“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” – Arthur Ashe
When thinking of success as a journey, and not a destination at which we “arrive” it sets more realistic expectations for the road ahead. When most people go on vacation, there is usually some planning and preparation involved. We research the most effective travel method, how much time the trip takes, and pack everything we need. The same is true for achieving our goals for success in life. A significant step toward achieving your goals is getting rid of the old worn-out baggage that is weighing your down, and picking up some new lighter bags to prepare for your success journey.
In this article, I’ll share 6 ways that you can make space in your life to prepare for your success journey!
1. Identify the Consumers, Helpers, Supporters, and Neutrals in your Life!
Consumers are activities that take up valuable time and don’t contribute to the skills or resources you need for your success journey. Here are a few:
- Social Media (not related to success goals).
- Watching Television – Nuff said
- Hobbies that are not related to your goals
- Lounging for long periods of time on the phone
- Hanging out in those streets!
Supporters – activities, and people that provide encouragement and are cheerleaders for your success! You need these for your success journey. Here are a few:
- Social Media (as a tool to enhance success)
- Affinity Groups
- Networking
- Family
- Friends
- Counselors
- Spiritual/Clergy
Helpers – activities, and people that will facilitate success and help build your toolkit to further your success goals!
- Training
- Reading
- Networking
- Apprenticeships/Internships
- Planning and Time management
- Mentors
- Advisors
- Family
- Friends
Neutrals – activities that are a staple in your life. You will need these to keep you grounded during your success journey!
- Friends
- Family
- Work
- Spiritual/Clergy
- Rest
- Fitness activities
2. Scale back or eliminate activities that you listed as Consumers that suck up valuable time, but do not further or support your success journey.
You don’t have to go cold turkey! Instead, make a plan to taper off activities, detach from unproductive groups or memberships, scale back on social media, transfer time-consuming roles/responsibilities to others, and delegate tasks to free up your time.
3. Replace the Consumers with Helpers.
Be selective when you do this. Think about your goals from the standpoint of where you are, and what you can do with what you have, and evaluate what you will need. Be realistic and prioritize what you will need.
4. Lean on your supporters while you scale back the Consumers and replace them with Helpers.
Share your dreams and goals with your supporters, and explain your success journey. Let your supporters know that you will need their patience, empathy, and motivation. Put energy into creating and maintaining positive associations, and relationships and engaging in motivating activities. Ask yourself, who among your supporters have you observed be successful at achieving a goal, and emulate their successful habits and behavior.
5. Make your success journey front and center in your identity!
Do this by learning and adopting the habits of successful people. Visualize your success! Make a vision board, put up post-it notes, or use any other regular visual reminder of your goals. Learn to speak the language of success and make your goals a regular topic of your conversations. Learn the behavior of successful people. You will develop a new identity that aligns with your goals. This will help you avoid those Consumers and help you identify the Supporters and Helpers around you. Don’t take old habits, behavior, or relationships that did not foster or support success with you on your success journey.
6. Take Control of Your Time!
There are many different methods out there for scheduling. Pick one that is the easiest for you to learn, use and maintain. It doesn’t matter which method you use, it just matters that you pick one and do your best to stick to it. It helps to make realistic plans, and be sure to schedule some free time for those Neutral activities in your life. Reduce anxiety by turning down invites, and rescheduling where you can, to avoid scheduling conflicts or stacking your day with commitments. Don’t forget to have fun celebrating achieving small goals along the way! When you make a realistic schedule that includes time for self-care, you will enjoy the success journey much more.
Yes, YES! Self evaluation to find that sweet spot between life and success is a treasure that takes time and effort.
Yes! That’s it! Thanks for your comment and Best Wishes for your success journey!