What is it that makes people successful? If only someone would write a book about that subject…just kidding. If you go into any bookstore you can find a wall filled with books to make each of us a more successful person…in our job, in life, at school…the list goes on and on
In my mind there are a few simple rules or characteristics that make a person successful and this can be applied to just about any profession, hobby or interest. The keys to success are:
- Be proactive…develop the thought that each day I am going to take action in my life that will push me forward to the next step. If I am a sales person and I need to get new accounts I need to be proactive! Do not wait for someone to call you, go out and meet with the people that will provide sales. If I am a broker, that means start developing relationships with carriers…Proactively, not just when you need a load. Do not wait to start to move your day forward, move your day forward by finding out what will make you successful and cultivating that! If it is customers, relationships, whatever…cultivate it.
- Create a Plan…Each day, it is hard to be proactive when you do not have a plan for doing it. How often do each of us look back on the last 8 hours and ask, “What did I do today?” With a plan, you start to create tasks that are reliant upon your ability to proactive and not just reactive. When you are reactive you are never putting yourself in position to succeed. You are always looking at how to respond. By creating a plan you are able to create proactive opportunities. At a minimum, you should start planning a month out with a longer term goal. You should then have a weekly plan with an objective in mind. Perhaps your goal is to have 4 new customers this month. Weekly goals should be supportive of that with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, Time-related) objectives. This will lead to the development of your daily goals that should be done the night before. By creating objectives that are concrete in this way it is possible to move forward a plan that will help provide the opportunities for actions to be successful.
- Have a goal! What do you want to accomplish in the next year? Have you ever tried to create a plan and take action without a specific objective? It is pretty much impossible to do. Have an endpoint that your plans and proactive actions will support. What if you are a car salesman…Your goal might be to have a $50k bonus this year. Once you have that goal in mind you can start to look at the objectives you need to hit monthly that will be part of your plan. To hit $50k bonus I need to sell 100 cars. How do I approach this Big Hairy Audacious Goal? First, by knowing what needs to be accomplished to hit $50k. Once you know that you can begin to make milestones that will lead you to creating a plan that makes it possible for you to be proactive every day
I know the advice is simple, but sometimes a simple reminder that we all to take steps to achieve our goals helps us refocus. What is your goal this year? What do you need to do to achieve it? Perhaps you have a goal, but do not know how to make it possible because it involves a new position or a promotion. If that is the case, talk to your manager or boss and ask! Just remember, success is built on an objective you plan to obtain through a sound and evolving plan that is dependent upon the proactive steps you will take every day in support of it! If you break it down to daily tasks, the objective gets more real every day!