Everybody wants to be successful.  The problem is most people do not know how to go about achieving success.  Success can be a very elusive concept, and without some coaching and clear direction it is very easy to get lost in all the hype and noise that surround us.  This site has a wealth of information on how to achieve success, but in this article we will focus on some of the most basic actions you need to take in order to become successful.

 

Define

The very first thing you need to do in order to be successful is define what being successful means.  There are many definitions of success, but the only one that really matters is your own.  If you don’t know what is important to you, or where you want to go, then none of this discussion really matters.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

Carroll Lewis

Don’t let the simplicity of this statement fool you.   It is probably the most important and the most often missed step required in people’s success journey.  Make sure you document you definition of success somewhere where you have easy access.  A clear definition of what you want to achieve and where you want to go will greatly increase your chances of being successful.

Plan

Think of your success journey as a project.  You first defined the goals and objectives and now you need to plan how you are going to get there.  Some people have a very clear understanding of what they need to do in order to get what they want – they just never get to it (more to come on this issue).  Others just don’t know how.  So how can you design your success plan if you don’t know the steps you need to take in order to get there? 

This is a very good question, and requires you to understand the concept of “seeing what is inside”.  Think of it this way:  Have you ever worked on a renovation project where you need to replace something that requires removing a wall (or any other object that is obstructing your view)?  You never know exactly what is behind that wall, until you take it apart and see what is inside.   Once you know what is inside, you get a much better appreciation for what you need to do next in order to get the project done.  But you really don’t have it all planned out from the very beginning.  All you know when you start is that you have to remove the wall.

A success journey is similar in many ways.  You may not know exactly everything you need to do in order to get where you want to get, and you won’t know until you “see what is inside”.  But you can plan the first step which is to get past what is keeping you from understanding what the next step should be.

Take Action

Once you have your initial plan in place, the next step is to take action.  Folks, this is where many people fail.  This is where they get stuck.  They create a grand vision and they plan out what they are going to do, but they never quite get to it.  They get busy, life gets in the way, and their plans on achieving success keep on getting shelved indefinitely.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Take action that will get you closer to your goal no matter how small it may seem.

Refine Plan

As described before, after you take action you may get the view of “what is inside” which will help you gain a much better understanding of what you need to do next.  The problem that people run into at this stage is that they lose track of their initial definition of success and they get distracted.  That is why that initial definition stage is so important, especially the documentation.

Repeat

After you refine your plan, take action again, and keep repeating this cycle.  Do a checkpoint on your definition once in a while to make sure you are focused on your desired results, and to ensure you are getting closer and closer to where you want to go.  If you are not, you need to go back to the planning stage and try something different.

Persist

Success does not happen overnight.  It may take many iterations of the plan – take action – refine plan cycle.  But if you persist, success will be inevitable.