Success Formula v.2.0

In the previous article “What are you willing to give up?” I wrote about the importance of focus and optimal usage of energy. In this text I want to go one step further, and analyze what is needed, in addition to smart action, to achieve the desired result?

My experience shows that there are four major and one supportive element that dominantly support your success:

Start with the end in mind

… or in other words “have a clear concept of personal success”.

How would you know that you have made it? What would you like to see, hear or have on a daily basis as your personal criteria for success?

Before you start with your project, make sure that you have defined your goals and targets. Think about the specific results that you would like to achieve, and on the scale from 0 to 10 rate how specifically you know what you want to achieve. 0 means that you don’t have a clue, 2-3 means that the goal is vague, for example: “my goal is to be happy or successful”, and 10 means that the goal is very specific and has clear objective (S.M.A.R.T. criteria).

Do something about it… on a daily basis

What do you do on a daily basis about the projects that are important to you?

On a scale from 0 to 10, rate the level of taking action steps toward previously defined goal.  0 means that you are not taking any action, and 10 means you are giving your maximum.

Personally, I strongly value action. The world is full of gifted people who don’t use their talents, and on the other side, people with average abilities who are achieving amazing results with hard work.

Learn a new skill or develop a new strategy that will support your success

There is always space for improvement. If you think you have reached the top, remember, there is only one way from there, and that is to go down.

Our talents are hereditary, but our skills are something we develop through life. When it comes to achieving the desired result, you can be an expert, or you can lack the necessary skills. You can rate yourself now. Where are you now on the imaginary scale of capabilities? 0 means “no capabilities at all”, and 10 means you are an expert.

Maintain positive attitude

As the saying goes: “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” Attitude is the only component in our formula that can be both positive and negative. If you have a strong negative attitude towards the goal you want to achieve, you will not get far. Sometimes it is enough to have a small concern, a tiny voice that tells you “you will not succeed”, and automatically the Success Index becomes negative. On the opposite, as the attitude towards success gets more positive the probability of success grows. Rate your attitude toward the specific project on a scale from 1 to 10 and -1 to -10.

Have a long-term vision

Long-term vision is not directly related to specific projects. We can achieve many things without long-term vision, but with it our projects become meaningful. We can connect all our projects into one big long-term result, and after each of them is completed our motivation will grow. Long-term vision connects all the dots and gives meaning to our life.

Success Index (SI) and probability of success

So let’s now calculate our Success Index that is related to a specific project:

SI = G * AS * S * A / 10.000

G – Goal (0 to 10)

A – Action Steps (0 to 10)

S – Skills (0 to 10)

A – Attitude (-10 to -1 and 1 to 10)

If your Success Index is negative, don’t waste your time on the selected project. Either choose something different or get help from a mentor, coach or psychotherapist.

If your Success Index is positive, multiply it by 100 and you will get the probability of success in percentages.

All variables that define our Success Index are under our control so we can influence them in positive and negative way. There are two ways to raise the probability of success in a particular project:

1. Through daily actions

2. By connecting the desired result with the long-term vision.

Video blog about success formula in Serbian language is available at this link.

This blog text is inspired by Robert Dilts’s model of Neuro-Logical Levels, and it’s an improved version of „Success Formula“ blog text, that was written in August, 2012 for NLP Center’s blog. The presented model is part of NLP Centar’s NLP Practitioner training.