 It was the final of the 200m butterfly at the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps was going for his 10th gold medal and he will become the winningest Olympian ever. However, just as he drove into the water, something happened. His goggles flooded. I dove in and they filled up with water and it got worse and worse during the race. Phelps told later. From the 150m wall to finish, I couldn't see the wall. I was just hoping I was winning, he added. Guess what? He actually won. Surprised? How did that happen? American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison once shared the secrets to success. In this video, I will share with you one of Thomas Edison's advice about learning to succeed using three important strategies. This I believe will help you become a successful person. If you're new here, consider subscribing so you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Now according to Edison, the three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are hard work, stick to itiveness and common sense. Of these three Edison's major ingredients for success, we will focus more on the second one for the purpose of this lesson. Stick to itiveness, otherwise called consistency. Todd Brisson once said that success comes through sustained effort. The keyword in that sentence is not effort, it's sustained. It is the sum of small efforts repeated day in day out, says Robert Cooley. Hollywood actor Will Smith was once asked how he had become so successful in his career and how he has managed to make it this far even with every obstacle on his way. The actor replied saying, the only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill, I will not be outworked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things. But if we get on the treadmill together, there are two things, you are getting off first or I'm going to die. Now that is the attitude of success, consistency, sticking to it come what may. Let's consider weight loss or weight gain. The overall outcome is never a result of doing a one-time routine but a result of constantly doing the same thing for a period of time. That you went to the gym, lifted a couple of weights and did a few high-intensity workouts one day doesn't mean you become automatically fit. As a matter of fact, that one-day routine becomes useless if you do not continue. However, repeating the same routine every day of a particular period of time will most definitely yield the result of your choice. Why? It is because the three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are Hard work, stick to itiveness and common sense. There might be a good number of talented, lucky people everywhere around you but without hard work and consistency, they would never last. This is because luck can only get people to a place but never enough to keep them there. However, if you learn to cultivate consistency in your work, you beat any talent or luck whatsoever. Although consistency can sometimes make you feel like a loser because you keep going in circles, working, trying, failing, trying again, failing again, trying again and failing again. However, do not forget that success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in, day out. Robert Cullier Little wonder, Hall Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning, said, Repetition can be boring or tedious, which is why so few people ever master anything. How can you develop a habit of consistency? One, understand your reason for doing what you do. Until you have a strong purpose for doing a thing, you are likely going to give it all up the moment it becomes boring, tiring and demanding. P.S. there will always be such times, which is why you need to draw a clear plan of what you are working towards. Ensure that your vision is clear and explainable to someone else in clear terms without stuttering on too many words. When you are able to do this, it becomes easy to push yourself to go for it. Ask yourself questions like, why am I doing it? When you answer such questions easily, it will always be easy to refocus every time you deviate. 2. Sheddle your goals Once you have determined why you have chosen to walk down this path, decide what works for you and sheddle it. Sheddling it means being intentional about practicing it. By doing this, we make it a priority and give it more attention than we will normally do if we just think we are going to do it. It is like giving it equal value as meetings or client calls. It shows that we are fully committed to it and we intend to do it. From intentionally practicing it, it will only be a matter of time before we start leaving it out unconsciously without the need for a reminder. But first, Sheddle it. 3. Ignore your feelings Remember what we said about working it out, feeling, trying, feeling again, trying again and on and on? Well your feelings won't be a party to all of these. We all know what it feels like to follow a strict routine, that's right, it is boring and if we had our way, we would totally ignore it. However, we know by now that if we are going to develop a consistency habit, the last thing we want to do is ignore the whole process, which is why if there is anything that should be ignored here, it should be our feelings. Try adopting Mel Robbins' guide on how to ignore your feelings and do what is right. According to him, the moment you feel yourself hesitate on something you know you should do, count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to activate your prefrontal cortex and interrupt the habit of overthinking, self-doubt and fear. 4. Keep moving There will be times when you'll fall and in fact, consider giving up. Just keep moving. How did Phelps win the competition even though his goggles were floored? You see, Phelps coach Bob Bowman taught him to play the tape of the perfect race in his head twice a day. So Phelps played the tape when he woke up and then just before going to sleep. The tape would have a clean start including the shock of the cold water hitting his body. His fingertips sliding into the water, the pull beginning with his wrist and going right through his body, a flawless flip turn, his trademark 6-beat kick and a strong finish. When asked how we won that competition, you know what Phelps said? If I didn't prepare for everything that happens, when my goggles started filling up I'd have probably flipped out. You see that? Consistency. Again, the three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are Hard work, stick-to-itiveness and common sense. Thomas Edison to see two other videos we handpicked for you to enjoy next. We love you.