Before starting off I would like to make my definition of success clear. In my books success is not defined by the traditional measures – wealth and power. My grandmother, for example, lived a long, happy life but was never wealthy. I deem her life an unquestionable success. So for the intents and purposes of this article, success is whatever can make you really happy.

We are only at the fourth day of the year, and I’m pretty sure most of our new year resolutions have started looking slightly less attractive. The novelty is wearing off and in most cases we just don’t know what is really expected of us. If you promised yourself something vague like that you’d “live healthier in 2012,” now is the time to start making excuses.

So the next time you set out to achieve something, anything at all really, try following these six basic steps and you will find yourself on the path the success in no time at all:

1) Have a clear and defined goal – From my experience, the one secret to being successful in anything you do is having a clear, specific goal. It might sound obvious, however many people fail to realise that a vague goal does not help at all – in fact it can be a hindrance. You can say “I want to be healthier this year”, but with such a vague target it will be impossible to hit. Narrow it down – say, I want to lose 10kg, or reach a BMI of 23. Both are  targets that can be reached and are measurable.

2) Set a deadline – Now that we have a target we need to set ourselves a deadline, otherwise you can postpone taking action on it forever.

3) Set action items – You want to lose weight, good. But turn that into a specific set of actions: I shall exercise three times a week. Be relentless – train yourself to panic if you haven’t done any physical activity by Thursday because you’re running out of time.

4) Set milestones – Going back to that 10kg target – if I just have that in mind then every time I get on my weighing scales all I can think of is how far away I am. Set milestones based on your deadline and celebrate reaching each one as a mini victory.

5) Be realistic – If you expect to lose 10kg in 10 days you are sure to be disappointed. You will fail and it will do you more harm than good because you will break your diet with a vengeance. Be realistic and don’t push yourself too hard. On the other hand don’t make it too easy, because you will lose the fun of the challenge.

6) Tell the people around you – Speak about your challenge and let your family, friends and co-workers know about what you’re doing. Share your goals and milestones and let them know about your progress. You can also find like-minded people to join you on your journey – even if you find none in your social circle you can surely find them online.

Quite naturally, even though I used weight-loss as an example in this post, it can be applied to anything you want to achieve.

(#4 of 366 X 2012 project)