My New Year started in fabulous fashion, high on life, loving what I do moving ahead at a rapid pace. This week, I had a meeting scheduled with a highly talented Film Director. We decided to meet at a local popular café to discuss the script to my upcoming short film “The Foundations of Love”. The meeting started out like any other ordering our favorite coffee before discussing the business at hand. What I was not expecting was an enlightening evening on how to be the best in any industry.

As we were talking, he explained his biggest frustration with those wanting to achieve success. He believes people have the talent to become at what they do yet their focus is elsewhere often on superficial goals such as fame and fortune rather than producing brilliant work. I am excited to share these gems with you.

Here are six steps on how you can be the best in any industry:

1. Be obsessed

The obsession begins when you decide on your dream. For the past 5 years, my film director is obsessed with creating and directing films. When he first started he had no idea what to do. He purchased his first camera on Gumtree and is completely self-taught. He is now directing his third film and has received funding from a major film company.

Aim to know everything about your industry, teach yourself new skills, develop your unhidden talents, focus on self-study, research, enroll in a course, inspire others, and network like there is no tomorrow – go out of your way to meet others in your industry. Become the no 1 Expert in your industry so people think of you first.

“Follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly”. – Frank Kafka

2. Become exceptional

Give your absolute best every day and serve people to the best of your ability. High-achievers genuinely want to make a difference in people’s lives and serve at the highest level to solve problems. Everything you do is to be completed to the highest standards.

There are no exceptions or excuses – no one cares if you are tired, sick, dealing with personal issues or haven’t had a holiday for 2 years. Deal with it! Strengthen your mind and body to be the best version of yourself. Live each day like it’s your last.

3. Plan to be in it for the long haul

Patience and perseverance keeps you in the game. Write down your strategy, goals and set up a yearly plan. What do you need to do on a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily basis. Focus on 3 main priorities daily that create the biggest impact.

Plan for the future, whilst remaining focused on the present moment. Focus on being engaged in your present activity whether you are in a sales meeting, talking to a client, or creating a proposal. Remember, no one in the world is an overnight success no matter how it might appear.

4. Learn to shut out the world

Delete unimportant emails, screen phone calls, limit social media, stay away from family dramas, and decline social events. To be the best requires making sacrifices others take for granted. With all the distractions in the modern world, you need to develop the ability to tune out. If you are not prepared to do this, mediocrity will become your best friend.

When you become obsessed by what you do, the rest of the world disappears; you are in flow every day as you are doing what you love despite the costs. Start blocking out the unimportant things in life right this second.

5. Learn to trust yourself

Learn to completely trust yourself. Let’s face it, people are absolutely brilliant and love giving others advice on what to do, what not to do and how to live. This is the fastest road to confusion and unhappiness. Know what is right for you and the more you trust yourself the more easily it becomes to make decisions and choices in line with your best interests. At one point, I was receiving advice from so many well-intended advisors on a daily basis, which left me feeling confused and overwhelmed, not knowing which way to turn.

To refocus, recall the reasons you started. Ask yourself: What is your highest purpose in life? You know better than anyone what is good for you! This does not mean you won’t make mistakes from time to time. The key is to keep moving – momentum is energy and creates more momentum.

6. Figure out how to play the game of life your way

There are many roads to get you where you want to go. You can achieve your goal irrespective if you are working full-time or part-time. When I started out, I was of the opinion that there was one road. Now, I have come to realise that there are a million people making a massive impact whilst working full-time. Leaving your job to focus on your business does not automatically create more success nor does it mean you are creating more of an impact. Choose the right course of action for you.

My Film Director is a wonderful example of this, working full-time yet giving every second of his time outside of work to focus on his art. He has done this for 5 years, in reality, when you are obsessed and on purpose like he is time goes by in a flash.

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” – Albert Einstein

There you have it, the 6 steps to be the best in any industry. Think about what steps you can take today to become the best in your industry, what changes can you make, do you need to rethink your strategy, trust yourself more, or spend time networking. Grab a notepad and pen now and make a list now of the action steps you can take to make 2016 a super-spectacular year!

Which steps are you going to start implementing? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!