Reaching Out for Success Successfully (Part 1)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

The other week I visited one of my favorite places, National Bookstore. As I sauntered around I couldn’t help but noticed the many books about success packaged attractively. It got me thinking: “How to really attain success? What does it really take to become successful?” With so many books about success packed shoulder to shoulder in those shelves it was confusing which one to read first. So instead I searched for answers in my most favorite book, The Holy Bible.

THE PROCESS OF SUCCESS

Let’s start with the question, “How to attain success?”

A big tree doesn’t just grow up to become what it is today. It starts with a tiny little seed. A beautiful butterfly isn’t born that way; it starts with a slow fat caterpillar. Nature dictates that for something to become SOMETHING, it should undergo a process.

The same is true with success. To become successful you need to follow a process.

FIRST: Set Your Goal, Establish Your Finish Line, Know Your Dream
To know whether you are successful you need to know what success looks like to you. The best yardstick for your success is your own dreams and your goals in life. The most common mistake people make is to align their goals with the goals and expectations of other people. Don’t do that. Follow your own heart.

I believe there are four basic dreams in life: to receive something that you do not have now, to do something that you haven’t done before, to go somewhere where you haven’t been, and to become someone you are not now. So the important question to ask in this stage is, “What do I really want?”

Of the four basic dreams, I believe that the most important is to dream to become someone better than who you are right now because the other three normally follow. In your quest to become SOMEONE, tie your dream around your talents and innate skills. The common mistake people make is to try to become someone God doesn’t intend them to be; someone that doesn’t align with their natural talents or innate skills. So they ended up unhappy and average at best.

Finally, when you dream might as well dream BIG. It’s not a BIG dream if you can reach it easily now. Also, at this stage you don’t need to know how to get there; you only need to know how badly you really want to attain your goal and dream. The more intense is your desire the better is your chance of reaching goals and dreams.

SECOND: Determine the Steps towards Your Goal
How to become a successful businessman? How to become a successful professional in your field? How to become a happily married couple? How to become a wonderful parent? How to become an outstanding student?

Don’t ask me. I don’t know all the answers. (Grinning)

There is a famous saying that goes like this, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” The journey to success requires a few or more steps, and to attain it you need to know the right steps. To get to where you want to go you need to know the right path. So in this stage of the success process the right question to ask is, “What are the right steps towards my success?”

If by now you realize already that you do not have all the right answers then you are on the right track. The common mistake people make is to assume that they already know everything they ought to know. The other common mistake is to think that to be successful you need to know everything. Nobody knows everything except God. And you don’t have to know everything to become successful.

We need the help of our fellow men and women. To aim for success as a Lone Ranger is the long way to success. The fastlane is to help others and let others help you. In short you need to build bridges towards other people. To know the steps towards your success you got to connect to the people who have done it already successfully. Read their story, ask them if you can, and pay if you must. Look at it this way, if you are stranded in the desert without water wouldn’t you pay anything to someone who can show you the way to the nearest oasis. If your goal and dream is very close to your heart then it is like water in the oasis.

THIRD: Work your Way One Step at a Time
You already know what you want, and you already know the steps how to get it. The final step in the success process is to roll up your sleeves and work your way to success one step at a time. This is the stage where those who are interested and those who are committed to their goal and dream will be separated. Knowledge is useless if you won’t apply it. You can read all the books about success and interview all the successful people, but won't find any change in your life if you won’t apply the knowledge and wisdom they shared.

In this stage you need to ask – “How to do this step?” – and do it. Adjust if you must, but do not quit.

More often than not, each step of the success process may require new sets of skills or new knowledge; something that you do not have now. So in this stage of the success process you should be prepared to learn and to do. Of course, you can ask other people to do it for you or even hire professionals. Whatever way you choose doesn’t matter much. What matter is that you are willing to do what it takes to succeed.

In summary, God wants us to become prosperous and successful. To become successful you and I need understand the process, follow the process and work the process that leads to our success.

Go to Part2