Despite the small successes we all experience every day, sometimes it can feel like it's not enough. What's more, our measure of success is likely to shift at different turning points in our lives, an idea I shared in depth in my book "You Know More Than You Think You Do". For example, seeing your friends achieve certain milestones sooner than you have, or watching coworkers be promoted and elevated while you have been passed over.
Success is a moving target. Identifying how to measure true success can help keep us on track and motivated towards our desired outcomes.
Are you putting in enough of the right kind of activities to hit your goals?
Most successful people see success as something to strive for and hope to reach "someday". In many people's minds, success is something way off in the distance that they will run themselves ragged to get to - if they ever get to it at all.
In "Creating A Platinum Lifestyle", I share my transition from viewing success as a place where I would arrive. I defined it as the progressive realisation of a predetermined, worthwhile goal. Over time, I realized that the definition I adopted from greats like Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and many others, had a fault - it was and is wrong!
Viewing success this way can lead to "destination disease". Destination disease is the belief that if we just arrive somewhere (e.g., attain a position, accomplish a goal, have a relationship with the right person), we will be successful. Years before writing "Creating A Platinum Lifestyle" I came to a different conclusion about success. All the traditional definitions either made success a destination to reach or required some magical formula to obtain. I began to see success as a journey, an ongoing process of growth. I believe that success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefit others. No matter how long you live or what you decide to do in life, you and I will never exhaust our capacity to grow towards our potential, nor will we run out of opportunities to help others. So, before I share my three-step process to help you achieve more of your goals, I would like you to be aware that if you see success as a "destination" you risk the unsurmountable challenge of trying to "arrive" at an elusive destination.
Unfortunately, you will never find yourself in a position where you have accomplished some final goal - as you will discover you are still unfulfilled and searching for something else to do.
Another benefit of focusing on the journey of success instead on arriving at a destination or achieving a goal is that you have the potential to become a success today. Right here, right now, while reading this sentence, you can make the shift to finding your purpose, growing to your potential, and helping others. Successful is something you are right now, not something you vaguely hope one day to be.
Figure out the best activity and results to measure
Every goal should have a measurable result that allows you to track your progress. In "The Four Disciplines of Execution", by authors Chris McChesney and Sean Covey, they share that for every goal, certain activities generate the best and fastest results. "Act on the lead measures" is discipline number two. This is the discipline of leverage the authors write, "It's based on the same principle that all actions are not created equal. Some actions have more impact than others when reaching for a goal."
Lead measures are measures of activity and help predict our results. With measurement and the right points of focus, you know the truth of what is happening. If you are not doing this, you are just guessing until the results are in.
Set aggressive short-term goals for activity and results
Set big, yet achievable short-term goals using step one to guide confidence in which activity will help you produce the results you plan to track. Set short-term goals for both. Give yourself a margin for error. If you hit the inflated goal, you would have put yourself ahead of the game - and enthusiasm and confidence will be high.
One of the key pillars of "Inside Out Thinking", from my book "Inside Out: It's An Inside Job", is that short-term goals provide a compass to let us see if we are on course for our long-term goals. It's crucial to track activity alongside results because together, the two numbers tell you whether we are on course, whether we need to do more, or we need to do something else. The sooner we know this, the sooner we can adjust.
Create a system for easily tracking your success and sharing the numbers
Be strategic in how you use your results. Tracking activity and results as prescribed in steps one and two is meaningless unless we know the numbers week by week or month by month. The numbers drive focus and accountability. Leaders and team that do not perform well tend to hide numbers. You can share numbers effectively and inspire your team in the following three ways for example:
1. A weekly email;
2. Updating the main page of your internal e-newsletter;
3. Writing on the white board in the main office area.
In business our success is dependent on our ability to achieve goals and produce results.
Are you doing enough of the right activity on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to get where you need to go when you need to be there?
Whether you are hoping to achieve personal success, overall life satisfaction, happiness, or professional success, finding the motivation to do so starts with identifying what is truly important to you. The only person who can define how you measure success is yourself, do you agree?
Do not compare your success to that of others and keep your eyes on the prize. Start tracking your best activity and the right results.
• Eliot Kelly is recognized as a serial entrepreneur, business coach and mentor and has been featured on CNN, BBC Three's Be Your Own Boss and an extensive list of magazines and articles. His five books have been translated in over seven languages and sold in twenty-nine countries, recently being shortlisted for Best Self-Help and Best Advice Books 2019 by The Author Academy. Contact him via his website at www.eliotkelly.co.uk, email at info@eliotkelly.co.uk and Twitter via @eliotkellyofficial.
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