Written by: Mikal Nielsen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Is there really such a thing as a formula that creates success? Yes, this one does, provided you can solve it. Will it work in any area of life, including business? Yes, it works everywhere.
I was sitting in a cafe meeting with a potential client. That was 12 years ago. He never became a client but gave me this incredible success formula that has benefited both myself and my clients ever since:
V x D + F > R
The by far biggest reason we don't achieve the success we want is because of the resistance we have to do what it takes.
It is not because we are stupid or bad people, but because of the limiting beliefs that have been lodged into the far corners of our minds.
Very few people are experiencing the level of success and fulfillment they truly want in their lives, in marriage, parenting, health, money, and so on.
Want to lose some weight or make lots of money? You can get thousands of tools and methods on the internet for free to achieve this.
So why do most people have less money than they want, and why are so many people overweight who don't want to be overweight?
Because the how-to doesn't work if you haven't solved the equation in the success formula first.
So here it is again:
V x D + F > R
Let's take it apart and discover what each letter stands for.
We will start with the R on the right side of the equation, which stands for...
Resistance
How many times have you tried to become financially free, to lose that extra weight around the waist, to get back to the gym regularly, to improve things in your relationship, and so on, but not being able to achieve it or getting there but unable to sustain it?
For me, that is a staggering amount of times in my lifetime.
One of the four reasons is the R. The Resistance was too high.
Unfortunately, this is not our conscious resistance. If you decided to consciously resist improving your health, you would not even set it in motion in the first place.
The catch is that this resistance is unconscious. It is not that you don’t feel it or are not aware of it. It may show up as procrastination or anxiety, which you can be conscious of, but that which drives the procrastination or anxiety is mostly unconscious.
It is deeply embedded in our mindsets and often going back way earlier than we can remember. And even if we do remember, that still doesn’t resolve it.
So as far as our formula goes, reducing the R is quite difficult. Doable but difficult.
But don't despair! the easier solution is in the first two elements on the left.
The V stands for Vision.
This is the Bigger Picture, the Why behind the results and success you want to create.
As Simon Sinek keeps drumming into us: "Always start with the Why."
When Elon Musk was asked if he experiences fear, his reply was: "Yes, far more than I like, but I don't allow it to hold me back because what I want to achieve is much bigger than the fear."
So what he wants to achieve (the V) is bigger than (>) his fear (R), and he keeps creating success after success.
My fear is around not being worthy, not being good enough. It is very strong, so I have to have a compelling Vision in order for my Resistance to not pull me back or stop me all together.
A typical way that Resistance gets me is by using procrastination. Putting things off. The best way for me to overcome this is by staying in touch with my Vision.
A great first step towards the successes you are after is to create a compelling Vision, a Big Picture, a strong Why because that is what is going to pull you through when the going gets tough.
If you just want to lose a bit of weight so you can look and feel better, that is not likely to be a strong enough Vision to make you stick to it. You will need a bigger Why than that, so take some time and dig deep into what truly matters to you and why.
That is how people like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Steve Jobs could achieve what they did. Their Visions were huge. And so is the case for Elon Musk.
This leads us on to the D, which is where your natural energy to take action comes from.
The R is conditioned into you as limiting beliefs in your mindset. This is done without your consent and is mostly out of your control.
The V is entirely up to you, and you are in complete control of creating it.
The D, on the other hand, is hardwired into you as a human being, and we are all born with it. It is what allowed you to learn to walk and talk:
Drive
We are all born with a natural Drive for life, for stepping up and stepping out, for standing up for who we are and what we want, for pushing boundaries and finding new and creative ways of learning and growing.
Just observe any very young child. They all have this natural Drive. They are not afraid of what others think. They just do what they need to do to learn to walk, to talk, and so on.
Therefore, the drive is not something you have to learn or practice. You can’t buy it, nor can you grow it.
Why? Because it is already there within you. It is not a skill. It is not a method. It is not a system. It is a natural phenomenon that lives in you from day one of your life. It is your nature.
If you are not feeling or experiencing it, it is not because it is not there. It is because it has been eroded or covered up.
I will share the two quickest ways I have used to get in touch with my natural drive.
The first one is meditation. Through meditation and mindfulness, I can bypass my limiting beliefs and connect directly to that natural high-energy drive that lives in my being.
The second one is action. Even though I may not know where to start or what is the best next step, by simply starting to take some steps in the direction of my vision, energy starts to build.
That energy is the Drive which I can then re-direct towards other more challenging actions that I would otherwise procrastinate on.
I also find that this Drive increases my creativity, so it comes with an added benefit.
As I'm sure you have noticed, we have a multiplication sign between the V and D but only a plus sign with the F.
That means the combination of the Vision and the Drive is critically important.
It doesn’t matter how big, bold, or worthy your Vision is if you don't have the Drive to get out of bed and make it happen.
I have met many people in my life who have great Visions for themselves and the world but who simply hasn't got the drive to do what it takes to get the results they want.
On the other hand, I have also met many people who have an incredible Drive but no clear and compelling Vision. Drive without Vision leads to stress and burnout because you are going, but most likely in circles, and therefore not really getting anywhere that is fulfilling.
In short, have a clear vision and then find a way of connecting it to your natural Drive, and you will be almost unstoppable.
The only thing that will stop you, apart from the Resistance we covered earlier, is not being clear on the F.
The F stands for First Step
Wherever you are standing in this moment, looking at your Vision in the distance, the next step towards it is the First Step.
Once you have taken that step, you are in a new moment, and the next step is again the First Step of the rest of the journey.
In short, the whole journey is made up of one First Step after another.
There are three ways the First step can halt your progress or ruin your success altogether:
You don't know what to do.
You know what to do, but you don't have the skill/knowledge to do it.
You know what to do and how to do it but are not willing to do it.
The first one can typically be solved by doing some research, ask around, or get a coach/mentor.
The second one can be solved by you up-skilling yourself or delegating the task.
The third is by far the most common and hardest to deal with because we are now back in our mindset and what we believe we can and cannot do.
This, of course, is closely tied to the Resistance.
Having a compelling vision and a strong drive is not enough if we are not taking the steps, the actions in front of us that are required. Taking all the easy steps first won't get us there either.
It is about knowing what the next First Step is that is the most valuable, the most important, and then do it.
With the understanding you now have of the success formula, you can start putting numbers in the equation to make sure you set yourself up for success or use it to check in on an area of your life where you are not achieving the success you are after.
On the left, you score each element on a scale from 0 to 10 and on the right from 0 to 100.
Let's say your Vision is fairly good, and you rate it as a 7.
Your Drive is ok, but not great. Maybe a 6.
Knowing and being willing to take the steps required is pretty good at 8.
This makes the formula look like this:
7×6+8>R => 50>R If your Resistance is > 50, you won't make it. Period!
If this is an area of your life you have struggled with before, your Resistance is most likely above 75.
In this example, say the Resistance is 75, it will look like this: 7x6+8>75, and you would be a long way away from succeeding. If you could get your Vision to 9 and your Drive to 8, you will have a very good chance of succeeding.
In my experience in working with myself and other people for three decades, my estimate is that most people's Resistance level to achieving success in areas they are struggling with is between 70 and 90.
My invitation to you is to invest time and energy in clarifying and growing your Visions and finding ways to connect more deeply with your natural Drive.
I know this article got longer than intended, but I hope it was worthwhile for you to hang in there and that it helped you get some clarity and maybe even some insights into where you need to focus to take yourself, your business, your marriage, your health to the next level of success.
If you want more clarity on your mindset around success, I suggest you take my free 3-5 minute Mindset Quiz here.
Alternatively, if you are keen to go deeper and have a one-on-one conversation with me about this, I'm offering a complimentary 20-30 minute Zoom meeting for BRAINZ readers that you can access and book here.
Wishing you much success.
Mikal
Mikal Nielsen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mikal's mission is to help high achievers awaken their natural wisdom to create profound fulfillment, deep peace of mind, and a perfect balance between everything truly important to them. With a corporate background and starting and running 3 businesses, Mikal has spent the last 14 years coaching business founders, owners, and leaders to get more life out of life and more business out of business. He is a mind mechanic with 35 years of experience in mindfulness, personal and spiritual growth, and 30 years of experience coaching others in these fields. Mikal is an international speaker, certified firewalking coach, author of 5 books, and creator of Modern Meditation for busy people. In addition to coaching entrepreneurs and business leaders, Mikal and his wife Kathy offer relationship coaching. With 30 years of living together and growing up with 3 children, they have learned and experienced a lot and have co-authored a book about their journey together. Seeing how many relationships are struggling or have gone stagnant, they have decided to offer couples coaching.
