Complacency is the silent killer of success. You enjoy some success and then you back off. You do something great and then you slow down. It’s human nature and something you must fight against. Here are five signs that complacency may be killing your dream, and what you can do about it.

1. You compare yourself to others to gauge your success

Legendary basketball coach, John Wooden said, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

Pro Tip: Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the you that you are capable of becoming. Challenge yourself every day to grow in some small way.  Work on creating your personal development plan.

2. You don’t have a clear goal

Many people embrace complacency because they just don’t know where they want to go. If you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there.

Pro Tip: Spend a few minutes thinking of where you would like to be 12 months from now in your work life and in your personal life. Once you know that, determine 3-6 things that you need to do to begin moving in that direction.

3. You are not clear on your priorities

If everything seems important then nothing is important. You must be clear on your most important tasks. Most of us are trying to do too many things. We become experts at majoring on minor things.

Pro Tip: Your priorities, your BIG Rocks, should consist of the things you need to do to move closer to the goal you set in Item #2 above.

4. You fill available time with entertainment

There is nothing wrong with entertainment. What’s wrong is when you fill any open time you have with your Netflix subscription. The people I coach often tell me they don’t have time for some of the personal development suggestions I give them (Read a book, listen to a podcast, etc.). Then, when we look deeper at where their time is spent or invested we find a healthy dose of entertainment keeping them from making progress in their lives.

Pro Tip: Use your daily commute or other travel time to listen to audio books (www.audible.com). Be intentional about when you SPEND time on entertainment, and be intentional about when you INVEST time in you.

5. You use words like, “I don’t have the time”, instead of “I didn’t take the time”.

The one phrase I do not allow people to say is, “I don’t have time to…” The fact is that we all have the same amount of time. The more accurate phrasing is, “I didn’t take the time to…”

You vote on what’s important in your life (a priority) based on how you spend or invest your time. If it’s something you want to do you will find a way to do it. If not, you will find an excuse.

Pro Tip: Never use the words “I didn’t have time” again. Always say, “I didn’t take the time”. Take note of the things you did do with your time and see if it matches up to what you said was important in your life.

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