Ever felt as though the goals you set at the beginning of each year are just too lofty?  Are they so ambitious that they start to feel overwhelming?  Or even worse, actually unattainable?  Most professionals can probably relate to the trials and tribulations faced in navigating the vast landscape of goal-setting. There’s a constant quest to surpass or even shatter past achievements, reach ever higher for new targets, and turn dreams into reality.  The pressure to leave a lasting mark in your respective field and craft a legacy that inspires others to follow suit is real and can feel almost oppressive. 

If only there was a way to overcome the drama associated with this traditional end-of-year activity.  There is!  And it’s not just refusing to set goals.  There is a lesser-known way of setting goals that enables moving forward and achieving success without overshooting:  reverse engineering goals.

Choose It and You’re There

The search for success and happiness is as old as time itself.  People have been pondering what is the most direct path to success and happiness since before those terms were even really understood.  Advances in academia and technology coupled with a deeper awareness of what constitutes a “good life” has led people to ask and try to answer what it takes to be successful and happy. 

Prioritization, Focus & Discipline

In the push to succeed and search for enduring happiness, it is easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of distractions and lose sight of what truly matters. To achieve those coveted goals, it is essential to master the art of prioritization, focus, and discipline.  Those pave the way.

Prioritizing Health: The Key to Enduring Success and Happiness

In the relentless pursuit of success and happiness, people often overlook the foundation upon which all goals rest: health. The essential pillars of a healthy life—exercise, nutritious food, regular checkups, and sleep—are frequently sacrificed in the name of productivity, ambition, and instant gratification.  This is especially true in the work-obsessed U.S. culture.  However, neglecting the fundamental areas of well-being only serves to undercut one’s ability to achieve aspirations and find lasting contentment.  The relentless pursuit of success and happiness actually undermines achieving both.  That’s not just health-coaching nonsense.  It’s been validated by countless studies.

First Comes Sacrifice

Life coaches, franchise sellers and business advisors seldom use the word “sacrifice” when they are encouraging people to start a business, buy a business or grow a business.  In fact, sacrifice is not a word used much anymore.  It has an underlying connotation of pain, difficulty or loss.  The root words means to give up something valuable… for a greater purpose.  But most people just focus on the “giving up” part. 

The Secret to Success:  Acting in the Service of Others

People deeply want two things in life: to be successful and to be happy.  And so much is said about the relationship between happiness and success.  Are they correlated or does one cause the other?  Are they mutually exclusive or inextricably connected?  Or are there some other variables impacting both?

We know that gratitude and appreciation are seen as positives universally, by most people in most cultures, faiths and nationalities.  It is something that is seen in children even when not taught or encouraged.  You might say that it’s baked-into humanity. 

Gratitude is a foundational attitude or mindset while appreciation is the outward expression of that gratitude.  We feel gratitude and express appreciation.  So gratitude generates appreciation, and in turn, appreciation strengthens gratitude. When a sense of gratitude is cultivated, the person becomes more attuned to the positive aspects of their life, leading to a natural inclination to express appreciation. Conversely, when that person actively shows appreciation, he reinforces his own feelings of gratitude and deepens his connection with others.  This is part of the social fabric that draws people together.

Life can be difficult and things don’t always go as one hopes or plans.  This is definitely true in business.  And yet, successful people are forever gushing about how grateful they are for all the blessings and support in their lives.  Rightly so.  As they think about their entrepreneurial journey, business owners are often filled with an appreciation for the team members who have dedicated themselves to helping the business reach its goals, especially when the odds were stacked against them.  And they are grateful for the clients / customers who choose to do business with them, loyally, for years.  And they are grateful for the family and friends who cheered them on and believed in them. Most of all, they are grateful for those who lent the business money, time or guidance to help them get started.  Investors.  Mentors.  Trusted Advisors.  Business owners often talk about how thankful they are.

Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that winning one challenge can significantly increase the chances of winning future contests.  Winning begets winning and that produces success.  This phenomenon is driven by changes in confidence, motivation, social status, and even neural mechanisms.  This is aptly called the Winner Effect and it is real.  It’s like a winner’s domino chain… each win increases the odds of another win.  But what happens when the opposite occurs?  What happens when a person doesn’t experience one win after another; when instead they experience failures and setbacks?  What happens to the mind and body when the opposite of the Midas Touch happens?

There is no term that is greater praise to most people than the word “winner.”   Winner is synonymous with the terms achiever, success, victor, first, champion, and master.  No wonder people across all cultures want to be considered a “winner.” 

The word winner comes from the Middle English word winnere, which originated between 1325 and 1375. Winne is an agent noun derived from the Old English word winnan, which means “to win” or “to strive”. The earliest known use of the word winner is in the work Winner & Waster from 1352.  So, for nearly 700 years, we have understood that a winner is one who conquers, vanquishes or is successful especially through praiseworthy ability and hard work while a “waster” is someone who uses or expends carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose.