CONGRATULATIONS!

Step 1

You deserve to be successful.

Make yourself a priority and care for yourself first.

When you make yourself first, you're taking care of the people that love you.

If you're not taking care of yourself, your family and friends begin to worry about you. They have a concern and a weight on their back. But when you are taking care of yourself moving toward being healthy and happy, that relieves their tension and allows them to be satisfied as well.

Step 2

Identify what you truly want.

Visualize where you want to be in 20, 30 years from now, and take that feeling and begin to visualize and imagine in your mind how it feels like to live the life you truly desire.

If that feeling makes you happy, fulfills you, and makes you feel successful, then use that emotion/energy to move towards your desired destination.

Step 3.

Imagine yourself at the destination you want.

If you start feeling you are not deserving of your desired destination, then you need to work on yourself or work with an expert to help you overcome those barriers. Work on your groundwork and foundation to move forward in life.

Step 4.

Utilize the tools available to you now to get to your final goal of happiness and success in your life.

You might not have what you want, but you have exactly what you need now.

I believe every human being has been gifted with a special ability unique to them. You have to learn to be comfortable using these tools to the best of your ability.

Maybe you need to be a better communicator. Perhaps you need to focus more on accomplishing more individual goals. Maybe you need to learn to ask others for help to move you in the proper direction. Don't ever think asking for help is a bad thing. Know what you are already good at, identify what you lack, and bridge that gap.

What are the obstacles that can prevent you from achieving your greatest happiness? When it's tactile and easily identified, you would know when it's gone.

Or are your obstacles self-made?

Comfort is a beautiful thing, but sometimes, when you become too comfortable, it prevents you from going further.

Step 5.

Ponder on what the negative outcome will be if you overcome the obstacles in your life.

Outline for yourself any of the negativity that could come from the successes you are going to have going forward.

There is a saying that goes like "a lot of people are afraid of success than they are of failure." And I believe this is true… Doing this for many years I've seen a lot of people trying to sabotage their own success over and over again.

When people are used to having an obstacle in their life, and they get rid of it, they sometimes create another obstacle to take its place.

Quick question? Is the obstacle too great for you to achieve? If the answer is yes, then this means your goal is not too large enough.

If success is deeply ingrained in you, then you're always going to find a way to overcome every obstacle around you. You go around it, over it, through it. Whatever it takes, you're going to make it.

Step 6.

Line up the steps that are necessary for you to achieve this goal of happiness.

When you outline the steps, the first thing you want to do is move backward. What is the one step before you achieve the final goal that you have to reach? When you view things this way, reaching your goal will feel much closer to you. And this will help you increase the possibility of success.

With the final step in mind, what are the small individual steps that lead to it? I love this saying… "The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."

Make sure the steps you make are doable and small enough so that you can categorize them. And see the small victories as you go along.

Every small victory creates inertia, a feeling that the next one will become easier.

Step 7.

Establish a reasonable and active timeline to achieve the goal you set out for.

You have to fully believe that the timeline you have set down is manageable and achievable.

Take each individual step, and it should be large enough that after you have accomplished it, you get a sense of completion, ability, and drive that you can take with you to the things that are in front of you.

With each little victory, you move to the larger victories. And when you arrive at the final destination, the final place you define as success, you would have all the victories, and you can sleep the sleep of the just. And enjoy all the good you have produced for yourself.

Step 8.

Have an accountability partner to keep you on track and task.

This could be a close friend or a family member. You must pick the right accountability partner. It should be someone that has an appreciation of the vision you have. Choose someone who is not going to try to sabotage you. Someone that is not going to feel jealous of you getting ahead, but they take pleasure in watching you succeed — and watching your happiness grow as you go along.

Are the people also invested in your goal as well? That means when you get there, they will spend time with you. You want your accountability partner to know you are grateful for what they have done.

Life is about balance reciprocity. Look out for others. Take the success you've experienced and use it to help others. Because when you help others, you help yourself. The obstacles you help them overcome allows you to see in a different way how you can overcome similar obstacles.

Step 9.

Identify distractions that can take you off track.

Eg. If you have family members that fall ill, you would need to take time off to take care of them. If that is a reasonable distraction, something that can help your mind to refocus on what you are doing, then help them.

But if you are only focused on your success, and you see others as a distraction, you would end up sabotaging yourself in the end because your mind will not be at peace.

The key is to identify what the distractions maybe even before you go into the process. If you do, you'd be in a better position to overcome distractions that may arise.

The more you help others, the more you will feel worthy of achieving your goals.

Step 10.

Have in your mind what else you possibly could achieve.

Find something else that gives you purpose and go for it.

Robert Browning said, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"

Always strive to get more.