By Robert D. Smith

Behind the scenes, most people who are truly successful live lives that can only be described with one word—intense.

They are intense about their work, their time, their money, and life itself. They use a different thought process than most people.

On the outside looking in, you may not always be able to notice. After all, we usually imagine successful people as these incredible individuals who just seem to have everything together and nothing at all to worry about.

Really, it’s the opposite. Successful people only appear to have it all together because of the intensity it takes to create that appearance in the minds of others.

But what exactly is that intensity, and how can we activate it in our own lives?

Intensity is:

• Living with an extreme sense and awareness of your purpose. Successful people have a vision of which they remain intensely aware.
• Acknowledging that you have a limited amount of time to accomplish your vision. Nobody lives forever.
• Possessing extreme focus on two things: what’s important now and what’s next.

What most people miss, however, is that intensity is not a state of mind…it is a state of emotion.

Pursuing anything with intensity requires that you be emotionally connected to it. You must possess a fanatical commitment to follow through.

Here are a few easy things you can do on a regular basis to keep the intensity trending UP in your life:

1. Count your days. This is something I started doing a few years ago. I remind myself of this daily, and I can’t recommend it enough. You will gain a new appreciation of what can be accomplished in a single 24-hour period. If you’re interested in figuring out your number, there’s a simple calculator on my website that will tell you.
2. Ask yourself two questions that will keep you in constant motion: What’s important now? What’s next? If you focus on these two questions, it will be almost impossible for your intensity level to drop. They will get you up early and keep you up well into the night.
3. Honor your family members and close friends. When you keep the people who matter most as top priorities in your life, you will constantly be reminded of a major reason to strive to do better. Seek to honor them in all that you do.

Keeping your intensity level up will not only make you more productive, it will make you more aware. Time will no longer just slip away and get wasted on the things you know are not important, in both your professional and personal life. When you’re able to focus in on only the things that truly matter, amazing things will happen.

What do you do to keep your intensity level up?

Robert was gracious enough to share a copy of his new book, “20,000 Days and Counting,” for our community! Comment below if you’d like to have the free copy; best comment as judged by me wins the book. –Rosemary