James Swanwick is a New York-based ESPN anchor on SportsCenter, author of ‘Insider Journalism Secrets’ and co-founder of international agency, Crocmedia. He has been a print or TV journalist for 20 years, writing for newspapers and magazines in the US, UK and Australia.
These include Associated Press, Sky Sports, ESPN, WPLJ radio, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Sky Movie Channel, Q104FM, Loaded magazine, Woman’s Day, The Courier-Mail and much more.
He now teaches aspiring journalists and graduates how to get a job in the fast-paced journalism industry through his course “How To Become A Journalist”.
Favorite Success Quote
Key Points
1. Write Down Your Goal and Why You Want to Achieve It
The first step to take in achieving any goal is to write down what your goal is and why you want to achieve it.
By writing a goal down, you take the crucial first step from dream to reality. Even though this action does little more than change your frame of mind and give you a deadline, it is an incredible thing to see a goal written down with powerful reasons, knowing that you will achieve it by a certain date.
2. Ask How
After you have decided upon a goal and written a list of highly emotional and reasons why you MUST achieve the goal, it is essential that you ask how.
There is no use to having a goal without having a reasonable idea of how you are going to achieve it. Want to make 6 figure in the next 6 months? Great! But how are you going to achieve that?
3. Write Your Plan of Action
Now that you have the goal, you have the how, it is time to get even more in depth and write out your plan of action.
Be careful that you don’t get so caught up on this phase that you forget to follow steps four and five. Just write out the steps you need to take, who you need to reach out to and what it is going to take to achieve your goal.
4. Take Action
The most crucial of all the steps…. do something! Take the first step, get out there and start making things happen, don’t just dream about your goals, take the steps to make them happen.
5, Keep Moving Forward
There will come times when you want to give up, there will come times when you forget why you started this journey in the first place, there will come times when nothing goes your way and you just want to resign and say “to hell with it.”
But it is often times like these when you are closest to your biggest breakthroughs.
Don’t give up, keep moving forward, no matter how grim things look. Remind yourself of why you started and realize that giving up will not accomplish anything other than to ensure a life of misery and mediocrity.
6. Cutting Out Alcohol Can Change Your Life
One of James’s biggest breakthroughs came when he decided to cut alcohol out of his life entirely. By quitting drinking he was able to lose weight, improve focus, he felt more present and was able to reach goals that had previously been out of reach.
By simply cutting out alcohol for 30 days, you can revolutionize your life, change your body, mind, and relationships.
A small caveat here; just because you are cutting out the booze this does not mean you have a free license to run around eating a bunch of crap, drinking sodas, or hammering back ice cream. Don’t swap vice for vice, cut out alcohol and keep high standards with your diet and exercise.
Influential Books
1. When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub
