freedigitalphotos.net | suat eman
Success… we all aspire to it, talk about it, think about it. Sometimes, we even get a bit jealous of those who have achieved it. And, sometimes we are willing to fight for it. Achieving success comes from setting goals and accomplishing them. It brings with it great happiness and satisfaction once it has been reached.
Working step by step toward your vision of success can provide new levels of happiness each day as we accomplish small tasks bringing us closer and closer to achieving that success. Each day that we focus on achieving that extreme goal that is uniquely important to us as small business owners, we get a little bit closer to Success.
Do you remember your college days when success meant taking and passing all of the required coursework to complete your degree? That degree was intended to put you on track toward the career you selected. Finishing that degree, walking across the stage to receive your diploma and being congratulated by family and friends was just Phase One of your journey toward your unique vision of success. In spite of the stress and anxiety created by difficult semesters of classes and homework, you learned what you needed to start down your career path. Steps toward success were achieved.
What is Success?
What exactly is success? What does it look like? Success can look like different things to different people based on their background, how and where they grew up, what their parents and grandparents were like, the family’s financial situation, and a wide range of other life influences a person might have. So many, maybe even too many, people relate success to wealth, which is not necessarily accurate.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines success as: the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame. Even that definition is still a pretty broad range. Success means different things to different people. It can be the result of small or large goals, it can be something short term or something with a far longer timeline. There are many successful small business owners, teachers, priests, ministers and rabbis whose main goal in life is not to become wealthy. Helping people who need assistance can be a satisfying kind of success for some. Earning enough to send your children or grandchildren to college can be another’s vision of success. Earning enough to assure a worry-free retirement can also be viewed as success.
Who Can Achieve Success?
Success is something achievable to anyone willing to dream their dream, plan to achieve it and lay out the necessary steps and milestones along their path to success. Wealth does not guarantee success. Children born into wealthy families won’t necessarily be successful. They can be handed everything imaginable by their rich parents and still not achieve respect or fame. If they do nothing but live off of the family wealth, they will likely not achieve any significant result.
On the other hand, many well known people who came from humble beginnings, had no college education and yet achieved great things: wealth and prosperity, respect and fame. Famous Chef, Wolfgang Puck is just one example of someone without a college degree who dreamed his own dream and made it reality. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook were both college dropouts who had visions and achieved them on much greater scales than they ever imagined.
Those who achieve success get there because they possessed the Keys to Success. “Keys to success, what keys to Success?” you might ask. Anyone in the developed world knows what keys are. Keys are those metal pieces with notches and grooves that allow us to gain access to places and things from which we are obstructed. In other words, keys open doors, both solid, material doors and abstract doors that are the basis of dreams and desires. There are a number of concepts – or keys – that those who achieve success all possess.
Which Keys to Success Do You Possess?
Key to Achieving Success #1:
Clear objective: If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll never get there, or if you do, you won’t realize you achieved success. Clear direction is necessary to take you from Point A to Point B or Point C and as many other points, or levels, necessary to achieve your dream.
Key to Achieving Success #2:
Accurate strategy: Trying to achieve success without a plan is like planning for defeat. You will never get there. An accurate, logical strategy helps to build and complete the largest of projects. Every successful small business owner fulfills a small part of his grand plan each day.
Key to Achieving Success #3:
Positivity: Positive thinking and a positive attitude go a long way to achieving what you want from life – or your small business. Stop thinking negative thoughts. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Take a chance on yourself and your dream of success.
Key to Achieving Success #4:
Specialized education or training: To be successful in a specific area or industry takes skills and knowledge. Maybe that means a college education – even beyond a bachelor’s degree. Maybe it will require other types of learning experiences. Education also means focus on life-long learning. As the world changes, so will the career, business or other dreams of success. Changes in technology can make enormous changes to how you do business. The same applies to changes in your customer base – why they buy, how they buy and even where they buy.
Key to Achieving Success #5:
Sense of self: Self-confidence and faith in your abilities to succeed provide the motivation needed to keep successful individuals on track. Having confidence in your ability to change your situation will keep aspirations front and center at all times – your eye on the prize, as the saying goes. Never give in to naysayers who try to burst your bubble. Believe in your own self worth and ability to achieve your unique vision of success.
Changing your life situation is entirely up to you. Life is full of choices for everyone. You can get anything you want: a car, an education, a home or even a business of your own. . What you need to do first in your quest for success is set your goal. Once you set goals – short term or long term – decide what you will need to achieve the goal. Some of the necessary items required to achieve the success you envision you may already have, or can be achieved somewhat easily. Other things, like a specialized education can take more time and money to achieve. Itemize them in writing. Writing goals and dreams down makes them more real. As you check off each step you have completed, having a visible check list lets you know how much closer you are to success.
To my way of thinking, the biggest key to success is based on personal determination. You know what you want, so make the commitment to achieve it. There will be peaks and valleys along the way, but your determination will get you through those. Set your goals. Determine the necessary items and steps required to reach success. Then, take the first step. Then take another step and yet another. In less time than you might imagine, you while have achieved the success you dreamed of. Dream big!
