Buzz
Elvis Presley once said, "Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine." Having dreams is crucial for achieving success, but success won't come by merely dreaming. Living ambitiously is a skill that develops over time and requires hard work, persistence, and, most importantly, a solid strategy. Follow these steps to pursue your dreams and achieve success.
Steps
Adopt the Right Mindset
Identify what motivates you. Everyone has different sources of motivation, whether it's fear, love, or responsibility. Discover what drives you and channel your energy into those values.
Use positive affirmations with yourself. Positive affirmations are statements similar to self-praise. These statements not only boost confidence but also enhance problem-solving skills under stress.
- Reflect on your most valuable personality traits. Do you consider yourself creative? Intelligent? Talented? Create positive affirmations around the traits that best define your personality.
- Tell yourself 10 times a day: "I am smart. I can use my intelligence to achieve my goals. I am creative. I can use my creativity as a problem-solving tool. I am talented."
- Ensure your affirmations are positive, realistic, and centered around you. Avoid statements like "I can focus well on tasks" if you struggle with focus. Instead, say, "I can work on improving my focus" or "I am getting better at concentrating."
Focus on what you can gain rather than what you might lose. Obsessing over mistakes only increases anxiety and shifts your focus to what not to do instead of what needs to be done.
- Tell yourself, "If I work hard, I will look amazing." This mindset keeps you optimistic and eager to work daily. If you constantly think, "If I don’t run today, I’ll gain weight and lose my attractiveness," you’ll become too anxious to perform tasks effectively.
- Working in an environment filled with doubt and worry can hinder your performance. Fear of messing up might lead to inaction, which won’t help you achieve your goals.
Remove the phrase "I don’t feel like it" from your vocabulary. The idea of only doing something when you "feel like it" is dangerous and detrimental to success. While inspiration may strike unexpectedly, don’t rely on it to get things done.
- When we say, "I just can’t get out of bed to exercise," we’re really saying, "I feel like I don’t want to exercise." Nothing is physically stopping you; the real barrier is the belief that motivation must come from within rather than through consistent effort.
- Many artists and writers thrive because they rely on work habits that require them to put in hours daily, no matter how tedious it feels.
- Think of motivation as a verb, not a noun. It’s something you do consistently, not something you wait for.
Use an "if-then" plan to approach tasks. Set specific standards and rules for tasks, or you’ll find yourself procrastinating until the last minute.
- Instead of saying, "I’ll write my English essay later," say, If it’s 2 PM, then I’ll start writing my English essay. By deciding in advance what you’ll do and when, you eliminate the need to debate when the right time is.
- Because you’ve already made the decision, at 2 PM, you’re less likely to ask yourself, "Do I really need to do this now?" or "Can this wait a little longer?"
- If-then plans have been proven to increase goal achievement by 200-300% above average.
View failure as a process of elimination. Don’t see failure as the end result of your efforts but as a method to refine your path toward achieving your goals.
- When Thomas Edison finally invented the light bulb, he famously said, "I have not failed; I’ve just found 2,000 ways that won’t work."
- Both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant set numerous scoring records in basketball. However, what you might not know is that they are also celebrated leaders in the NBA for their memorable contributions. When you attempt many things, failure is natural. Don’t fear mistakes or falling short. Failure only becomes permanent when you stop trying.
Enjoy success, but don’t rest on your laurels. This is known as "resting on your laurels," and it can lead to complacency about what you’ve achieved rather than focusing on the next accomplishment.
- It’s important to celebrate what you’ve done well, but know that basking in the glory of your achievements can limit your ability to pursue other goals. Because success is certain, exciting, and rewarding, we might find ourselves hesitant to take risks and potentially face failure again.
- Basking in success can be helpful if you haven’t set a specific goal. However, when you’re striving toward a goal, lingering too long in celebration can hinder progress and lead to stagnation.
Set Goals
Set specific, measurable goals. Similar to the "If-then" plan, setting tangible goals gives your brain a clear target to strive for.
- While it’s important to always do your best, "doing your best" isn’t the most effective way to measure success. Instead of saying, "Today I’ll try my best to run 1.6 km," say, "Today I’ll aim to run 1.6 km in 10 minutes."
- Because "doing your best" is subjective, it’s easy to convince yourself you’ve done enough when the task feels challenging. For example, while running, you might think, "Okay, I’ve done enough. That’s my best." A specific goal pushes you toward a clear, measurable outcome.
Develop a strategy to achieve your specific goal. Now that you’ve set a clear goal, outline detailed steps to reach it.
- For example, "To run 1.6 km in 10 minutes, I’ll jog 10 laps around the tennis court near my house daily for two weeks. After that, I’ll run 20 laps around the local reservoir, which is much larger."
- Even those who set specific goals may fail to achieve them simply because they lack a concrete plan. Without a serious plan, you won’t know if you’re capable of reaching your goal.
Set challenging yet realistic goals. If you’re healthy and have moderate running experience, running 1.6 km in 10 minutes sounds reasonable. However, aiming for the same time while recovering from an illness or managing asthma may not be realistic.
- Goals shouldn’t be too easy, as they won’t push you to improve. If you’ve previously run 1.6 km in 10 minutes, aim for 8 minutes and 30 seconds next. Setting easily achievable goals might boost confidence but won’t enhance performance or make you a competitive runner.
- Goals also shouldn’t be too high or difficult, as they may be unattainable. For example, running 1.6 km in 4 minutes is feasible for Olympic-level athletes but unrealistic for an average runner. Overly ambitious goals can lead to frustration or a lack of commitment.
Set both short-term and long-term goals. Focusing only on long-term goals can lead to distractions, lack of determination, or a feeling of demotivation. Short-term goals remind you why you’re working hard in the present moment.
- Achievements boost confidence by making you feel more capable. Setting and accomplishing short-term goals helps you see immediate progress and increases your drive to succeed.
- For example, set a goal to run 1.6 km in 9 minutes this month and 8 minutes 30 seconds next month. A long-term goal could be running 1.6 km in 7 minutes by the end of the year. Success becomes easier when you build momentum.
Plan a new goal immediately after achieving one. A defining trait of ambitious people is their constant drive to improve.
- This strategy specifically combats complacency (as described earlier). Setting a new goal right away keeps you action-oriented rather than stuck in celebration. While rest and relaxation are important, aim to plan your next goal as soon as possible.
- After running 1.6 km in 7 minutes, plan to participate in a short marathon within the next two months. Use the remaining weeks to rest your legs but also to strategize for your new goal.
Reward yourself with something specific each time you achieve a goal. For example, treat yourself to a T-bone steak after running 1.6 km in 7 minutes. Rest and rewards are as crucial to success as hard work and dedication.
- Stress is healthy in small, manageable doses because it sharpens focus and stimulates the brain. However, excessive stress diminishes performance, erodes confidence, and can derail your progress, leading to burnout.
- Chronic stress not only harms mental health but also impacts physical well-being. It can overwork the heart, contribute to diabetes or asthma, and make you more susceptible to illnesses like colds.
- Rewarding yourself is different from basking in success. It reinforces positive behavior and motivates you to keep pursuing goals. Instead of endlessly admiring your achievements, acknowledge your effort and use rewards to fuel your drive for future challenges.
Tips
- Keep things organized and tidy. The easiest way to stay focused on your goals is to eliminate distractions, such as a cluttered room or unsorted boxes of books.
- Create an ambition list. Post it on your bed frame, bathroom wall, or anywhere you’ll see it daily!
Warning
- Some might label you as a workaholic. Don’t believe them. Maintain your social relationships, but keep chasing your dreams and dismiss any trivial opinions.
