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How can I Create Better Results?

How Can I Create Better Results?

How Can I Create Better Results

“You start to improve results the minute you control your thoughts, words and actions,” says Chris Farmer, lead trainer at Corporate Coach Group.

Everyone wants to have better results. Presumably you would like to have, a nicer car, a nicer house, a nicer income.

Everyone wants their lives to be better, in the sense of enjoying better results. So the big question is, what is it that determines the quality of your results?

Your results are being driven by five factors.

  1. Your own actions.
  2. The actions of others.
  3. The political system in which you are operating.
  4. Mother Nature.
  5. Random chance: Luck.

The most important one of the above list is number 1.

Your own action is the most important one of the five factors, because:

  • You cannot control the actions of others.
  • You cannot control the political system.
  • You cannot control Mother Nature.
  • You cannot control random chance.
  • But you CAN control your own actions.

Control yourself and you will be able to control your results

If you can control yourself, then over the long stretch, you can control your external results.

If you cannot, or will not, control yourself, then your results will be governed by the other four factors; other people, the political system, Nature and chance events.

And you do not really want your results to be governed by what other people are prepared to give you, or what you can claim from the government, nor by random chance.

You don't really want to have to rely upon random chance. What should you rely upon? Your own self.

Self-reliance

You need to control yourself and determine your own results. You can do that if you:

  1. Control your thoughts. Be careful what you think about.
  2. Control your language. Be careful what you talk about and be careful how you word your message.
  3. Control your diet. Don't eat and drink the wrong things.
  4. Control what it is you aim at. Choose your goals very carefully.

Make sure that the thing you want is actually beneficial, not just pleasurable.

Many things that are pleasurable are not beneficial

Revenge may be pleasurable but it is not beneficial.

Cream cakes are pleasurable but they are not beneficial.

Many things that are beneficial are not very pleasurable

Running is not very pleasurable but is beneficial.

Studying is often not pleasurable, but is very beneficial.

Your results are a product of your actions, and your actions are a product of yourself and your own thinking.

As James Allen put it: "A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; He cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mould and master his own will: People seek guidance of him who is master of himself."

Plato said: "The first and best victory is to conquer self."

And Leonardo da Vinci said: "You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself. The height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment."

If you would improve your results, then you can begin by first, improving yourself.

Take a look at this personal development programme

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Personal Development Training

In order to improve your performance, you may need to develop your personal and professional skills: meaning: skills of communication, planning, prioritisation, motivation and personal confidence. If you want to learn more, then click here for personal development training.

Definition: self-control

Self-control is the personal development skill that lets you guide your thoughts, words and deeds in the moment, hold them to clear long-term aims, choose gain over quick pleasure, and keep the same steady rule in every setting. Lose any one part and real self-control is gone.

Show CG4D Definition
Context: Personal Development
Genus: skill
Differentia:
  • Guides own thoughts, words and actions at will
  • Holds behaviour to clear long-term goals
  • Chooses beneficial gains over short pleasure
  • Applies the same rule across all life settings

Article Summary

Your results depend on five forces, yet only one sits in your hands: self control. Guide your thoughts, words and deeds, turn plans into action, choose benefit over short thrill, and better results will follow every time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions that frequently get asked about this topic during our training sessions.


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Did You Know: Key Statistics

The 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report states that 89% of UK firms rank self-discipline as the most important soft skill for staff progress. A January 2024 YouGov poll finds that workers who write clear goals are 42% more likely to gain a pay rise within 12 months than those who do not.

About the Author: Chris Farmer

Chris

Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years' experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.

Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.

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Further Reading in Personal Development

  • Striving After an Ideal
    Use personal development ideals to guide diet, career and lifestyle. Write goals, track progress and turn each ideal into daily action for lasting change.
    Read Article >
  • Self-control
    Learn how self-control turns inner conflict into clear action. Discover mind over mood techniques, Oxford stats and expert tips for lasting personal success.
    Read Article >
  • How to create a personal development plan
    Learn how a personal development plan boosts professional skills, goal setting and a proactive mindset. Follow a simple success formula to grow your career fast
    Read Article >
  • Personal Development: Self-Image
    Discover why your self image directs every action. Get tips on good self talk, visualise success and use mental rehearsal to build self esteem and confidence.
    Read Article >
  • Train Your Brain to Focus on the Future
    Learn how to train your brain to focus on the future with six daily goal setting questions. Boost optimism, cut stress and build personal happiness from today.
    Read Article >

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