- Define the meaning of success as you see it. You cannot have success if you do not know what it means for you. Everyone views success differently. Set clear goals and be realistic. How will you know when you've achieved your goals? Your standards should be quantifiable, or else you could spend your entire life chasing after a vague goal. For example, let's say you want to be good at your job. You get a promotion you get a raise, but you still haven't reached your goal because you could always do better, right? You could always get promoted even further, or make even more money. Whatever you have will never be enough. Instead, create benchmarks: "My goal is to increase my productivity by 30% and only be late for work five times per year, at the most." These are quantifiable goals that when achieved, give you a sense of satisfaction and completion, making you feel successful and confident.
- Study successful people. Look around--who has the success that you envision for yourself? What are they doing? How do they approach life? Become their apprentice. Ask them for advice. Spend time around them, if you can. Learn from them.
- Take risks.Step out of your comfort zone. Successful people think big and act big. It can be a scary thing to do, but if you don't, then will you ever be successful? Don't wait for opportunities to fall in your lap. Sniff them out. Successful people make big investment (in their careers, in their businesses, in their education) and all investments involve risk. But don't be reckless. Study your risks, make sure the odds are in your favor, then take a leap.
- Solve problem. People who are successful encourage progress by solving problems and answering questions. No matter where you are or what you're doing, look around and try and think of ways you can contribute. What are people struggling with or complaining about? How can you make life easier for them in an effective way? Can you re-design or re-organize some aspect of the situation so that things run more smoothly? Can you create a product or provide a service that fills a critical gap?
- Don't give up. If your first attempt didn't work, don't quit. When asked about his 10,000 failed attempts to develop a storage battery, the prolific American inventor Thomas Edison responded: "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
- Remember that success does not guarantee happiness. Success is equated with the achievement of a goal, but don't assume it will always bring happiness. Many people make the mistake that if they accomplish this or that, they'll be happier, but fulfillment and satisfaction have a lot more to do with how you approach life than with what you do in life. Keep that in perspective.
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