Many people I talk to inside and outside of business are looking for that elusive thing called success. Success is not defined solely by how much money you make. It is usually related to the pursuit of personal happiness, fulfillment and security.
Even people who appear to be focused on money usually have an underlying motive for something beyond the money. They might not know what it is, but it is almost always there.
In “The Go-Giver“, Bob Burg and John David Mann show us The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. It is an excellent framework for achieving success and applies to business and life in general.
The first step in achieving anything is knowing what the end-goal looks like. In this case it means knowing what personal success looks like to you.
If you are not clear on what success looks like you can spend years trying to achieve success only to find out that you didn’t enjoy the journey and hate the destination.
Knowing What You Want
The first step in determining the end goal is being clear what is important to you. Not what other people tell you is important. What you believe is important.
This means looking at all the areas of your life and deciding how you want to spend your time. What are your priorities around things like: money, family and friends, health and fitness, spiritual, and anything else you consider important?
What is the gap between where you are now and where you would like to be?
What does your vision of personal success look like? Is your vision of success pushing you to grow or are you coasting? Achieving goals that are currently just out of reach leads to Stratospheric Success. What are some goals you can set today to get there?
I won’t trivialize this. Many people have no idea what makes them happy longer-term so seek instant gratification instead. They make decisions in the present that lead to more heartache in the future. It takes a lot of maturity to understand what you really want longer term.
Definiteness of Purpose
If your goal is to survive you will just survive. If your goal is to go through life and just seize any opportunities that come up how will you know if those opportunities will lead to happiness or success?
In “Outwitting the Devil“, Napoleon Hill calls this drifting.
Moving through life without a major purpose puts you in reach of the Devil.
“Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you’ll have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.” ~ Napoleon Hill
Following through on achieving your plan consistently and without constantly reversing your decisions leads to definiteness of purpose. This is what leads to personal success.
Enjoy the Journey
I always like to emphasize this. Striving and achieving new things can lead to happiness. One day when “something is true” I will finally be happy. The destination rarely leads to long-term happiness. It may never happen or when you get there it may be fleeting.
Remember to enjoy the journey. Be grateful for the good things you have now and take time to create new experiences along the way.
Personal success is a journey.
Definiteness of purpose keeps you on the path.
