Many people have spent their whole life trying to achieve success. Some people are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve success while others treat it as an aspirational concept that seems unattainable. As entrepreneurs, we have varying definitions of success based on how we perceive success. Deborah Hopkins, Chief Innovation Officer at Citibank, says “I define success as living my true purpose and having a positive impact on the lives of people by uplifting them and inspiring them to think and act in ways that they may not have considered before."
On the other hand, one of the richest men in the world, Jeff Bezos defined success as the ability “to laugh often and much; to win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the beauty in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here.”. Despite the noble perspectives of these highly accomplished individuals of business and leadership, there are some key steps that they incorporated in their lives to ensure that success became a reality.
Have a Clear Vision
Before you aspire to be successful, you must, I repeat you must have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. It is necessary to know specifically what you are passionate about and the direction that you would want to take for your life. A clear vision helps to keep you on track towards your goals. Life is filled with numerous distractions and so it may be difficult to remain focused on the task at hand. In the words of the great Nelson Mandela, “Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the word”. This means that if you truly want to make an impact in society, you must act on the vision that you have for your life. It cannot be just mere words, you must have a blueprint of how you are getting from point A to point B.
Create a Plan
The next step to achieve success is to have a plan. Planning allows you to have a complete scope of what is required to achieve the goals and a defined timeframe to accomplish them. Proper time management helps you to dedicate a reasonable amount of time to achieve a certain task before moving on to the next goal. Once you plan ahead, this reduces stress and frustration and allows you to experience an increase in productivity and efficiency in your professional and personal life. As an entrepreneur, if you are serious about achieving your goals, you must be willing to segment your goals into short-term and long-term plans. This strategy will help you in meeting your vision and mission.
Do What You Love
The vision and plan that you have to be successful must be based on your passion. Passion is the catalyst that fuels success at every point of your professional and personal journey. An entrepreneur will be able to withstand the obstacles that come his or her way as long as they are passionate about what they do. Passion leads to success as it makes it hard for you to quit, allows you to be diligent, changes your attitudes towards difficulties, prevents you from wasting time, and increases focus. It is difficult for you to quit a business venture when you are passionate. Although there may be instances when your business is experiencing losses in revenue, the passionate entrepreneur does the hard work even if the results are not favorable. For example, an artist will continue to do his or her paintings even if one out of 10 paintings are sold because he or she has a genuine love for art.
Never Give Up
Tenacity is linked to passion. The most successful people on earth have encountered roadblocks in their lives, but they refused to give up because they remained resolute towards their vision. The relevance of tenacity is stressed by those who have been “Students of success”. Relentless determination definitely plays an integral role in achieving success whereas resistance is a major cause of failure. Thomas Edison, the man who invented the first bulb, failed ten thousand times before perfecting the incandescent light bulb.
Be Willing To Do Whatever It Takes
In order to be successful, you must be committed to doing anything and everything to accomplish your dreams. You need to ask yourself the question “how determined am I to do whatever it takes?”. Say affirmative words such as” I will do whatever it takes to attain success because I am capable of greatness. When you believe that statement, there is nothing that prevents you from reaching your fullest potential. Also, you must go beyond the confines of traditional practices by thinking outside of the box. This concept is hard to put into practice because it requires stepping outside of your comfort zone. True growth begins at the end of your comfort zone. People who are on top of their games in their field of expertise are not accustomed to being comfortable, they are open to learning new ideas. You must always be willing to challenge yourself if you want to be successful.
Be Your Own Boss
You have to own your goals, as this is the only way your success will be manifested. One writer states that “Ownership shows others that you care about what you do and the results that you produce. It shows others that you seek success for yourself and your career and are setting yourself apart from others. Ownership means delivering continuous improvement within your role, as opposed to being complacent and sticking to the status quo, just because that is what was done in the past”.
Success is a Marathon
Finally, entrepreneurs must realize that success does not happen overnight. It is a marathon. It will take weeks, months or even years, but if you are consistent and relentless towards your goals, success will always be yours.
Without a doubt, success is attainable. If you consistently apply these seven secrets of success to your journey, you will see incredible results.
