I don’t think the key to being successful in your practice, business or career (or anything else for that matter) is being intelligent, or well resourced or even well connected. Although these things all help. I think the single most important factor in your success is your ability to implement significant projects. Here are six things you can do to develop an implementation mindset:

1. Recalibrate your self-talk. You are not a good judge of your success or your ability. Find a more objective measure of your ability to implement and calibrate your self-talk accordingly. Fight to make your self-talk an asset rather than a liability.

2. Fail 50%. Aim to fail 50% of your major projects / goals. Each month / quarter when reviewing your progress, make that your benchmark. Successful implementation is about launching lots of great projects, not about having a great success rate on the ones you launch.

3. Value shakti. Shakti is your life force, your spirit, your energy, your essence. Implementation takes shakti. Big projects take all of you ... you can't just show up and go through the motions. It’s more important to manage your shakti than your time or your activities. When you are on, don't waste it on trivial stuff. When your shakti is low, adjust accordingly.

4. Fight for 3. You can't put in 80 hours a week of significant, creative, real work. Fight for 3 sessions a day of productive work on your big projects. Three one-hour blocks of your best work is a great days work, and better than 16 hours of responding to requests, shuffling emails, following systems and getting stuff done. After your 3 sessions, go back to task list or knock off and go to the movies.

5. Play hard. Remember it’s a game, and it’s a game that you made up. But when you're in the game, play hard ... play like your life depends upon it. And when the game is over, remember it was just a game.

6. Publish ruthlessly. Finish version 1.0 and get it out into the world. Declare you intent at the start, and publish your result at the end. Be ruthless with yourself about getting projects done and the results in the world.

Love to hear your thoughts and experiences – leave a comment below.