true success is not solely measured by the destination but also by the growth and fulfilment we experience throughout the process.

If you want to go deeper and find ways to train yourself to make a shortcut to open your genius circuits, check out my new offering, Ingenious Flow Course, or get some one-to-one coaching.

Remember that if you feeling challenged at the moment as you aim for success, it’s just life’s way of asking you to level up to our best self. Good Luck!

With Moonbeams

Nila

Remember, if you’re curious about opening up the spirit of your business or idea and letting it take the lead, sign up for the newsletter for the new workshop.