Your Journey of SuccessJourney: passage or progress from one stage to anotherSuccess is a journey...not a destination.Many individual achievements along the way contribute to your overall success. Where Have You Been?On your journey through life, you have no doubt heard something like, if you don't know where you've been, you wont know where you are going.With that as a starting point, let's consider where you've been...as part of determining where you want to go. Looking back to your high school days, what are some of the things you remember...from your early years...the middle years...your final year? Overall, was the experience mostly positive or ... mostly negative? For most of us, high school was a series of good...sometimes really good...times intermixed with some times that were not so good, some really really bad. When you finished school, what were your hopes and dreams...and how many were achieved, changed or abandoned? Similarly, when you started in real estate, what were your initial goals and expectations? In achieving your marketing goals, was it a continuous progression, with each month better than the previous one? Or have you sometimes experienced really good periods followed by not-so-good times? Unless you've been exceptionally lucky, your career...and life...has been marked by ups and downs. As the old cliché explains...life's like that. Sometimes it's good...sometimes it's not so good. This brief looking-back exercise is not intended to trigger reminiscing about how good...or bad...things were in the past. Rather the point is simply to illustrate that life continues to shift, change and evolve. In other words, life is a journey...sometimes things work out well...sometimes they don't. Likewise, success is also a journey...sometimes we achieve the results we desire...sometimes we don't. Top Reminders Of What We Can DoGratifying as they were, your high school successes cannot generate the desired results that will satisfy you for a lifetime.Similarly, the results that you achieved early in your career do not mean that you are a successful in real estate. The true value of past achievements is as reminders that you have in fact succeeded in the past...and can probably do so again. It's also important to remember that the bad times...such as economic downturns...are stages along the way. Surviving these stages and continuing to thrive in the better times that inevitably follow are repeatable achievements. What you learned about succeeding in the past, will also help you succeed again...and again...in the future. Top New GoalsFor example, let's assume that you have a long-term goal of generating $1,000,000 in income over the next 5 years. Unless you are lucky enough to win a lottery or receive a huge inheritance, this sum will not magically appear in your bank account on the last day of the fifth year. More likely you will plan how you will generate this income over a the 5-year period. Each year's plan will include include income goals that average $200,000 for each of the 5 years. Obviously achievement of each annual goal is the starting point for achieving the next annual goal..and so on until you have achieved your long term goal. But once you have achieved your long-term goal of earning $1,000,000 ...what then? Will you just sit back and enjoy reading your financial statements that show you have achieved your goal? Or will you use the results that you have achieved...$1,000,000...to do other things including pursue other goals? Top Achievements As Starting PointsConsidering success as a journey has implications for your planning...both in the short-term and long-term.Short-term goals are steps along the way...part of a longer term process. As a result, short term goals are not stand-alone achievements. They should contribute to, and prepare the way for, the next phase of the journey...achieving mid-term or annual goals. Similarly mid-term or annual goals are also part of the big picture...they contribute to the long term—3 to 5 year—goals. Top What Next?Satisfying as it is to achieve long-term goals, your success journey is not necessarily over.What will you do with the results you have worked so hard to achieve...what's your plan for your million dollars? Incidentally, if you need help in developing new plans, check out Planning Tools for Your Marketing Plan. It even includes a tool that will help you revisit what you value..and set appropriate goals. And so it continues...desirable results achieved lead to new goals & plans, which in turn lead to the achievement of more desired results...the journey of success. But fasten your seat-belts...achieving success is not always smooth ... sometimes there is a bit of turbulence along the way. Top
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