How to Stop Yourself From Becoming Complacent

The biggest roadblock facing creatives, entrepreneurs, coaches, and business owners is not a lack of creativity or vision, but rather reaching some success and stopping. They unknowingly get stuck in a cycle of achieving success and relaxing, only to limit their own potential.

The term “success” is subjective and a matter of your own opinion, but a hunger to achieve more is what will carry you into the next project. The key is to develop the mindset where you never settle for less than what you can be.

1. Be your own motivator on a daily basis 

Motivation is internal and is your greatest tool for impacting your surroundings, or the external.  The key is to not let the events happening around you affect your internal being. This means taking charge and being responsible for what you can control. Knowing your why, as well as your purpose helps you move strategically and motivate you to not let your guard down.

You know yourself better than anyone else. Only you can answer what your purpose is and how far you want to take your success. If you want success, you have to take massive action to overcome hurdles as they arise. From distractions, to setbacks, to temporary failures, you have to remain focused and stay ahead. This will generate resilience. You create your own life and how far you’ll go is up to you.

There will always be storms at sea, but you’ll be able to survive by having a plan of action. This is why you have to set goals and follow through to achieve them. 

2. Keep your purpose clear 

Defining your purpose and reflecting on your past helps you realign with your vision. Remind yourself of your purpose, and check in with yourself to ensure you’re reaching your targets.  Again, your goals are yours alone and being honest with yourself helps you determine if you’re where you need to be.

Too many people give up because they lose sight of their goals, or only follow through half way. You must know your why and ensure your actions correspond to the completion of your goals because no one is going to complete them for you. 

By having a clear why, you have a clear path ahead. By knowing the road ahead, you’ll know what to do next and this will keep you engaged and ready to move forward. All you have to do is act, and you’ll instinctively know what to do because you’ve reminded yourself of your vision. 

“Success can lead to complacency, and complacency is the greatest enemy of success.” – Brian Tracy

3. Envision a timeline (and stick to it)

Your timeline is the overall progression of your life. Envision a timeline to remember your past

create your own milestones. It’s also a way to connect the dots, so to speak, and give you a trajectory for your next move. Think of it like this. You graduate high school, go to college, find a job, and eventually get a promotion. This, however, is where most people stop, because people end up settling because society tells them you’ve now successful (by society’s standards).  

By having a vision of your own success, you create your own timeline and set the steps to get here. Let’s say you want to start a YouTube channel. Your first target may be to reach 10K subscribers. Then you can reach 20K subscribers, and 50K subscribers, and 100K subscribers by the end of the year. The key is to be continuously evolving and setting the bar higher than the last, as opposed to taking your foot off the gas once you’ve hit a certain mark.

4. Remember your past

To be clear, remembering your past is not the same as living in your past. Remembering and thinking about your past is a form of self reflection that helps you redefine who you are and who you want to become. This works in several ways. First, you can use the past to remember your mistakes and prevent yourself from making the same ones.

But, it can also give you the motivation to build upon your previous accomplishments and spark further greatness. By digging deeper, you can create a greater vision and act on the momentum you’ve created from your memories.   

Harnessing the power of your past lets you learn from your mistakes and transform your positives to become an even greater person. This will unlock the doors to reaching your full potential. As long as you use the past as a teaching tool, you can use it to compliment your strengths and gain momentum on your journey forward. 

5. Everyday is a new day 

Although it sounds basic, everyday is a new day to learn from the past and start the day off right. Having a solid start is one of the greatest ways to stay motivated because today gives you the power to start new. If you look at everyday as a new beginning you’ll be more motivated to reach further and continuously strive. Remember, Today is the first day of the rest of your life.  

Most people have New Year’s resolutions, but those who wish to exceed average can use every single day as a fresh start to be better. It’s a mindset hack to motivate you to seize everyday and transform it to your advantage. By starting everyday with a positive attitude and willingness to learn, you create positive momentum that will take you far in any life endeavor. It will also give you the tenacity to overcome any obstacle in your way because you’re not bogged down by life’s trials and tribulations. 

6. Focus on impact, not income 

Most people work for a salary, typically 40 hours a week with some overtime. However, trading dollars for hours will seldom generate the highest level of impact. When you start a business and focus on impact, it changes the purpose of your organization and work efforts for the better.  Impact is people-focused and changes lives, whereas a paycheck mindset often translates to doing the bare minimum.

When you’re building a business to serve as many people as you can, you can set and measure your targets to measure your success. As business grows, you can set your targets higher, create more learning materials, and take the business in a new direction. You have to consistently set the bar higher to ensure you’re creating the greatest possible impact, as opposed to doing the bare minimum to collect a paycheck. 

Being your own boss is one of the greatest ways of directly creating an impact on your target audience, while continuously building a following. By creating something, such as an online course, you’re serving others by helping them achieve their goals.

7. Never, ever peak

It’s okay to celebrate success, but always keep striving for more. Do celebrate, but don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Entrepreneurs achieve success by staying hungry, and knowing that there’s always more to do and learn.

I’m not telling you to never be happy. In fact, a hearty celebration is a great way to reward yourself for reaching your goals. The problem is when you get caught in the celebration and use it as a crutch to justify laziness and procrastination. 

Again, a reminder that everyone is different and ultimately your ideas of success are yours alone. The point I’m making is that there is always more and to keep striving to reach new heights. Let’s say you reached a million subscribers. Now, reach your next milestone so you don’t lose the momentum you gained by settling down and resting in your comfort zone.  

Conclusion

Complacency is the hidden killer of success because it operates under the false premise that you’ve reached your full potential and there’s nothing more to achieve. However, you can always create something new and continue to be the solution in another person’s life. By knowing your purpose and maintaining a crystal clear vision, and being your own motivator, you can forever impact others and reach new heights. 

This is a life worth living.