HOW TO BECOME SUCCESFUL: THREE STEPS THAT HELPED ME BUILD MY PATH TO SUCCESS

 For all of us from a young age, societal rules and expectations teach us the general understanding of success. For example, we are taught to work long hours to get the next big promotion.  However, I disagree with these rules and I will disagree with society. My success is characterized by three simple rules. The first is by setting SMART goals, the second is by meeting the right people and the last is by not allowing social media or society to affect your version of success. I hope these tips help you reach your own success.

SMART Goals:

The first step towards how I built my path to success begins with the idea of never pursuing success but striving towards SMART goals. For success, it is very important to accept your faults, and always strive to make a full change if something isn't working. Robert Murray, a keynote speaker and author, says that on average “83% of the general public who set themselves goals will eventually end up failing while 17% will only achieve partial success in their respective goals. The remaining 3% achieve their goals to its full capacity” . I was part of the 83% for a good chunk of my life, always setting at least 10 goals to escalate my chances of success, but always finding myself falling short of my goals. Henceforth, I started researching the reasons for my failure, and later realized that I was setting far too many goals. Additionally, I set too many unachievable and unattainable goals, leading to failure. I then proceeded to check for alternative methods for success and landed upon SMART goals, SMART standing for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Reasonable and Time. This approach allows for a more focused and specialized attempt at creating and achieving goals. Through this process, I have reduced my daily ten goals to an achievable two or maximum three goals, as more than three gets confusing and becomes hard to follow. Following SMART goals, keeping the goals focused and simple, setting goals that coincide with my life values and setting no more than three goals are all methods I have used to ensure a spot in the top 3% of individuals who achieve their full goal.  Following these goals will lead you to achieve your own version of success.

Getting to Know the Right People:

After setting goals, the second part to my success is getting to know valuable members who will help me grow. In other words, these are the people who will be instrumental in my success, those who will be brutally honest even in the hardest of times and those who might be the decision makers that decide whether I gain or lose millions. Until reaching the university phase of my career, I never realized the importance of meeting people, as I was too shy. I thought networking would be a waste of time. Then one day, my friend insisted that I attend my first networking event hosted by the Telfer. Truly, I am thankful my friend did this, as I started to see the importance of meeting people, I found how easy it was to interact with employers and peers, despite my previous fear. After that night, I started to attend every networking event that the school hosted, and even started to branch out and pay money to attend networking events hosted by different companies.

There were many tips I learned at each event that made me better for the next. These tips include leaving a strong impact on the people with whom you speak at networking events and making sure to have background knowledge on the company or individual to make maximum impact. LinkedIn recently did a survey in 2016 which states that “80% of individuals use professional networking as their means of getting jobs, while 60% use connections inside the company”. Therefore, at the end of your conversation, getting their LinkedIn profile for follow-ups will benefit you. By setting SMART goals and getting to know the right people you can get closer to achieving your version of success.

Not Letting Social Media or Society to Change Your Version of Success:

The final step towards my path to success, after setting goals, and meeting the right people, is not to let social media or society in general change what success means to you. Never let anyone, even yourself, compare your success to the success of others. To this day I let societal expectations influence me, because my mind was unclear on what success meant. I have a job, money, and education but I never feel happiness or peace. That is when I realized what success meant to me. It is having the resources to support the relations that are irreplaceable, such as family, friends and community. In conclusion, this is the final and last step required for achieving ultimate success. I am currently only a student, but I follow these three steps everyday, which has allowed me to achieve the  success I have at work, school and in my overall life, and I hope this well help you the same way it helped me.

Call  to action:

After reading this post, reach out and tell me three strategies you have used to  built your path to success. I look forward to hearing from you!!

for those who feel unmotivated and without success this is a video that has always helped me out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mm57rH1sTE&ab_channel=MotivationHub

References:

Burdis, J. (2018, April 19). Stop Pursuing Success — An open letter to myself. Retrieved, from Medium website: https://medium.com/@JacobBurdis/stop-pursuing-success-an-open-letter-to-myself-562d3d0ece1

Chan, J. (2017, November 19). How I Became Successful on My Own Terms. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@jennifertchan/how-i-became-successful-on-my-own-terms-b0e0561ea3ee

Eighty percent of professionals consider networking important to career success. (2017, June 22). Retrieved from Linkedin.com website: https://news.linkedin.com/2017/6/eighty-percent-of-professionals-consider-networking-important-to-career-success

Fahkry, T. (2017, October 30). 3 Compelling Reasons Why the Journey Matters More Than the Destination. Retrieved from https://byrslf.co/3-reasons-why-the-journey-matters-more-than-the-destination-abf9cfe52c2e

Key, S. (2014). Meeting the Right People Is Worth It, Even If You Have to Pay for Access. Retrieved from Entrepreneur website: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238026

Oppong, T. (2014, March 8). Is Success A Destination or A Journey? Retrieved from AllTopStartups website: https://alltopstartups.com/2012/03/07/is-success-a-destination-or-a-journey/

Robert Murray. (2017, January 6). Retrieved from Robert Murray website: https://robert-murray.com/smart-goal-setting/

SMART Goal - Definition, Guide, and Importance of Goal Setting. (2018). Retrieved from Corporate Finance Institute website: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/

Stasiulionyte, I. (2019). 10 Tips to Achieve Anything You Want in Life. SUCCESS. Retrieved from: https://www.success.com/10-tips-to-achieve-anything-you-want-in-life/

Those with Goals Are 10x More Likely to Succeed | Blog. (2019, September 19). Retrieved from Biggerpockets.com website: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2015-11-06-set-goals-for-2016

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