The holidays are a time of wonderful sights and sounds, delicious foods, and all manner of cheer. Traditional recipes are meticulously followed to create stunning, tasty treats that bring back memories of childhood happiness.
But today, we’re focusing on a recipe that’s a little different. Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we’re looking ahead to a bright new year and a happier, healthier future. Today, we’re focusing on finding a recipe for success!
What does success mean to you?
Success is often defined differently for different people. To one group, it may be financial independence. To others, it may be a loving family. And to some, success is more complex, a mixture of happiness, security, family, friendships, and other important ingredients.
For more information and ideas on how to understand what success means to you, check out this Inc.com article on the topic, which includes some conventional (and unconventional) ideas about defining success.
So how do I get there?
No matter what your definition of success, it’s important to identify the key steps that can help you get there. We’ve identified a few of the top things that successful people do to reach their goals, and we want to share them with you. Let’s get started…
Have a Plan
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” wrote Robert Burns, an 18th century Scottish poet. But even so, it’s important to have a plan to work from, and to adapt over time. Identifying your goals is important, but figuring out the steps to achieve them is paramount to success.
Focus on the Journey
It may sound simple and cliché, but focusing on the journey instead of the destination is what will keep you going when times get tough. For a destination that takes a long time to reach, setbacks and failure can demoralize you to the point of giving up. But if your focus is on each step you take along the path to success, then mistakes go from being an obstacle to being just another step. Celebrate your successes and your failures – they’re both learning experiences.
Make the Journey Fun
As a follow-up to focusing on the journey, it’s important that the journey isn’t all serious, all the time. Lightening up and letting yourself have some fun along the way will help prevent you from getting bogged down in the details. When it comes to your personal path to success, keep your perspective and look at the bigger picture. The little things are just that – little.
Get Rid of Time Wasters
If you’re motivated to be successful, it’s important that you eliminate the tiny things that can get in your way. Need an example? Think about how much time you spend on social media, envying other people’s success instead of finding your own. It’s hard not to! But there are tools to help. Apps like QualityTime not only show you how much time you spend on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and other mobile time sinks, but can even temporarily lock your phone for you, forcing you to take a break and focus on you.
Rely On Yourself
It may sound counterintuitive to shun help from others, but that’s exactly what you need to do sometimes. At the end of the day, everyone wants to be successful – and while your goals don’t necessarily compete with someone else’s, they don’t necessarily help them either. So it’s your job to focus on achieving success for yourself; no one else can do it for you. That said, opportunities to cooperate do exist, so keep an eye out for potential partners.
