Creating your own personal roadmap to success

The desire for success, and the rewards it brings, is probably uppermost in many people’s minds. But how many of us actually follow a roadmap dedicated to achieving that success? The answer is probably not many. We are all too busy being distracted or are just simply following a roadmap that someone else has given to us.

Some of us experience a modicum of success doing what comes naturally. However, there are many more of us who are not so lucky when it comes to succeeding in life. We have to make a conscious effort to plan for our success. I am one such person.

Many years ago my tutor and classmates laughed at me when I told them that my ambition was to become a teacher. My tutor was even so kind as to point out to me that I was a lazy scholar and was unlikely to gain the necessary qualifications required to join the teaching profession.

My tutor’s statement was born out of my lack of effort in the classroom. I was, indeed, a lazy student. I was probably the laziest student that my tutor had had the misfortune to teach.

In my tutor’s opinion I would never achieve profession status. At best, all I could hope for was a job sweeping roads. His words were harsh and bitter to hear. They certainly had a negative impact on me as a person. Any ambition I harboured of becoming a teacher was crushed that day. After all, my tutor was a person in authority and he knew best, or so I thought.

My tutor had basically handed me a roadmap to failure. But that was forty years ago, and today I am a teacher with my own communications training company (school). So what happened to prove my tutor and my classmates wrong?

Well, after all the trials, mishaps and unlucky breaks that most of us encounter during our working life, I finally stumbled on a roadmap that would help me achieve my ambition. Yes, I still had to work hard to reach my goal but the effort was made that much easier because of the discovery of my personal roadmap to success.

Finding my personal roadmap to success came about out of desperation rather than luck or design. It was about twenty years ago and I was experiencing yet another bout of unemployment. There had been too many bouts of unemployment during my early career, and my tutor’s idea of how my life would pan out was proving to be correct. But then I had a young family to feed and I could ill afford to be out of work every six months. I therefore decided to do something about it.

With time on my hands I began to read. I read books on self motivation techniques, self analysis and on how to improve my career prospects.

One of the things that I discovered about myself during this period of enforced reflection was my thirst for knowledge in relation to people and how and what they communicate. The fire of ambition extinguished during my school days had been re-ignited.

Although the flame of ambition burned bright, the goal I set myself was a tough one. My academic qualifications were not good enough for me to become a teacher and that meant I would have to go back to school. Not an easy thing to do when you have a young family to feed. Nonetheless, I was going to try.

The first thing I needed to do was to analyse why I wanted to become a teacher. I came up with some very interesting notions before finally settling on the real reason behind my ambition. I love to share ideas with others and by becoming a teacher I would be able to do just that.

Analysing the reasons behind my ambition was not enough. I needed to do more if I wanted to achieve my goal. A starting point was required, so I put together a five step process that would help me. Here is the five step process:

1. Wrote down my goal and analysed the drive behind reaching that goal
2. Carried out an audit of my life skills
3. Listed my qualifications and experiences
4. Analysed the gaps between my life skills, qualifications and experiences, and my goal
5. Created a plan based on my gap analysis

Only by following the five steps could I hope to understand what my skills, qualifications and experience were in relation to what was needed to become a teacher. The five steps showed me the route I should take, which made planning that much easier. In essence, the five step process empowered me towards creating my own personal roadmap to success.

Not only did I go back to school, but I also took five years out from fulltime employment to study at college and university. It was the most important, productive and enjoyable five years of my life. During that time I was able to elaborate on my roadmap to success. I decided that I would never again suffer unemployment. I would create my own employment by building a school dedicated to helping others to communicate effectively.

Today, my company trains approximately one hundred business executives every year on how to communicate effectively with their peers and employees.

Naturally, achieving my ambition was not all plain sailing. There were moments of elation as there were many moments of disappointments. However, the most important part of my journey to success was the roadmap that I had created for myself. It allowed for disappointments and gave credit where and when it was due. No more would I allow others to dictate my future. I would control my own destiny - health and natural causes permitting.

For anyone who has a problem discovering their own personal roadmap to success, I have this advice: Take the timeout to test the five steps outlined in this article. You will find the process edifying. It may even lead you in another direction to the one you are following at the moment. And give yourself credit for what you have already achieved. Only by understanding yourself and your unique abilities can you hope to create your own personal roadmap to success.

Shortcuts to Success

How often have you been advised to take a shortcut to a specific destination only to find that the shortcut actually takes you longer to get to where you want to be? I have lost count of how many times it has happened to me. It is not only annoying and frustrating when it happens, but it also consumes precious time that is needed elsewhere. Rarely, by taking a shortcut, have I arrived at my destination any earlier than I would have if I had taken my usual route. This is not to say that I have not come across an effective shortcut during my lifetime, because I have. It is all about recognising what constitutes an effective shortcut.

Shortcuts are seldom what they seem. They promise much but in reality some shortcuts deliver very little and can get you into a lot of trouble. Take by way of example a student studying towards an exam.

Studying is about understanding concepts and how to build or create them. As a learner, the student must build multiple layers of understanding before he or she is ready to test their learning against a predefined body of knowledge. Only when the student has put in the required time and effort will they be able to complete their exam to a level that allows them to be recognised as having authority over their chosen subject or discipline.

A student who opts to forgo the study process by cheating may have taken a shortcut to initial success, but in real terms they have no authority over the subject for which they want to be recognised by their peers. In reality, the shortcut has failed to deliver on its promise.

So how do we recognise a good shortcut from a bad one? Well, it is relatively easy to recognise the bad shortcut. Any shortcut in life that requires cheating or a criminal act is definitely not going to get you anywhere beyond ridicule or even worse, prison servitude.

Society takes a dim view on those who step outside societal norms to achieve their goals. The media is full of fallen politicians, businessmen and women, rogue bankers and the common crook to see what society thinks of those who take irresponsible shortcuts to their chosen destination.

Cheating and crime benefits no one. The long term costs to society are measured in diverted resources, expensive penal systems and a general degradation of humanity. Cheating and crime are two shortcuts that must be avoided if a person is to be successful.

Just as it is easy to recognise a bad shortcut so it is easy to recognise a good shortcut. For example, any shortcut which requires endeavour and does not involve cheating or crime is generally a shortcut that will get you to where you want to be.

Let us return to the student analogy for a moment to find an example of how a good shortcut can produce excellent and lasting results.

As students, we have all sat staring at a blank piece of paper or computer screen wracking our brains about what to write for our course work essay. The seconds, minutes and even hours tick by and yet not a word has made it on to the paper or the computer screen. With each passing second our frustration and anxiety builds to the point where we need to escape from our inability to formulate ideas into a coherent text. Does this sound familiar? I know that it happened to me more than once during my student career; that is until I came across the concept of mind mapping.

I was in the university library one day feeling rather disconsolate about my lack of ability when it came to putting my ideas down on paper. It was at that point I noticed one of my peers reading a book on mind mapping.

Naturally, being intrigued, and by way of procrastination, I asked my fellow student what the book was about. Being the kindly fellow that he was, he told me. And with that, the light bulb came on. I had found what I thought, and indeed turned out to be, a shortcut to solving my essay writing problem.

Although pictorial diagrams for recording concepts and knowledge have been around for centuries, the modern mind map, created by Tony Buzan, drew on the idea that the mind scans in a non linear way rather than left to right and top to bottom.

Throughout my early education I had always been taught to write notes, and lots of them, in a way that was not conducive to efficient study. I was a product of a sixties education and Tony Buzan’s mind mapping concept had yet to hit the teaching profession. My late discovery of mind mapping promised much, and, as I was about to discover, it would deliver results too.

After reading through every book or article on mind mapping that I could get hold of, I decided to put the concept to the test. I took one of my course essays and built a mind map around it. In no time at all I had an essay outline in pictures of clouds filled with words all connected to a central idea. I used different coloured pens and pencils to give the mind map added dimension. I had never had so much fun with my studies until that day. I was surprised by the extent of the knowledge I had obtained from my previous studies.

The essay I wrote based on my first mind map got me an A plus on a topic where I normally got a B minus. I was ecstatic by the outcome of my first experiment in mind mapping, and the beauty of it all was that it took me less time than it normally did to write an essay.

As result of my experiment with mind mapping, I extended its use to note taken during lectures and seminars. I no longer wrote copious notes on any subject. Instead I drew pictures.

Today, I use the same mind mapping techniques in my teaching practice that I used during my university days. The result is better preparation and the delivery of knowledge rich and fun lessons. My students certainly benefit from my use of the mind mapping concept, and I encourage them to experiment with their own ideas on the subject.

Mind mapping is by far the best shortcut I have ever come across during my working life. It still requires a lot of endeavour, but the time to produce good results has been halved. I am sure readers of this article have had similar experiences with their own good shortcuts, and I would certainly like to hear about them. Just in the same way that my student colleague from all those years ago shared his knowledge of a good shortcut, so I would encourage others to do the same.

You can share your ideas and thoughts on approaches to success here on this site.

Varying Degrees of Success - Dealing with Failure

The idea of success and the rewards it brings has been the driving force behind man’s achievements since our species took its first tentative steps on this planet. From the first hominids who fashioned tools to hunt for food to a man walking on the moon, success has stood as the ultimate goal of the sum total of our efforts. Indeed, a person’s status in today’s society is often measured by his or her success.

Success brings its own rewards: wealth, adulation and material possession to name but a few of the things that successful people can hope to enjoy. But what about the failures, where do they rank amongst our achievements and why would we rather forget them?

Failure, by definition, is a goal that has not been met or achieved. In short, our effort to achieve a particular goal was not enough or was misdirected. Society tells us that failure is not good and we should avoid it. Telling someone we failed is a no, no! It might make us a lesser person in the eyes of others.

As a teacher, I used to watch my students struggle everyday with the idea that they would either succeed or fail. Success to some of my students was dependent on a number of factors, including the notion that they might get lucky during their exam. But, in nearly every case, the fear of failure played a big role in the student's attitude toward the examination process. Fear impacted on the students in a way that made success difficult to achieve. The students not only needed to study but they also needed to be coached on how to deal with stress under exam conditions if success was not to elude them.

Fear of failure is instilled in us from a very early age. Our parents emphasise, and sometimes over emphasise, the achievements of others to the extent that they expect us, as aspiring stars, to emulate those who have gone before.

Pop Idols, film stars and business gurus are all held up as role models for us to follow. Rarely are we allowed to view success or failure of others beyond the material. Failure to achieve goals, whether they are the ones we set for ourselves or those set by others, will put us at the bottom of the social ladder, such is the nature of our world. The media, our parents and peer groups all reinforce the idea that failure makes us an unworthy person.

I think it is a great shame that society, and the media which feeds it, views success and failure as black and white. It is not. Success is achieved through trial and error and, yes, failure. Without failure we wouldn’t learn anything. Failure is a result. It may not be the result we are looking for but it is a result nonetheless.

If we understand failure as a result then we can take lessons from the steps that led to that result. And here in lies the varying degree of success.

Success is not a single stated goal. It is, more importantly, a set of goals that will lead to the ultimate goal of achievement.

I recall the first time I took my driving test. It was a nerve wracking experience. I was so frightened by the prospect of failing the test that I could barely stop shaking.

At the end of the test the driving examiner handed me a slip of paper saying that I had failed. I was devastated and disappointed. My fear had made passing the test an unlikely outcome.

The driving examiner wasn’t kind either. He had no words of comfort to offer other than to say I should read his comments. His comments weren’t exactly complimentary, but they were useful.

Prior to the driving test I had only one goal, to pass the test. I had given no thought to the process of driving other than getting the car from A to B. I did get the car from A to B in the test, and in that respect I was very successful. However, there was a little matter of reading the road and driving safely that I had overlooked. I hadn’t considered all the issues that went into driving a car. I was too busy concentrating on the black and white of failure and success. As a result, fear ruled the day and my efforts were misdirected.

The examiner’s comments helped me to understand where I had gone wrong. By analysing my failures during my first attempt I was able to formulate a better plan of action for my next attempt at passing my driving test. It worked. I passed the test with flying colours and was extremely happy with my performance. I could barely hide my excitement at having achieved my goal. But then the driving examiner gave me another slip of paper which brought me back down to earth.

The slip of paper read: Driving a car is a lifelong learning process. Everyday is a lesson and everyday is a test. Learn how to drive for life.

I was dumbfounded. I thought I had achieved my stated goal but in reality I had only achieved one goal of many that makes a person a good driver.

The driving examiner, despite his cold demeanour, understood that success and failure are not diametrically opposed but instead form a ladder of experience that eventually leads to achievement. Hence, failure is nothing more than a degree of success on the ladder of life which we must all climb.

In summary, we should embrace the idea of failure as a step towards success. We should not fear failure because we think it makes us unworthy. On the contrary, it is failure and the lessons we take from it that makes us a better person.