Welcome to 2013 – the start of another year. It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the New Year that was 2012. How time appears to be speeding up the older we become, and the busier we are! How did you spend your Festive Season? Did you take the opportunity to rest, spend time celebrating with the people most precious to you, and reflect on the year that has been? How was 2012 for you – was it your best year yet, or did you feel as though you left ‘some petrol in the tank’? I find that over the latter part of December it is a beautiful time of year to look back on the year that has been and really acknowledge and be grateful for the good things that have happened during the year, be grateful for the new relationships formed, for the existing relationships that have grown stronger, and celebrate the wins that have allowed me to propel forward. It is also the time of year when we can start thinking about the “New Year’s Resolution” – the new habits which we are going to form, the old habits which we are going to break, the new levels of success we are aiming to achieve, the new fitness regime, or that diet that we have been putting off for the last 6 months. Have you done this? Set a New Year’s Resolution, only to look back in 3 months time and notice that you have been doing more of the same? What do you tend to tell yourself when you realise that the good intentions you started the year with are now a distant memory? So how about we do something different, perhaps even radical? How about the New Year’s Resolution being “There will be No New Year’s Resolution”? The sobering truth about New Year’s Resolutions is that over 90% of them do not last past the end of January – how many people do you know who have resolved to get fit, so they join a gym, perhaps workout 3-4 times and then by February ‘life’ takes over and they find that other activities or more pressing priorities get in the way? Now I must point out that the majority of people who set a New Year’s Resolution have the right intention, and they probably really do want to make a change – but there is 1 important component that is missing, and that is the topic of this month’s article.

Last month we covered making 2013 Your Best Year Yet – so really if you followed the steps in the article you would have already set your New Year’s Resolution, only it will be a series of goals and outcomes. This month I would like to talk about the missing component that will enable you to bring those goals and outcomes alive, and that is Modelling of Excellence. You may recall that one of the 5 key success principles is ‘operating from a physiology and psychology of excellence’, and that success always leaves clues. Well modelling excellence takes this is to a whole new level. Who do you know who is successful, who lives life on their terms, seems to have all ‘the luck’, appears to have the Midas touch,  is always upbeat and happy, is looking forward and talking about possibilities rather than problems? Well chances are that they are successful because they have found a ‘model of excellence’ and they have copied them. So what is a ‘model of excellence’? Put very simply, it is someone who is getting the results that you want, and doing exactly what they do. Because here is the thing – successful people like to surround themselves with successful people, people who are going somewhere, making a contribution, solving problems and creating solutions. Successful people are successful modellers – so if you start to surround yourself with successful people, specifically people who are more successful than you, and who are achieving the level of success that you are seeking, then you significantly increase your chances of achieving the results they achieve. Of course another success principle comes into play here, and that is ‘taking massive action’ – you must take action, or nothing will happen, in fact if you don’t take action you will very quickly be discarded from the group as successful people are also uncompromising in their pursuit of excellence through action.

So how do you model excellence? Here are some simple steps:

1. Find someone who is achieving the results you are looking to achieve.
2. Study how they do what they do to achieve those results, including what mindset and attitude they develop and maintain.
3. If you can, get with them and ask them questions
4. Most significantly, act on what you learn – copy them, do what they do.

Point 4 is critical – there is no point just learning and learning and learning and not acting – this is not modelling. True modelling is learning what someone else does and then doing it. So do it.

And be very mindful of one thing – as you go about building your success and modelling excellence, there will be people who are watching your every move – they will be seeking to model what you are doing. So make sure that you go about creating your success with volition and ecology, and become a ‘walking talking model of excellence’ because true success comes through the contribution you make to others. In the words of the great Zig Zigler – ‘If you help enough other people achieve their dreams; your dreams will be taken care of’.

Model excellence, be a model of excellence, seek to make a positive and empowering difference to someone everyday, and just notice the ripple effects that will extend well beyond your immediate circle of excellence.

Send me an email at Darren@potentialunleashed.com.au – I’d love to hear your stories of success through the modelling of excellence.

To your success

Darren