Here's a short quiz. Answer True or False:
1. Success is only for the educated or favored; it is discriminatory.
2. Success doesn't occur until you reach long-term goals.
3. Big money plus big house plus perfect children equals success.
4. Successful people are never wrong.
5. To be successful at work, you must prove yourself indispensable.
6. Success is elusive-it's always just over the next hill.
According to Linda Galindo, vice president, Innovations Consulting, a Salt Lake City, UT human resource development company, all of the above statements are false assumptions about success, assumptions that ultimately lead to burn-out, discontent, and disappointment.
Galindo says many people believe success comes when they achieve their long-term goals, or when they gain a lot of money, power, or recognition. They aren't satisfied until they've reached their goals, and if and when they finally do, it's not enough. They immediately turn around and set another one. They never feel successful in the moment-it's always down the road somewhere.
SUCCESS DEFINED
Galindo submits this definition of success: 'Success is in the moment. It is getting up every morning and working toward the long- and short-term goals I've set for myself. It's producing on a daily basis what I've designed for myself.'
Success is a personal issue. It's counterproductive to compare yourself to another to determine how you're doing. Also, don't allow someone else's idea of success to be intimidating. Don't seek consensus-decide what success means to you.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Chances are good that with a plan you can achieve your dreams. Here's what Galindo suggests:
1. Establish a goal. It must be specific, definable, quantitative, and time-dependent. At what do you want to excel? How do you want to be remembered? Determine when you'd like to begin to see results.
2. Make a detailed, written plan for achieving that goal. Galindo keeps sticky memo notes attached to strategic places such as her mirror, desk drawer, and in her purse to reinforce what she's achieving to keep her focused.
3. Determine resources required to achieve that goal: financial, human, and physical. Continue to develop skills step by step to support your long-term strategy.
4. Implement the plan. Don't just dream. Get to work! Be sure to include strategies for setbacks in the plan. They will happen.
5. Write a detailed description of success so that you will know if you're achieving your goal. In Galindo's words: 'Before you even start, you must see yourself responsible for your strategy working or not working. Achievement isn't about money, clients, employer, or spouse. It's about accepting responsibility for yourself. You own it.'
QUALITIES COMMON TO SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE
- They believe they are special. They feel destined to make a contribution. They present themselves this way to others, and they believe in the 'specialness' of others.
- They take responsibility for what is or isn't being produced. There are two paths to choose between; you can insist on being right, or you can take responsibility even though it may sometimes be 'unfair.' It's human nature to take credit for everything that's right and blaming others when things go wrong. But the successful person sets the standard in accepting responsibility for problems and working toward making a change.
- They are willing to invest the time it takes to succeed. Life doesn't just happen to them. They make it happen, and that takes a commitment of time and energy.
If you've planned before, and the plan doesn't fit any longer, give yourself permission to change the plan or to begin anew.
Find your 'success in the moment.' Get up every morning and work toward the long- and short-term goals you've set for yourself. Producing on a daily basis what you've designed is success.