Steps to Becoming a Successful Person

One step at a time: Becoming a successful person

"I always succeed," I said to someone the other day. He replied, "That is interesting because I never do."

I thought very seriously about that later and wondered why this particular person would see himself in such a negative light. Was he merely being humble? I don't think so, not by the way that he said it. I suspect that it is his perception of himself as a person.

In reality, you are a successful person if you see yourself as being one. Only you can take the steps that are necessary in order to become a successful person, if you feel that you are not one yet.

Steps to becoming a successful person.

Look at the reality in your life seriously, first. No one has a an ethical, moral or legal obligation to be a successful person, but you do owe it to yourself, as a human being to see your self in a positive, rather than a negative light.

If you do not see yourself as a successful person, you might want to ask yourself, why not? What is it that is holding you back? Is it the perception you have of yourself or the perception that others have of you?

What matters is how you see yourself. Never submit to browbeating yourself, or putting yourself down, because others do. The reality of your life is that you can become a successful person, if you choose to do so, no many how many obstacles you might have to overcome.

Determine your own measuring stick. The measuring stick that you use is the one that is going to decide for you, whether you have succeeded in becoming a successful person. You have many different kinds of measuring sticks that you can use in life. Some of these will have to do with academic achievement, accumulation of wealth and property.

Others are focused on morals, ethics and values. Right versus wrong and good versus evil are standards that that you have been taught. Failing to live up to those measuring sticks or having a guilty conscience, can suggest to you that you are not successful as a person. But, since no one is perfect, then there is no such thing as a perfect person by that measuring stick. The important thing to decide is exactly what the measuring stick is that determines your success as a person. You can always correct the error of your ways. Make a point of doing so.

Consider your options. You have many possible options in life. Sometimes sitting down and brainstorming or putting every possible idea that you have on the table, awakens you to the reality that you may stuck in some option, that is not really the one that you would choose.

There is always the possibility of changing your options in life. It is a good idea to do that every once in a while. Once you have succeeded in some aspect of your life, you may want to try something else. Invariably, you will find some degree of success. You can always strive higher, but always be willing to expand your horizons.

Follow your mind, heart and instincts. Ask yourself what they are telling you to do, not someone else. 

Sometimes, you know as a person, that something is just not right. Try to figure out where or what the problem is first. You may feel yourself led in a different direction than you anticipated and there is still something that is holding you back. See if you can identify what direction you are being led and why. Is the obstacle one that you can overcome? This may be the direction that you are intended to go. By following your mind, heart and instincts, you may achieve what you consider to be success as a person.

Which pathway are you going to choose? There are many possible pathways in life and some of them may appear to be far beyond your ability, although these are the ones that you think might help you to see yourself as a successful person. Take time and examine them more fully. Ask yourself what you might need to do, in order to follow one of those pathways. Is there a baby step that you can take? Do you have the courage to take that step? Remember that fear can be your biggest obstacle and you can overcome fear, by facing it head on.

Enjoy your pathways. Those are there just for you. Try more than one and when you have achieved a measure of success as a person on that pathway, switch over to another one, just for fun. You will be amazed at what happens in your life.

Find a mentor. Finding a mentor, who you see as being a successful person, is a good idea. Remember that the person who you are attempting to role model, may or may not be the kind of person that you want to become. Putting anyone on a pedestal can lead to dire consequences, because anyone can fall off that pedestal, at any time. Do not expect your mentor to be a perfect person, because he or she will disappoint you, at some time or in some way. Take what is good from your mentorship and don't worry about the rest. In turn, become a mentor and see yourself as a successful person, who is able to mentor others.

Set a goal. Focus on it and not on the obstacles, along the way. There are always long term and short term 

goals that you can set for yourself. If you find that there are a few obstacles popping up along the way, recognize that life always has obstacles. It is a challenge to get around them, but you are definitely up to a challenge, if you are setting the goal of becoming a successful person.

Prioritize your goals, so that you are going for achievable ones, first. Reward yourself when you do reach one of your goals. Use that as a stepping stone for the next one. Aim as high as you possibly can and if you have fallen short, you will still be much farther along, than if you only set lower goals. Reach for the stars.

Ask God to fill you, lead you and guide you with His Holy Spirit daily. A great deal of your perception of yourself is based upon your relationship with God and others. If you are right with God and others, you are already a successful person. If you are not, can you be successful? Seeking guidance on a daily basis will help you to go in the right direction and one in which you can perceive yourself in terms of success as a person.

Believe in yourself. Believing in yourself is not always easy, particularly when others do not show that they believe in you. It does not matter whether they believe in you. What matters is that you believe you can be a successful person. If you believe that, you will become a successful person. You may have to take big steps in life to reach that goal, but see yourself as up to taking them, one step at a time.

Work smart rather than hard. Working smart rather than hard is a good idea. Anything that you try to do can be done in a smart way, rather than a hard way. Examine what you plan to do carefully, before taking the first step. Ask yourself if there is a better way to do it? Are you doing things the hard way, all the time? Why is that? What else could you do? Be smart, work smart and look smart. See yourself that way.

Find your passion. When you know what your passion is in life, you will realize that this is what excites, compels or moves you. What is your passion? Every person has some kind of passion, but most people do not know what it is. If they did, then it would be the center of their lives. Make your passion the center of your life. When you work or play, in terms of your passion, you are more likely to put your whole heart into what you are doing. Then you really succeed.

Build a logical and chronological plan. Whatever you plan to do with your life, look at it in terms of your logical and chronological plan. Until you cross the river, you cannot plant a garden, on the other side. Until spring comes, it is not highly logical to plant trees.

Life is very much like that. You wanted to be grown up and be successful, even before you reached high school. That is part of your human nature. Make a realistic plan for your life and allow some room for a few detours along the way. Life is full of those.

See yourself as being a successful person, right from the beginning. When you see yourself in that light, you will make certain that it does happen, because that is what you are working towards. You, seeing yourself as a successful person, will result in others seeing you that way also.

So think and act as if you are a successful person and you will become one.

Remember that someone might see you as a successful person already. It does not matter how quickly you climb the ladder to success, but ask yourself if you have taken the first step? If not, step up, climb the rungs one at a time and you will be glad that you did.