Success is a relative term. For some, it’s sealing the million-dollar contract, and for others, it would be getting a satisfactory life after retirement. But not everyone succeeds. Why? Because some are mere dreamers, they don’t try to take any step towards it.
As per a study by the University of Scranton on new year goals, only 8% of the participants were able to achieve their goals. People often like to dream big, but when it comes to taking action, not all are able to leave their comfort zones.
Another common reason for failures in achieving the desired success is setting unrealistic goals. Then, there are others who fail to follow up their roadmap to success.
Yes, goal setting isn’t easy, and you need to visualize your success before you work towards it. Create a roadmap with intermediate goals which you can achieve on the way to the ultimate success.
Following are five steps to creating a roadmap that can lead you to the success you want.
And these steps will work whether you aim for a healthier life, a better relationship or learning something.
Let’s discuss them:
1- Find out your definition of success
“Success can be fun when you define it and achieve it on your own terms.”
The first step to creating a roadmap to success is to discover what success is for you.
You might be running behind money or fame. But if money or fame doesn’t leave you satisfied at the end of the day, think what you’ll be doing with it. Will your future-self feel blessed with all the money you will be having? If not, then being rich is not the true success that you want to achieve.
Start with your childhood vision and see if it still resonates. A big home or a small farm in the countryside? A private business party or a beach party with friends? What do you love more?
Your success might not even be materialistic. You might be content with your life partner, a happy family, many friends and people who admire your personality.
The point here is you should first find out what success means to you.
2- Go over, inspect each dimension of your life
When success means having a peaceful life, you don’t have to leave your business and family for the Himalayas. If you think that’s the best way out, you might regret later. The real success is which leads you to overall contentment.
So find out how your dream affects –
- Your career
- Your financial status
- Your health – mental and physical
- Your beliefs, and
- Your relationships.
Consider all these facets and determine a direction which can lead you to a successful, healthier and happier life.
Find how development in each of these areas will echo in the “success” you have visualized.
3- Prioritize and set main goals
Now that you have your vision clear, set immediate and intermediate goals to achieve the ultimate target.
Don’t worry if you can’t think of the various things involved right away. Goal-setting and your roadmap to success don’t take a solid form in a day. It takes rounds of brainstorming sessions. So, don’t be desperate to jump into conclusions.
Make a list to start with and keep coming back to it. Think about all the different aspects of your life and see if the set goals contradict to what you’re aiming for. Some goals might not align, and it’s perfectly fine.
You might be aiming for a successful business but being competitive might hurt your vision of a happy community around. So, thinkand realign.
4- Mould your life to achieve the goals
“Will, who you are now, lead you to who you want to be in the future?”
– Brendon Burchard
Brendon Burchard is a coach, best-selling author in self-help, podcaster and Youtuber. He says that no matter how small you start, start something that matters. Well, you have all the intermediate goals and your measurement of success set, now is the time for actions.
And your behavior might project a major obstacle in that. Analyze your habits and find out what changes you need to adopt in your habits to become the person you envisioned.
Reshaping the present habits and adapting to new ones isn’t difficult. All you need is persistence and the will to work towards your success, every moment.
5- Review the progress and make changes
Once you are on the path to success, you need to review your goals and measure your progress. This review can be daily, monthly or whenever you want. Check your plan to see how far you’ve come and reward yourself for it.
If waking up early was one of the goals, you can gift yourself a new coffee mug. And if you planned to run 3 kilometers a day, you may like new running shoes. The review will also keep a check on what didn’t work and thus, you can incorporate changes as needed.
Always remember who you are, what you want to be and how far you have come. Having a vision and strategy helps you in your journey, but it’s you who have to execute it and follow without fail.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
– Thomas A. Edison
While you’re following your roadmap and reviewing it, you will feel the need to revise from time to time. And it’s absolutely normal.
There can be some goals which might feel irrelevant and something else, more important. So, be flexible and adapt to the situation. But keep your mission in mind. Your roadmap will inspire you to go further.
Get onboard.