Define IT To Achieve It
Each of us are different in our strengths, in areas where we need to improve on, and things that make us tick. It is but natural then that we aspire for different things. Or, said in other words, the success we desire is very different for each of us. It is as true of two people living in different continents as it is for two siblings living under the same roof! Nurture, nature and our life experiences shape what we desire.
Here, I am not necessarily talking about the existential questions of “why are we born, or what’s our purpose in life”. I am referring to broad guidelines of what we aspire towards over the next 1 to 5 years. The timeframe may vary, but it is useful to have something to work towards. Having a target to work towards, significantly increases our odds of achieving it. What are the odds of scientists finding a cure to a disease if they don’t define what disease they are looking to find a cure for, or a flight landing in the right city and the right time unless the crew has defined it.
Here is the dichotomy of this. We as professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time in our roles defining what success looks like for our companies (and our roles), but an equally abysmal time in defining our own success parameters. If we don’t define what we want, someone else will (and mostly does).
Here are some things that have worked for me over the years.
Define, with at least a 3 year (ideally 5 years) view, what success means to you. The 3-5 year time horizon is great as it offers the benefit of having some longer term goals and offering time to work towards it.
When defining the goals, take a holistic view of your life and not a unidimensional view. For instance, success for someone could be becoming a Senior Manager in 3 years from now. However, this may be a unidimensional view. It may well be a key component of your success but not necessarily the only one. I have often found it useful to think of my goals along these 4 pillars - Personal Growth, Professional Growth, Family & Friends, and Financial Growth.
Having defined the 5 year success view, work back words to define what this means in terms of annual success goals, and specifically for the year ahead.
Finally break these annual goals into quarterly targets and then weekly/ monthly actions needed to progress towards these goals.
Have a 6 monthly review of your progress, much like a performance review against your set priorities. It helps take corrective action and pivot when things may have derailed us.
As we do this, it is important to note that we are evolving beings! What we aspire towards today can change a year down the line, and that’s absolutely fine. However, this structured process of defining what we seek and reviewing it at periodic intervals can help us keep pushing forward!
May we all get the success we define for ourselves!
