The road to success is long. While there are many paths to the destination there is only one way to traverse that road. One step at a time. You can only get to where you are going by starting now and taking a step in the right direction, and then the next step, and then the next step.

It seems simple, but all of us know that it is not. It is not easy to stay the course and reach your goals. We want things to happen fast, and improvements to happen now. That just isn’t how it works.

Knowledge is the first step. Once you know that there is no shortcut to success, and really internalize it, you can begin to start your journey to the finish line. Getting there takes discipline. Daily disciplines to be more precise. You have to act in a way that moves you to your goals. You have to do the tasks that are the most important AND the most impactful to your goal. This is also difficult. A lot of us, including myself, will set to work each day and accomplish our to do list. The problem is that the list is filled with non important things, and tasks that don’t move us towards our goals. It is just as important to avoid certain tasks as it is to accomplish other tasks. But this skill is hard to master and rarely taught. I recently finished a book by Brian Tracy called Eat That Frog. The book provides strategies and tactics for accomplishing the everyday tasks that will get you to your goals. I have begun to implement some of them already.

If knowledge is the first step, action is the second. You know you need to do something if you want to cross that finish line. However, because the line is so far down the road it can be daunting to even know where to start. The thing is, it really doesn’t matter (sort of). Just do something, but start small. Numerous people make the mistake of trying to make big changes way to fast. It never works, just look at every failed New Year’s resolution. The frantic pace can never be sustained. Start small, and start smart. You have to take that first step, but also make sure that step is in the right direction. You must determine the activities that are critical to your objective. For example if you want to get better at writing, you need to practice writing everyday. It seems simple but many people are spending time on activities that are not building towards their goals.

I have some big goals myself, and I am trying to develop daily habits and disciplines that move me toward those goals. I will detail the specifics of those goals in a future post. However, I will share with you my mindset regarding those disciplines.

I believe that they are one of, if not THE, most important driver of being successful. I am trying to build a toolkit of strategies that make it easier and more manageable to accomplish the disciplines everyday. Doing them everyday is critically important. My goal is to get only 1% better everyday. The sustained progress is compounded over time and that progress is what will drive you to that finish line and even past it. 1% is also very manageable and sustainable. Everyone can give 1% more effort. Including me. The 1% goal is so achievable it prevents me from quitting the process.

Lastly, I want you to take away 3 things from this article. When you work toward a goal remember to…

1. Start small, 1% better per day.
2. Make sure you are not wasting time on unimportant tasks.
3. Apply the discipline everyday.

On the outside it seems easy, but it is not. It is a work in progress for me but the important thing is I started, and I plan on working on it everyday.I hope you do too.

Chris