Set Goals. Plan Strategy. Apply Resources.

There are three steps to success: set goals, plan strategy, and apply resources. Practicing these core principles can increase your chances of success.

These are the three steps to achieve success. These are strategies that successful people use to reach an objective. You can implement these steps to help you achieve an ambition.

Set Goals

You want to start by setting goals. If you do not have a goal, you will remain stuck where you are and be part of someone else’s agenda. This is because if you are not aiming to achieve something for yourself, then you will be helping someone else to reach their own goals.

You may help someone else to reach their goals by:

• Focusing on entertainment.

• Allowing yourself to be distracted by always keeping up with the news. Whether it is from the mainstream media or alternative news does not matter.

• Worrying too much about what people think about you and being a people pleaser.

Instead, you can learn how to set basic goals. SMART goals are an easy way to get started with goal-setting. The five steps to follow to create a SMART goal are as follows:

• Specific - You must know what the objective of your goal is. You must know the steps that are needed to accomplish a goal.

  • I want to find a way to increase my income.

    • You are being specific because you know that you want to find a way to make more money.

• Measurable - You want to be able to quantify a goal. This will help you to know that you have completed a task.

  • I want to create one stream of passive income.

    • You are giving yourself a number to measure against. You want to add one stream of passive income.

• Achievable - This means that it is a goal that you can accomplish by asking yourself if you can be done.

  • I want to find a way to make passive income using one of my skills.

    • This is achievable because you will research to find a way to make passive income with a strength you have instead of being distracted with ways that don’t utilize your skillset.

• Relevant - The goal must apply to you and what you want to do. This is the reason why you are making the goal for yourself.

  • I want money to come in each month so I don’t need to work as hard.

• Time-bound - You give yourself a set amount of time to accomplish a goal.

  • I want to have a new passive income stream in one year.

The final SMART goal will look like this:

I want to find a way to increase my income. I want to create one stream of passive income. I want to find a way to make passive income using one of my skills. I want money to come in each month so I don’t need to work as hard. I want to have a new passive income stream in one year.

Why Having Goals Are Important

When you do not have goals, you will become easily distracted. You will discover that you are doing things that help others reach their goals while you remain stuck.

In my twenties, I had general goals but did not understand why a goal must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. I also still thought that the higher education system was there. Despite starting my website in college, I still believed that I needed a traditional career. The creator economy was just getting started during this time. I made the mistake of later going to graduate school rather than focusing on developing my skills and building my website. By thinking that the higher education system was there to help me find a career, I should have made a SMART goal to work toward what I wanted. I was allowing myself to be used by others to help them reach their goals rather than achieve my goals.

Now, I set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals that often overlap so I can do multiple things at once. These help direct me in the right direction without being distracted by others. I also determine what resources I need to use to help me reach a particular goal. You can learn to do the same.