My recovery has taught me that there are five key pillars to starting over and overcoming adversity.  Success is predictable when all of these foundational factors align. At the same time, failure is inevitable even when just one of these pillars is missing. Think of them as a chair – with just one leg missing, the chair would topple and fall. With that said, I have listed the five key pillars to successfully starting over as follows:

Do you know why most people don’t care about what they want in life? It’s because they have no idea what they really want. Seriously, ask your friends or family what their grand plan in life is. Or ask them specifically, down to the number, what they want in all dynamics of their life, including health, finances, relationships, spirituality, etc. Have you ever written it down on a piece of paper and spent an afternoon imagining your future? If not, I’m going to strongly encourage you to do this immediately. When you are clear, and you can visualize what it is exactly what you want in your life, you are 90% on the way there. Merely saying, “I want to make money” is not specific at all. We all want to make money, but something this vague cannot be reversed engineered because it is a moving target. Now, if you say “I want to make $100,000 per year selling my products, advice, expertise, or services online,” that is a specific goal, and we can do the math to figure out just how many products we need to sell per year to make this a reality. If you take nothing else away from this, know that there’s power in pacifically getting crystal clear on what you want in life.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “In order to make visualization a reality in the world form, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.”  As fun of a concept that the law of attraction may be, the truth is, great job positions, luxuries, and everything else that is worth having is not going to magically fall in your lap just because you want it, but that does not make the visualization technique a fallacy.  When you envision your future and what you want in life, it becomes much easier to break your goal down into realistic steps so YOU CAN reach success.  Anyone can say, “I want to be rich, travel the world, and live in a big mansion,” but it means nothing if they don’t make their goals realistic.  Additionally, it means nothing if you don’t determine how you can get to the finish line of your goals as well.  When you discover your vision, you should write it down and create a sort of a “family tree.” Let’s take this example of “I want to be rich.” Then, think about what makes people rich and write those down:

Fame: Putting yourself out there and trying something publicly.

Working hard in a job: This requires lot of time, dedication, sacrifice, and determination.

Advancing in a job: Outdoing yourself, showing you’re the better worker and more determined, you put in the time and effort to succeed.

Owning a successful business: Learning/researching, time, effort, determination, risk-taking, time management.

Then, take a look at what each of them has in common, or whether you can mix them together to achieve your goal. This exercise really gets you thinking, and your goal becomes much more realistic from a “non-rich” perspective.  In other words, instead of plotting how you acquire value, think of ways how you can provide value so you can receive value in return.

Why do you wake up in the morning? Why do you do what you do? What fuels you to do your innermost desires? Why do you want to be successful? This is an important concept to grasp because life is very hard sometimes.  You’re going to get knocked down many times and having a purpose for overcoming discouragement, for when you are met with obstacles, that stand in your way, you will become resilient.  You need to find the only driving force that will keep you getting up and moving forward.  With that said,

a strong belief of why you should consider moving forward and triumphing over obstacles will keep you connected with your authentic nature of what pushes you forward and continue making progress.  Why must we be successful? Do you have children? Do you want them to have a better life than you did growing up? Do you believe you deserve better in life? Everyone’s supply will be different, and that is fine. The most important part is to connect with the real reason that motivates you to continue making progress toward goals in life.  Money alone is not a sufficient motivator; that is a by-product of providing massive value and helping others get what they want.

To help discover your “why” in life, you can answer thoughtful questions about yourself. Get a pen and paper and answer these questions:

Let’s face it: you could have a clear vision and a strong way, but you still need to acquire the right tools and resources. I will help you start reaching the success you want in life, and there are a couple of options available to help you in this regard. You can learn from the school of hard knocks, and you might stumble your way to profitability in a couple of years and eventually zig-zag your way to some degree of success. This is a way that is not really sustainable for the overwhelming majority of people. You are on a journey of personal transformation. Why? It’s because there’s usually no proven, concrete plan to take you on an upward direction of your journey. Another big reason why most fail at their personal transformation journey is that they choose to do it alone. This brings me to my second and smarter option: find a mentor or coach who has already achieved the level of success that you want. Then, simply model them and learn from their wisdom.

A life coach can help keep you on track in situations where you feel like giving up, challenges seem to difficult to overcome, and they can provide you with the necessary motivation and inspiration to help you accomplish your personal transformation.  Life coaches look to empower people who are struggling to meet and exceed goals, both personally and professionally.  There is never any shame in using tools and resources for your transformation journey. If they are there for you to take advantage of, you may as well do it if it can help you get to where you want to be. It could mean the difference between losing determination or maintaining it. Furthermore, once you have reached your goals, a life coach teaches the lesson of what comes next and how you can maintain this personal success instead of letting it flounder.  Use whatever you need as a stepping stone to reach the next level.

Nothing happens without axing. If you want to draw abundance and prosperity into your life, you’ll need to get off your ass, get determined, and prepare to become an unstoppable force.  Consistent daily action is the key to success when starting your transformation journey. It does not have to be a lot; however, your effort needs to be regular and consistent. Many people fail here, and they totally miss the bus. They think that visualizing their new life and getting emotionally engaged is all it takes; then, they’ll magically manifest abundance into their life. Do not get me wrong; the law of attraction is a wonderful concept; however, you will not attract anything without taking action first.  With that said, I am here to tell you that visualization, affirmations, and feelings do not work to attract abundance into your life unless you’re going to back them up with massive action. This should be obvious, but I needed to point it out. The crazy thing is, there always seems to be an ebb and flow relationship in the universe… The effort you put in will determine the results you receive.

People want a lot out of life without putting in anything in return. They want to reach the peak of the mountain but don’t want to climb. People expect that if they just wait around without taking massive action, things will fall perfectly into place. The famous quote “Good things come to those who wait” is undoubtedly wrong. In reality, “Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up.” Nothing for you will ever change or improve if you don’t implement the action. Likewise, if you’re putting in action and you believe “it’s enough” when, in fact, you should be putting in a lot more, you need to consider that. And lastly, you need to take massive action, especially when things become difficult because this is when you’ll make the most progress. As they say, “anyone can see the adversity in a difficult situation, but it takes a stronger person to see the opportunity.” You can be that stronger person if you choose to be.

After we achieve a certain degree of success, it is important to evaluate where we are. We need to measure and track the progress and then make minor adjustments to maximize our impact, growth, and efficiency. Sometimes it is those minor tweaks that can make the biggest difference in your transformation journey. I have seen this all the time in my recovery. Many times I would adjust and fine-tune one simple strategy, become consistent, and put in extra effort, and then the transformation would take place.

If we don’t measure our successes and failures, we never learn or progress positively. This is a crucial step and one that always gets missed or overlooked. Remember, the  pillars don’t work effectively if even just one of them is out of balance or neglected. You need to include this step – measure and fine-tune your transformation journey to keep it progressing forward. Don’t let little mistakes and poor strategies drag you back down to starting all over again. Analyze your current progress stage – what can change for the better? What can be removed? What can be added? Is there something small holding you back, or is there something big you can’t seem to overcome? Will more time help you get there, or do you need to consider making a few changes in your life that will make you achieve your goal?

These are all things that need to be determined when measuring and fine-tuning your current position. If we don’t measure, we never see how far we’ve come, and we might be stuck in the same stage for weeks, months, or years. Learn to consistently fine-tune your progress according to your goals and needs.  These are the five key pillars to successfully overcome ANY adverse circumstances. I can guarantee that if you face adversity and you utilize this knowledge, nothing will ever stand in your way from letting you achieve your goals.

Coach Nolan is a life coach of motivation, not by regurgitating motivational quotes, abstract theories of motivation, or by dropping an ostentatious motivational phrases on you.  Instead, Coach Nolan takes the stance of putting in work and let your results speak volumes.  While it is wonderful that life coaches, wellness coaches, and anybody else who spews out motivational quotes, these motivational phrases are not enough to make a permanent positive impact on other people’s lives.  If you seek motivational quotes, theories of motivation, and motivational phrases, that is great.  However, if you are seeking motivational quotes, theory’s of motivation, and an inspirational life coach who is dedicated to delivering you real results is optimal.  With that said, Coach Nolan delivers beyond what the typical life or wellness coach provides by yielding results that exceed your expectations.  Motivation is crucial for any success in life and sometimes you need motivation to make that first step.  With that said, I strongly urge you achieve motivation of a life time my taking a taking a course on motivation.