What would it do for your life if you could define success and take steps to achieve it? If you are like me, you may have briefly thought about the concept but have never spent time really exploring it. Maybe it is out of fear and maybe it is because you have never had time to ponder what success is for you personally. What would happen if you did move through the fear and did take the time to fully define what a successful life is for you? Would a vision for your life emerge?
Examine Each Area Of Your Life - Defining your ideal life is difficult unless you break it down into manageable pieces. To accomplish this task, you can divide the areas of your life into the following: career, finances, environment/setting, fun factor, health, personal development, family/relationships, spouse/significant other and spirituality. In each of these areas, think about what a fully successful life would be for you personally. To aid in the process, mentally picture yourself as actually living out your ideal life. Note what you doing, who are you are interacting with, and how you look. You may find it helpful to journal about these mental pictures.
Take Steps To Your Goals – What is one thing you can do to move yourself closer to being successful? Start by setting one goal for yourself in every area of your life. Make the goals measurable and time sensitive. One tip is to write the goals as if you have already completed them. An example of a goal to exercise would be written as “I exercise six times a week”. After you have written down the goals, read them twice a day, once when you get up in the morning and once before you go to bed at night. Studies have proven that the brain fires the same impulses when you visualize the goal as it does when you actually complete the task. In this way, you are training the brain to support you in your goals.
Get Support – Now that you have your ideal life mapped out, get support in moving forward. Join a support group, talk to a friend, or hire a coach.
Celebrate Success – Reward yourself for sticking with your goals. Set up mile markers along the way and treat yourself when you have accomplished them. For example, when I finished a section of a long paper I needed to complete, I treated myself to a massage.
Re-evaluate Consistently - Revisit your goals and update them on a consistent basis. You may need to tweak them a little or you may decide that a different goal would serve you better. Your definition of personal success may change through the years.
Instead of letting yourself get into the rut of letting life happen to you, be deliberate, define success and start living it.
Stacy Harshman brings her experience as a recruiter for a Fortune 500 corporation to her work as a life and career coach. In addition to helping people discover their passions, she also provides clients with insight into the mind of a recruiter, unlocking the secrets of what employers look for in potential employees. Stacy offers individual and group coaching in person and by phone to those seeking positive change in their professional and personal lives.
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