How to be SUCCESSFUL...

We all want to be successful in our lives. The only problem in achieving that is, we don't know where to start or what to do.

In most people's cases they feel what they are doing is just enough and they hope that someday they will be successful. But is it really enough?

I once read an intelligent article (don't remember the source now) and it conveyed a beautiful message to me i.e. 'Being successful today doesn't mean that you are a success tomorrow. Striving for success is everyday process and we should aim to achieve it every time. Just dreaming about it or hoping will never pan out' 
And if we think deeply about it, it's kind of true. If I deliver an awesome work today,  I will be praised now, and with every success the expectation bar rises, hence NOW i have to work harder to be successful tomorrow as well.

Over period of time I have learnt few simple things that encourage success in our lives, be it personal or professional. They are simple, yet most difficult to follow because in the niche of time, we always forget the process and non-urgent things (which are very important but don't seem like at the moment). Lets discuss them...

Stop going off-track and maintain a to-do list: You should have a system that makes you realize that you are not doing as per expectation. Many times we go off-track and forget what we were suppose to do in 1st place. Make sure you have a planner or check-ins that remind you on your goals so that you can focus again. It might seem like homework but we all need something or someone to remind us of our priorities

Stop forgetting and fearing your goals: We all so much comfortable in our daily chores that we completely forget what our goals actually are... Many times we see goals as those big rocky mountains that look almost impossible to climb. Stop seeing them like that, its the fear of failing that results in actual failure. Think of them as an opportunity and try. Even if you fail you can at-least say, 'well, I tried' and then try again

Stop being harsh with yourself: Something I am trying to learn desperately. Nobody is perfect and everybody makes a mistake. If you made a mistake then its not the end of the world, you can try again and make it better. If you are harsh on yourself then instead of finding a solution all you are looking for is the problem. Hence if you make a mistake don't be harsh, just forgive yourself but don't forget the lesson you learnt from it. 

Stop agreeing to everything and learn to say NO: Very important point. If you say 'yes' to everything then you are setting yourself on the path of failure. Well you know what they say, 'do 100 good deeds no one will remember you, do 1 wrong, and everyone will remember only that'. So don't set yourself on path of failure, saying 'no' tastefully is an art, master it with practice

Stop living in 'only-today', rather focus on tomorrow: What you do today results in tomorrow hence it is very important to plan. Consider life as a car, now its you who decides if you are driving it or someone else is. Proper planning of future, knowing what to do when & having 5 year, 10 year plan in place puts you in driver seat. And once you take control, sky is the limit. I personally have had plans for each year ever since I joined corporate and by following and planning it each day I can simply say I have achieved most milestones. There are few that I failed due to circumstantial reasons but no complains there, they now sit in my coming years agenda :)

Reading above might seem very less or too much to you, but in both scenarios I would say, 'its hardest to take the 1st step, but once that is done rest whole journey becomes easy'. 

Try these as 1st step and if done right, success will come running crazy towards you

Till then

Take Care