Why do some people achieve success at everything they do while others struggle?

That’s a question every curious person should have asked at one point or the other in their life. This is a question I set out to find an answer to in my personal and professional endeavour. Well, I found that a few things set the successful person and the mediocre apart.

Successful people set goals, develop a winning strategy to achieve it and act after all – they never get stuck at the planning stage.

I found that success is simply a function of goals, strategies and action! As this year is rolling up to an end, it is important that we deliberately make the most of it. We need to be intentional about making it a better year than anyone we’ve had because nothing happens by chance.

The good thing is that life presents opportunities for growth sometimes where we least expect. But, we must understand the things that make some people succeed even when others fail all the time.

These 3 essential elements help to achieve great success every time at everything we do. With it, our possibilities are endless.

1. Setting Goals

There are certain questions that are quite critical to one’s chances of succeeding in life. For instance, you should have answers to questions like, “what do I want to achieve this year, this month or ultimately, in my life?”

Whether you know it or not, this question is crucial to achieving success. It begins the goal setting process for everyone… It might interest you that a lack of definite goals ultimately results in little or no achievement at all.

As simple as losing weight, starting a business, and buying a house – you must learn to have your goals written down. If your goal is not tangible enough to write down, it’s not likely to be achieved because you haven’t taken the least of all important actions on it – that is writing it down.

Now when you want to set your goals remember to make it SMART. By that, I mean… Your goals have to be SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC and must be within a TIME FRAME. That’s when your goal can be achieved.

2. Developing a Strategy

Success in life is not only dependent upon goal setting; it’s not enough to have goals, you need to come up with a strategy or strategies on how to achieve them.

It is your responsibility to develop strategies or plans to achieve your goals. This is where a lot of people fail. They have big ideas, but they play down the importance of developing a realistic blueprint to help them achieve their goals.

Don’t let that be you.

If you followed the last election in the United States, you will agree with me that Donald Trump became the President because he adopted a strategy that worked for him. He knows what matters and went to work with it. That’s the power of strategies.

Having goals without strategies is like embarking on a journey without a destination. Strategies answer the question of ‘How’ So when you set goals, ensure to come up with a strategy that will make you a win at it.

3. Taking Action

In the school of success, all achievements can be attributed to one key word – ACTION.

Everyone who has succeeded in life will tell you that action was what made the difference for them, not ideas and neither was it a perfect strategy but taking action. It is okay to have goals and brilliant strategies to achieve them, but without action, nothing happens.

You will remain at the same level you were for as long as you choose to delay acting on the plans. Success is not easy; it takes hard work and determination. That is why after you’ve set goals and developed strategies, there’s still more to do – like taking action. If you want it so badly, won’t you pay the price?

Well… In case you don’t know, when you get to the highway of prosperity, what shows up is work.

So, if success is going to be yours, it’s up to you. The challenge I put to you today is to do the work! Talking and planning all the time won’t take you an inch without action. Those who are rewarded are those who are ready to pay the sacrifice; who are ready to do the work.

So, if you want this year to be better than last year, roll up your sleeves, check up on your goals for the year or set new ones but don’t stop there, create a definite strategy and act on them because nothing good comes cheap. You have to pay the price.