What does success mean to you? Webster’s dictionary defines success as a “favorable or desired outcome.” Hence, success depends on what your defined outcomes are. For myself, I like to break-down my defined outcomes into two broad categories: (1) personal and (2) professional. Under each category, I outline very specific goals and assign timeframes. For example, under the personal category, I have defined learning to speak Spanish enough to be conversant in one year. Under the professional category, I have established the goal of writing at least one article in a peer-reviewed journal related to my field. Many of the goals that I have set for myself, were not set merely to be able to check them off the list and say, “been there, done that.” But to achieve a foundation to increase my standing or knowledge in a specific area. I want to learn Spanish because one day, I would like to travel to Mexico and Central or South America extensively or to eventually live in these areas. I want to publish an article because I want to build my credibility and be seen as an expert by others in my chosen field.
If you are a living and breathing human being, establishing goals shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Goals, or intended outcomes, are dependent on what type of person you are, what your dreams are, and what make you happy. In setting your goals, try asking yourself the following:
- What am I truly passionate about?
- What gives me the greatest fulfillment in life and makes my genuinely happy?
- What would my dream lifestyle be like?
- What things do I need to do in order to consider myself successful?
- Who do I consider to be successful?
- Why do I regard them as successful?
A very important aspect of effectively achieving success, for me, is to write down my goals. Whether they be on a sheet of paper or electronically. Personally, I take a sheet of paper and divide it into two columns—labeled “personal” and “professional.” Under each column, I write down my specific goals and in parentheses add my timeframe for achieving the goal. If you have an ultimate goal that will take several months or years to achieve, break it down into manageable chunks that take no longer than one year to achieve. I try to keep all of my goals down on one sheet of paper and have it lying around somewhere where I will always see it. In my case, I have a scribbled sheet of paper sitting on my desk near my computer at home. That way, when I’m screwing around wasting time, I will catch a glimpse of my list and refocus. Come to think of it, I should have copies of this list lying around everywhere I tend to waste time—like on the coffee table near the TV. I can’t even begin to tell you how much time I have wasted my life away in front of the boob tube.
Although I do this from time to time during the year, I take the list at the end of the year and do a serious evaluation of where I have made progress and where I have not progressed (or regressed). This is a good time to re-evaluate your goals to see if they are worth pursuing. Don’t let failure get in the way. I think this has been said before by someone much smarter than myself, but the best way to achieve success is to double your rate of failure. That is, failure is not the enemy of success but the way of finding it. If you really believe in something, hard-work and determination go along way.
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