The Definition of Success

S: Your goal must be SPECIFIC. If you set goals that are vague, then you either will be unable to figure out how to achieve them, or you will be unable to tell when you have.

M: Your goal must be MEASURABLE. It must have a set end, something to aim for that you will be able to reach and understand "this goal has been completed."

A: Your goal must be ATTAINABLE. Make certain that your goal is both achievable within the time limit you decide upon, whilst not being below your skill level (somewhat of a waste of time to set a goal for that, just do it!)

R: Your goal must be RELEVANT. If you desire to be successful with your goals, make sure they are something that is important to you and your life, and it will matter to you (if not anyone else!) if it is achieved.

T: Your goal must have a set TIME in which you desire it to be completed, or a schedule for how often and when you will work towards that completion. If you do not set a time, or if it is too vague, then you will likely fall victim to procrastination! Make sure that your time limit is ATTAINABLE, however.

INCREASE IN SKILL: Many goals that you set and accomplish focus on your own actions and ideals, so by working towards achieving them you can often find you will increase in whatever area of skill your goal contests!

WEALTH, FAME, RESPECT: To make and achieve a goal is something that is difficult and impressive, so by doing so often enough you may find yourself acquiring trust, respect, and the ability to climb ladders in your social and personal life that you previously were unable to.

INFLUENCE: To attain success is something a great deal of people desire, but may find themselves unmotivated or unable to work towards it, or perhaps not even know where to start! By gaining success yourself, you will garner a great deal of influence towards those who have not if you are willing to help motivate and teach them.

SELF FULFILLMENT AND DISCOVERY: To accomplish goals often broadens and strengthens your skills: a proper goal must be attainable, and therefore have roots within skills you already have, but still challenging you to learn and progress either in those skills or in others. By doing this you will learn and develop, and will likely learn much about yourself and your talents and limits in the process.

LIFE EXPERIENCES: As a general rule, most goals cannot be accomplished by sitting on your couch and staring at a wall (unless that IS your goal, in which case, power to you?) meaning that in working towards your goal you will be doing things that you have either done before and want to do more of, or trying out and exploring new things. This means that by working towards your goals, and towards success, you will probably get to experience and meet new situations, skills, emotions, and people that you may not have otherwise!

CAREER GROWTH: From a more business and entrepreneur standpoint, to achieve success will often mean one of two things: Personal scaling of the career ladder in your field of work (promotions!), or for your company/business to thrive and grow due to the effort you are giving it.

PASSION: If you are trying to achieve success in an area that you are not the slightest passionate about, you will have no continuing motivation to achieve the goals that will lead you to success. If you aim to achieve something in a field that you love, then you will love working towards success, and find it less of a burden than you would otherwise.

REQUIRED MATERIALS AND SUPPORT: Whether your goals are personal or more business oriented, you will need to make sure you have what you need before you can get there (OR to set your first goals towards getting what you need for the end ones!). If you desire to achieve success in the field of wrestling, but you've got a broken leg, then you first must set a goal to rest and heal up before you can even begin working towards your goal of working out regularly.

MOTIVATION: Part of this ties into the above points. Whether your motivation comes from necessity, real passion, outward support, or even just the want to become "successful and popular," you will need it, and lots of it! You need to be motivated enough to set your goals, and to keep working on them until you succeed.

SKILLS: Your path to success should be built upon connecting what you desire to achieve with what skills you already are in possession of. This can be applied both to the personal side of success and towards the business side, wherein you may require skills of leadership and charisma (or at least the ability to explain your point!) before the success you want becomes a possibility.

GOALS: Never stop setting and achieving goals! Even if you have achieved what you believe to be success, there is absolutely NO WAY that you have reached the pinnacle of what you can do and learn as a person. Many people view success as a mountain topped by a plateau, wherein by accomplishing that "plateau" you have reached the limit of what you can achieve. This is not so! You must continue working and learning if you want to maintain and even grow the success that you have already acquired. There is no limit to what you, as a person, can learn.

PERSISTENCE: Even once you have achieved a success, or became what you believe to be "sufficiently" successful, you cannot lose that motivation that has been motivating you to succeed. The vast majority of success can be lost even quicker than it was obtained, and it is up to you to not slack off and let that happen.

PRIDE: Be proud of what you accomplished. After all, not everyone can say honestly that they have managed to complete the goals that lead them where they wanted to end up. No matter what pitfalls you encountered, you made it! Use this pride to continue being motivated, and to continue growing and learning and making a positive difference on your life and the lives of other people.