Figuring out what it is that you want to do with your life is a fantastic feeling. Once the elation slips away on discovering your ‘thing’, reality starts to sink in, what do I do next? How do I get from here to there? Some people can give up before they even start and view the goal they want as an insurmountable mountain in front of them. While it’s true, looking at a goal as one big thing that needs to be achieved can be daunting, the reality is that all journeys are made up of individual steps that will lead to accomplishment, I call these success pieces.
Someone that knows a lot about mapping out pathways to success across a number of fields is a recent guest I had on the ‘Get Invested’ podcast, Dr David Duggan. He’s been successful in many areas that include dentistry, commander of the navy, financial planner, investor and business mentor and coach.
While each field had its own challenges, David’s approach includes a success piece that he always includes in his planning process, no matter what goal he was working towards. This success piece is finding someone that was already successful in that field and studying their actions and habits and then replicating the exact same approach they took. By using this method he was able to set clear benchmarks for himself in learning a new set of skills, and quickly became successful in that field himself. David’s approach is one that has clearly worked for him and is a highly effective method for others to adopt when planning out their own journeys.
Another way to approach building a path towards a goal is taking the time to ask yourself where you want to be at the end of that journey. Questions such as: what does my perfect life look like? How much money do I want to earn? Do I want to be seen as an industry expert? Do I want to help people with their own life goals? Do I want to own property? Do I want to stop working at 40? The answers you provide to all of these questions will then help you formulate your own plan, and understand the exact steps you need to take to achieve the results you want.
Let’s say you want to build a property portfolio in order to retire at 40 and live off the income generated from that portfolio. A success piece along that journey would be engaging the services of a property investment advisor and/or investment savvy finance broker through the property investment professionals of Australia (PIPA) at www.pipa.asn.au/search to help you map out the steps needed to achieve that goal. Taking this first step would ensure that you have a very clear idea about exactly what you need to do along that path for success.
While these examples may seem obvious, sometimes the most common steps you can take are overlooked when formulating a plan towards a goal. Before you begin any endeavour worth your time and effort, make sure you know what is required to make it successful. It’ll help you stay on track with your goals, and make your intended destination a little less overwhelming to reach.
Listen to my entire conversation with Dr David Dugan here.
