It takes 10 years to become an overnight success. Along with this, it also takes a lot of discipline. The stories of prodigies and successful people highlight that the path to success is a lot convoluted, and it needs us to keep on track and keep the north star in sight.
Regardless of where you are in your journey, ask yourselves the following questions.
Yearly Questions:
Are you happy now?
What do you want to have?
What do you want to let go of?
What will you do this and next year?
What do you want to be in 5 years?
What do you want to be a decade later?
Are you spending your time and energy in __________ ?
Daily Questions:
What am I going to accomplish today?
A better way would be future phrase it. Before the end of the day, I would have done __________
What will I do today to get closer to my yearly goal?
What will I do today to get closer to my 5-year goal?
What will I do today to get closer to my 10-year goal?
What is helping me? Continue.
What is not helping me? Stop.
Spell it out! It helps.
Writing your thoughts may give you better clarity and organizing. Often, we only have an abstract representation of our desires. When you have it in writing, it removes the ambiguity, and also it can help you set the scope.
I was keeping all my goals or desires in my head as though it was a secret. Not only, I had the luxury to change it often but also I could stash it when I failed as though nothing happened. So, when you can, let the folks know about your goal and recruit them as mentors, cheerleaders, or champions. You will feel accountable and commit to yourself. Not only that, with your folks knowing, you get automatic reminders. :)
The farther the time ahead, the greater should be your goal.
Set your immediate or near-term goals achievable. At the same time, raise your bar really high for the long term. Let's say you want to be an author or you want a career in literature then Getting a Nobel prize in Literature is not a near-time goal. I want to finish writing 100 pages is a reasonable near-term and winning Nobel Prize can be a long-term goal.
Align your 5-year and 10-year goals to a common theme. So, considering the earlier example, you may want to align your 5-year inline with your 10-year goal.
Every day matters.
Good Luck! Start your list and pursue your goals.