The core value of success, for any person, is being able to acquire the "total capacity" and the "ascendancy" not only to help himself and his family, but to a great extent, to help others similarly grow and succeed towards their desired future. Total capacity bespeaks of a person's perception of himself, his skills, knowledge, and abilities, as well as his experience, values, reputation, industry, and sense of social responsibility. When a person has the total capacity, he develops a character that gives him the ascendancy of a role model who can influence the lives of others, directly or indirectly, through the superior value of his thoughts, words, and deed.
But success has become more elusive. Life now is so complicated, disruptive, and unpredictable due to changes in the context of society beyond the capacity of many people to face and overcome. This is exactly the reason why a methodical approach to personal success is a contemporary necessity, and this involves going through the following steps:
1. Know yourself, what you have in stock as a person.
Success escapes people who do not know themselves. You have to dissect your totality with clinical precision. Be honest in the exercise of knowing who and what you are. Do not hide anything; after all, it is only you who knows everything about you. Ask yourself: What are my strengths? Where am I weak? What are my past successes and what did I do then? What are my failures and what were the causes? Do I have the character, reputation, and predisposition to help others?
In the exercise, never entertain the idea that you have been a failure. Delight the fact that you are already approaching the threshold of success as you painstakingly submit to a realistic self-analysis.
2. Know your needs, wants, desires, and passion.
Your decision to trek a success path, and the probability of you reaching your desired destination, have to be reconciled with where you are now. This is the point where you need to know where you stand in the hierarchy of human needs (i.e. physiological, security, love, recognition, and
self-fulfillment). Why is this important? Here, you will basically know where you want to go: what needs you have to satisfy, things that you still want after satisfying your needs, and a notch higher, those that you desire to have in the future.
Amidst your needs, wants, and desires, what is really your central goal in life? Is your goal something that you are happy with and most passionate about? A clear discernment of your passion is critically important because you should never pursue anything that you are not interested in. Your passion is both your beacon and live energy for a long and tedious journey to success.
3. Count your blessings and ascertain the risks.What do you have at stake to achieve your goal and be successful? Do you have the necessary physical, mental, and psychological preparedness, and the character and maturity, to lead and live a disciplined life to success? Do you have the support of your family, relatives, and friends in your success endeavor? What financial resources do you need, and do you have it? If not, what are your options should you need them? What are the potential roadblocks to what you intend to do? Is there alignment between your goal and what you have?
These are the major questions that you have to impose upon yourself for realistic answers. Otherwise, you run the risk of chasing an ideal goal that does not match your realistic capacity to achieve it. There is wisdom in learning from the history of success greats who, while being handicapped and underprivileged, succeeded by relying on their vision, focus, persistence, courage, sense of humanity, and friendship. You can do the same because you also value the importance of success with your willingness to strategize on it.
4. Know your choices, make a decision, set your objective, and plan for it.
If what you have are sufficient to pursue your goal, which is a product of your passion, then immediately go for your goal. Develop a quick plan and set objectives and milestones that should usher you through and tell you, at any given time, if you are on track.
If you do not have what it takes to work on your goal without necessarily failing, you can either postpone working on it while doing things that will help you achieve it at a later time, or you can abandon and change your goal in favor of another option with the same or equivalent fulfillment at the end.
5. Get organized and be systematic, take the side of quality.
As you chase your goal, you have to conserve physical and mental
energy. The odds against success are great, and oftentimes discouraging. As a famous quip avers, "Success is exercise of perfection, always demanding and precision-hungry. At times, it is demoralizing. And in many occasions, you can lose your identity" You can insulate yourself against the drawbacks of chasing success by mapping out all that needs to be done in an organized, comprehensive, and systematic manner that makes you efficient and effective.
6. Maintain strong appetite for new knowledge, keep current with the times, and learn how to learn.
Go into purposeful reading. Learn from people and from the lights of their experience. Expand your circle of friends, and get interconnected with those who can help transfer knowledge to enhance your capacity in pursuing your goal. Enjoy the enormous power of the Internet for both historical and new knowledge. Be visible in your community and in organizations where you can better appreciate and practice the high essence of teamwork, sharing, and communication.
7. Embrace humanity, humility, modesty, and patience.
Demonstrate sincerity and dedication to people. Show them your commitment to your purpose in life, and your predisposition to help others without expecting anything in return, financial or otherwise. Mark your word and keep your promises. Shun idolatry. Be humble, and remain modest in your needs. Have the patience to withstand and overcome failure, delays, and errors, while learning from such dysfunctions including the ignorance of others. Stay calm, reasonable, and tolerant. All these qualities build a rock-strong character of respectability and dependability.
8. Enjoy the company of God, you will never go wrong.
Seek and relish the sanctity of God, and His generosity, kindness, provision, and forgiveness. If you have consistent spirituality within you, and in your interaction with people, you acquire a refreshing peace of mind and a faith that recognizes no borders as you learn to embrace humanity as a providential gift for the sharing and enjoyment of its constituents.
After you have knowingly gone through the step-by-step approach to success, you will be surprised and fulfilled that you have succeeded in liberating yourself from the bondage of status quo because you have become: purpose-driven, change receptive, knowledge-hungry, organized, contented with what you have, sharing and collaborative, and excited about humanity. Above all, you remain guided by the thought that success is anywhere in what you think, what you do, and what you share. It resides in you, and is always people-friendly.
