Success doesn’t just happen but it’s a process that it carefully planned and executed. However most people only see the finished product and think one got lucky. My definition of luck has always been “preparation meeting with opportunity”.

Success is whatever you define it to be and not what other define for you. We all have different goals in life and that mine isn’t the same as from yours, doesn’t make me less successful. Your goal in life may be to have a net worth of $ 1 Million at the age of 40 while mine may be to obtain a doctorate degree. These goals are what defines success to each of us and we both become successful once we achieve them.

Success may be a temporary destination or be broken down into milestones in which case you have to redefine it once achieved to enable planning and execution of the next phase.

Since success is a planned and executed process following the steps outlined below will help you get to your desired destination:

Define it: Success is whatever you define it to be not others, so you must first decide what your own definition of success is. What is your goal or objective in doing what you do? The only way you would know that success has come your way is if you have decided what success means to you. So you must be very clear in your mind what you want to achieve and not what others decide it is.

Draw up a plan: After you have decided or defined what success means to you, you have to decide how you are going to go about delivering on plans. There may be many routes of ways to achieve the same plan so you have to put together a road map which will guide you every step of the way towards achieving your plan. A plan will help you decide the best route suitable for you considering your peculiar circumstances.

Take Action: Without acting on laid out plans, success will never come or be achievable. This is when you start acting on critical success factors decided on at the planning stage. This process requires a lot of effort and energy as this is when you walk your talk.

Reassess: Its very critical to review action taken at various intervals to ensure that you haven’t deviated from well laid out plans. This may also be necessary where modification to original plan becomes necessary. Your circumstances may have changed making adherence to original plans no longer practical. Reassessment helps to avoid the embarrassment of embarking on a journey to a wrong destination or never reaching planned destination.

Stay Persistent: You are the only one who can do it for yourself so you must believe in it and never give up even when everyone else has. You must stay motivated and be ready to deal with all obstacles and challenges that will definitely be laid on your path towards achieving success and becoming successful.

"Any one can succeed and all they have to do is want it so bad" - Anonymous