3 SIMPLE STEPS TO

DEVELOP A
SUCCESS MINDSET
Your Practical Guide To Success
 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESS MINDSET - LIFEHACK.ORG

Where you see people succeeding in ways you want to emulate in your own life, know that it’s
not by accident or luck that they got there. The truth is they learned how to think in ways which
brought them that success.

Whether you’re looking to experience better results and/or quality of life in your career, business
or any other area of your life, you can. You simply need to examine where you feel your mindset
might lack clarity, structure and direction.

So, how do you develop a mindset of success?

In this guide, you will learn the 3 simple steps to building a success mindset.

Step 1: Define Your Success

If you don’t define it, you will keep yourself subjected to confusion about your success and your
failures.

Find out what’s important for you in life.

It’s very simple, just ask yourself the ONE thing you want most now and why you want it; and
answer them honestly.

You can use the 5 Whys framework to dig into the deeper desire you have. Here’s an example
as a reference for you:

How Do You Define Success? To make a lot of money.

● Why do I want this?

Because I want to buy whatever I want.
○ Why... do I want this?
Because if I can buy whatever I want, I will feel happier.
■ Why…?
■ Because I will have a more comfortable life for example a more spacious
home.
● Why... do I want this?
Because a spacious home can help my 2 kids and wife live more
comfortably.

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 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESS MINDSET - LIFEHACK.ORG

○ Why... is this important?

Seeing my family being happy, and my kids growing up
healthy are what I want most.

In this case, the definition of success is a lot deeper than just “making a lot of money”.

Your Turn!
Now it’s your turn to find your own definition of success.

What is your definition of success?

What's considered to be successful and why?

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 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESS MINDSET - LIFEHACK.ORG

Step 2: Set a SMART Goal

WIth your definition of success in mind, let’s find out how you can achieve that by setting the
right goals.

The foundation of all successfully accomplished goals is the SMART goal.

SMART goal setting is a goal setting method that considers certain factors about a goal relative
to the person setting it. These factors are:

● S — Specific
● M — Measurable
● A — Achievable
● R — Realistic
● T — Time bound

The strength of SMART goals is that they set a clear path to achieving goals and they have a
clear time frame in which to achieve them.

Let’s go through each of the elements to create a SMART goal.

Specific

It is important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. That way you can focus your
time and energy on achieving your goal. Also, having a specific goal helps you stay away from
distractions.

For instance “I will start making more money” is vague. Rather than write that, you could say, “I
will make more money by working harder to get a promotion at work.” This is more specific.

To make your goal specific, ask yourself these questions:

What exactly needs to be accomplished?

Who else will be involved?

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Where will this take place?

Measurable

You want to know when you’ve achieved your goal. You should also be able to tell how far
you’ve come during the process, and how much further to go. Be specific with how much or how
many about your goal.

Using our example while explaining the Specific acronym, you can make the goal more
measurable by saying, “I will get a work promotion and ask for a 5% income raise.”

To make your goal measurable, ask yourself these questions:

How will I know I’ve succeeded?

How much change needs to occur?

How many accomplishments or actions will it take?

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 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESS MINDSET - LIFEHACK.ORG

Achievable

How realistic or actionable is your goal?

Look at what skills and resources you already have, and compare them to the things needed to
achieve your goal. Think about whether you’ll be able to learn or get the things you lack right
now.

A goal like this is not achievable: “I want to get a promotion in 1 week.” Meanwhile this person
is not ready for a promotion at all and equipping himself/herself with the necessary skills would
probably take months.

To make your goal achievable, ask yourself these questions:

Do I have, or can I get, the resources needed to achieve the goal?

Is the goal a reasonable stretch for me? (neither out of reach nor too easy)

Realistic

Before you proceed to making the commitment toward that goal, you need to think about how
realistic it is. Being realistic means you should be willing to make all the commitments required
for that goal to be achieved.

Research into the facts and figures relevant to your goal. Then think about the resources
available to you, such as your budget, time frame, the help you can get, etc. Ask yourself if your
goal makes sense in your situation.

Thus, using our previous example, “I want to get a promotion in 1 week” for a person who isn’t
doing well at work currently is also unrealistic, and will only be overwhelming for him/her.

To make your goal realistic, ask yourself these questions:

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Am I willing to make these commitments to reach the goal? Why?

Are the actions I plan to take likely to bring success? Why?

Time Bound

Every goal must have a commencement date and an end date. The act of having deadlines set
to your goals is ample motivation to drive you into action. Without a deadline, it is not possible
for you to know if you’re making headway with your goals.

“I will start working on a promotion to get a 5% income raise by equipping myself with new
computer skills in the next 3 months to boost my competitiveness.” is a time bound goal.

Remember that some goals are short term while some are long term. It is important to always
bear this in mind because this will help you in making a clearer and realistic strategy for your
SMART goal setting.

To make your goal time bound, ask yourself these questions:

What is the deadline for reaching the goal?

When do I need to take action?

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 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESS MINDSET - LIFEHACK.ORG

Your Smarter Goal

Now that you have formed a solid goal based on the SMARTER goal framework, write it down
here:

Step 3: Break Down Your Goal into Actionable Tasks

List out the actions you should take in order to achieve your goal. You can try to break it down
into some tasks to do, habits to develop, or skills to learn:

E.g. Equip myself with new computer skills

1. Find a certificate course on coding

2. Watch YouTube videos about photoshopping skills

Then, set a schedule for all your tasks. (You can use the template on the next page.)

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Stop Looking at Success Like a Distant Achievement!

Knowing what you truly want and being goal-oriented are the two most important elements in
a success mindset. Having a clearer goal that is based on your own definition of success is
what makes people highly successful.

But to really lead a successful life on your own terms, you've still got plenty to learn to get
through all the obstacles you’ll come across in your journey to success.

If you want a solid framework with step-by-step actions to follow through so as to get closer to
success, grab the Make It Happen Handbook. You will learn how to reach your goal faster!

You’re also invited to join Lifehack’s Facebook Group “Make Your Goals Happen” to stay
motivated and get inspired!