Success is defined in different ways by different people, but let’s talk about what most people agree “success” looks like.

Success Is…

• knowing you did a good job during your day and had positive interactions with other people
• looking forward to going home to your family and sharing yourself with them
• knowing you have enough funds to pay this month’s bills and the bills that will arise in the future
• knowing that your spiritual life is in order and that you have somewhere to turn when you hit a bump in the road
• having hobbies that you enjoy and having the time to work at them

Success Isn’t…

• putting your work ahead of your career
• running home and then hiding from your family because you’ve “had a hard day”
• having all the money in the world and then trying to figure out how to amass even more
• going to a worship service and creating your “to-do” list during it
• burning the candle at both ends, never having time to play or relax

In short, success is not always monetarily-related; you aren’t deemed “unsuccessful” if you don’t earn a six-figure salary. Success is more than moving up a corporate ladder and it touches more than just your career. It affects your marriage and family, your home life (finances, etc.), your spiritual life, and more.

Being successful is a balancing act. One isn’t considered successful in life if s/he climbs the corporate ladder but has a home or family-life that is in shambles.

One isn’t considered “successful” if s/he earns plenty of money to retire on, anticipating spending that retirement with family, only to find that his/her children are gone and disinterested in any family relationships by the time retirement is possible.

So is there one formula to be successful? I think there is, and the components are: positive thinking, the right skill set, the right philosophy, having direction, and having character. All of these things make up a formula for success, and each of these things, if left out of the formula, will cause an individual to lack success in life.

Learn how to think “success” so that you are successful at whatever you choose to do.

At some point on your road to your goals, you’ll need to take some time to reflect and assess where you are, where you’ve been, and how this is affecting where you want to go.

One way you can determine how you’re doing and where you’ve been is to journal. I personally am not a journaler, nor do I think everyone needs to be. But journaling is a great way to track your progress. If you feel intimidated by a blank book that’s sold as a “journal,” blog it. Blogging is a good way to put your thoughts down and out there in cyberspace.

Or choose an audio-method: speak in to a tape recorder. If, like me, you’re not a journaler, keep track of your progress and setbacks in the form of check-marks or some other recording-method.

I personally like to reassess after achieving some part of my goal. There is usually a natural denouement that comes with an accomplishment – a little bit of “time off,” as it were. I use that time to consider what I’ve finished and how it fits in to my goals and success.

Another time to reflect and consider is when you’ve hit a stumbling block. As you look at the obstacle in front of you, try to figure out where it came from and why you might not have seen it before you tripped over it.

If you have strayed off-course and found this boulder that way, this is the time to determine that. If you’ve lost sight of your values, you may have found this problem as a result of that. Reassess now and get back on track. Don’t forget your key value of integrity and realize that integrity is the most important thing as you pursue success.

Finally, use reflection time to re-evaluate your goals. Have your goals changed a bit since you wrote them down?

An example is a goal to pursue your doctoral degree and defend your thesis within 3 years of starting your program. If you were single when you started your program and got married during your education, you might find that your timeline is less important now than it was 2 years ago. You might find that if you take an extra year to defend your thesis, you’ll have a richer, more productive document to defend, as your spouse may be able to help you consider things you hadn’t seen before.

Regardless of how you assess and consider your goals and your path to success, it’s important that you do. Everyone needs tweaking along the way, and that also applies to the goals we set for ourselves.

Okay, so you’ve been giving it your all. Well, maybe not your *all*, but a good portion of your all. And you’re not seeing any progress. So now what? Are you doomed to failure and never to succeed? No! Keep reading.

One thing that you need to understand is that failure is an event, not a person. It doesn’t define you as a “loser” for the rest of your life – unless you let it. Failure happens to you – it isn’t who you are. You’re not a victim, but it also doesn’t define you. So when it happens (notice I didn’t say “if”), pick yourself up and get ready for the next event in your life.

You must adjust your attitude as you recuperate from a failure. You will rise to your own expectations. Psychologists call this a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” and we are suckers to believe our own words. So adjust your attitude to the positive side of things.

Remember the guy who came up with the brilliant idea to change Coke? Back in the 80s (for those of you who were mere babes during that decade), someone had a stroke of genius – or so he thought. The Coca Cola company decided to compete more with Pepsi, and changed the formulation of their signature product – Coke.

They called it “The New Coke.” It bombed. No one enjoyed the new taste and the calls were immediate to bring back “the old Coke.” After a few months of hemming and hawing, Coca Cola executives brought back the original formula of Coke and ditched the new stuff – and its creator.

So what happened to the guy whose idea this was? He left Coca Cola and began to look for new work. The trouble was, his name was well known in the business community and everyone connected him to the failure that New Coke was. He finally landed an interview in which he got a fair shake: the interviewer asked what he had learned through the problems the New Coke had created.

Naturally, he indicated that he had many lessons learned from the fiasco. He didn’t let failure define him, and he ended up landing the job for which he was interviewing. Good for him, right? But good for the company that hired him, too.

They were willing to take a chance on a creative risk-taker who had a very public failure on his record.

Many of those who are considered to be “successful” have had failures dot their lives. Rush Limbaugh, the king of daytime talk radio, was fired multiple times from different radio jobs. He also filed for bankruptcy – twice. So you can see how Limbaugh didn’t permit failure to define him. Those failures were events from which he recovered and moved on. And you should take the same tact when confronted with something that didn’t turn out like you hoped it would.

Without character, the puzzle of achieving success falls apart. It is most important of all pieces to life’s puzzle. Without character, you can make money… but it will be worthless to you and to those around you. Look out in the world today: drug dealers and con artists have money – but they lack character.

If you go to all the work of achieving success, you don’t want to mar it with a lack of character that will make people pity you as you age and become less than you were intended to be.

Character equals integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing all the time, even when no one else is watching. You don’t have anything to fear when your integrity is in tact, because you have nothing to hide. You experience no guilt and no fear. And without those two traveling companions, it’s much easier to climb higher and farther, faster!

What does this mean in a practical sense? It means that you will put the right philosophy (the golden rule) in to practice in all that you do. You will not step on someone else to climb the corporate ladder; you will not stack bodies in order to reach the CEO position that you desire. You will treat people with respect, honesty, and trust. You will behave towards others how you want (and expect) them to behave towards you.

You will be the model of “doing the right thing” in your office, even if it isn’t appreciated or understood. Chances are very good that if you’re the only one doing the right thing, you won’t last where you are, but you will find something better where your integrity is appreciated and applauded.

Character realizes that the most important things in life are not office- or work based. They are family and a sense of responsibility to that family. Character will not sacrifice your family on the altar of “I’ve got to finish this project,” nor will it tell your children, “Maybe next time, hon,” when asked to play catch.

Your character will shine through as you put your family before your work, as you purposefully schedule time with them (and then keep those appointments you put in your planner), as you “date” your spouse and remember why it is you got married in the first place, and as you set an example that your spouse and children can be proud of.

The most important thing to remember as you consider character is that your children will grow up to be just like you. John Maxwell once said, “We teach what we know; we reproduce who we are.” So as a person who is full of integrity and character, you will reproduce those same traits in your children as you climb towards success in your life. And isn’t that really what it’s all about, anyhow?

This article today came about after I had a brief discussion with a very successful online business leader as I was looking into a Joint Venture proposal with him. We had very quickly got down to business and also sharing our mutual stories when it became clear to me, why some people become successful and why some people don’t. You see this guy was exceptionally successful, but he was also just a normal guy. So what was the difference? He took decisive action and kept on doing it, especially in the early days when things may not have always been going so well for him.

You need to do the same with your own life. No one is going to give you a hand up. It is in your observance of what is happening in your life right now and how you choose to act/react to it that defines HOW you live. The foundation of your success depends on your ability to perceive everything that is happening right now as a positive step in the right direction. Just being here right NOW reading this post (considering for yourself the message I’m trying to convey) is enough to steer you in a totally new direction which just might get you to your goal sooner than you think. Imagine your dream life 1, 2 even 5 years from now as if it were a city or state on a map. Which route would you rather take to get to this destination? Would it be the longer obstacle infested more difficult roads? Or, would you rather take the direct, straight and simplest path imaginable? The correct answer is of course a no brainer right?

Now I want you to imagine that you are only 3 inches tall and standing at the foot of a giant staircase. Stay with me for a second as I try to help you visualise something here. Every time you climb one stair level (or rise) you must walk across it (thread) to the next and immediately begin to climb again or you will never get to the top. Each stair run represents a piece of knowledge; every stair rise represents the action you must take on that knowledge to get you to the next level. Learning is walking across that stair… Action is climbing each stair … One of the biggest problems I see with people I’ve met is the ability or lack thereof to get back up and keep moving. Many just get stuck on that first stair!

Prioritize or Perish

Only you can decide what matters the most to you. If you choose to work at a job that you hate instead of focusing your time, energy and money on your passion, so be it. No one is going to twist your arm and make you learn how to turn your passion into cash. That’s all up to you! You will not be alone in that scenario because it is only a small number who actually decide to do something about it.

Organize or Overwhelm

Frustration is simply programming that needs to be erased. I know it’s sometimes easier said than done, but there is never a valid reason to be frustrated. No matter what you may think at the time. When you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with information, organize it into groups and learn one thing at a time. Once again, this is your life and no one is going to make it easy for you but you.

Act or Aguish

Whether you’re learning how to write music or market to a targeted audience, you must first LEARN and then take ACTION. I’m not even going to try to back this one up with statistical data but in my honest opinion 110% of all failure is due to lack of taking the appropriate action at the appropriate time. Too many just jump in and act like a bull in a china shop and wonder why things are not working out. You must learn what needs to be done and then act on that new information in a progressive, organised and structured manner.

I am going finish this article with a little reminder:

I want you to remember this… Every mentor you follow, every teacher you learn from, every individual you admire has taken ACTION on the KNOWLEDGE they have gained IMMEDIATELY to achieve their level of SUCCESS.

Now, I ask you, are you up to the challenge of being a leader or are you too lazy to make the climb?

Tomorrow I’m going to continue with the staircase analogy and show you how to leverage others to climb to the top. But in the mean time, what is holding you back from taking action today?

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “in the zone,” particularly as it applies to athletes or others who are unflappable as they eye the goal. Sometimes you can be in the zone regarding your success and nothing gets in your way; other times you can do everything right and find that whatever can go wrong, will. Here are thoughts on building the habit of success and getting “in the zone.”

Achieve Success by Expecting It
You must understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth or straight. When you hit those inevitable bumps in the road, your character, commitment, and attitude will help get you “in the zone” or at least, keep you there.

Success Breeds Success
“Mo.” That shortened word of “mo” speaks of momentum – the ability to continually succeed and build on the past successes you’ve had. Most people understand that when they have one (big or small) success, it encourages them and makes them believe they can do anything. Salespeople know it, and they strive for it.
When you’ve unlocked the key to your success (whatever that may be), you’ll find your “mo” and that nothing can get in your way.

Choosing Success
We all understand that we can choose to be happy or miserable, and that our choices will affect our lives for the better or worse. When you opt to be happy, you choose to identify with the accomplishments in life that exude who you are and who you have striven to be. You can choose to look on the positive side, just as you can choose success. Remember, success is more than just wealth. Choose the positive side of things and you choose to remember and live your successes, not your failures.

Experts Don’t Know Everything
If you have a plan that seems to go against all the conventional wisdom and yet you know in your soul that this WILL work, then follow your gut instincts. The “experts” are wrong all the time – from medical experts who predict incorrectly to future-trending experts who foretell the wrong trends and costs corporations millions. More than 100 years ago, someone wanted to close down the US Patent office because he thought everything that could be invented had been and that no one would need to patent anything else, ever. So don’t listen to the nay sayers and “experts” – sometimes they are dead wrong!

Anxiety is the result of either a) not believing you can achieve your goals successfully or b) having a fear of not achieving your goals. Either can stop you in your tracks when it comes to being successful.

Worrying is not anxiety, but it can accompany being anxious. Ultimately, what anxiety does as well is distracts you from your stated goal.

You must plot your course for success. If you have your goals well-defined and your “insurance policies” in place (such as friends who can encourage you, experts in your chosen field who can guide you, etc.), anxiety and worry don’t have much room to take root. If you are a negative person, however, you can give birth to these twins without much effort.

If you don’t believe in your goals or don’t believe you can achieve them, your attitude will determine your level of success. And that’s where worry and anxiety come in to roost.

Your first step in overcoming anxiety is to make sure you have your goals written down – or at least, entered in a PDA where you can easily retrieve them and view them regularly. If you can see your goals and the small steps you’ll take to achieve them (and have a check-mark system to chart your progress), pull it out and read over it when you begin to feel anxious.

The second step is to correct your attitude. If you dwell in the “I can’t” and “I’ll never,” you’re right – you can’t and you’ll never. Instead, you need to dismiss those thoughts and consider what you have already accomplished and what next goal your series of baby steps will achieve. We go back to the truth “attitude is everything.”

Henry Ford famously said, “Either you think you can or you think you can’t. Either way, you’re right.” On this point, I think he was correct. As an inventor, he had the opportunity to dwell on all the times his Quadricycle prototypes failed.

Instead, he moved on, learning from the failures and mistakes. He didn’t let a bad prototype stand in his way of succeeding. He overcame any anxiety and worry with positive attitude and a gritty determination.

The final step to overcoming anxiety is to have those around you who can encourage you. I touched on this when discussing setting your goals and making sure that you have the appropriate support system around you. Anxiety and worry rarely come to a party of more than one – they like to torment individuals. Two or three people have the benefit of seeing different angles of a challenge and being positive about the outcome. So if you find yourself worrying or anxious, tap your support system. Don’t do it at 3:00 in the morning (your support system won’t be very supportive at that hour!), but do it as soon as it’s practical. You’ll thank yourself and continue on towards your goal.