Determine Your Goals

What your goals are? Did you already set up goals in the many areas of your life? The first step to become a successful individual is set up goals to yourself. Your goals must be:

·         Specific

·         Measurable

·         Achievable

·         Realistic

·         Time-Specific

You must have many familiar goals, educational goals, financial goals and, professional goals. So, write them down in the paper and start working on the action steps. Do not forget to establish a target date to achieve your goals and be prepared for the potential obstacles that may happen.

Managing your money

The second step to become a successful individual is learning how to manage your money. Here are some tips:

·         Identify your financial goals

·         Make a budget

·         Save money for unexpected situations

·         Keep track of your expenditures

·         Control impulse buying

“If you find you spend more than you make, there are only two things to do: decrease your spending or increase your income.” (Feldman, Robert S.)

If you need to increase your income it is easy: Just work more! Or go back to school, get a degree and find a better paid job! But how will you find time to work more or study? The key is Time Management

Time Management

The third step to become a successful individual is Time Management.

Who is in charge of your time? You or the situations that happen in your daily life?

The way that you manage your time will influence your future and your finances. You either govern your time today or it will govern you for life. (Feldman, Robert S.)

Become aware of the way you use your time:

—  How much time to you spend in social networking or surfing the web?

—  How much time do you spend with your family?

—  Do you set too many obligations to yourself that cannot be accomplished in a 24h day and it makes you live overwhelming?

Plan your time daily, weekly, and monthly. Use an agenda to organize your time and the “to do lists”.

“No one has more than 24 hours a day and 168 hours a week. The key to success lies in figuring out our priorities and using the time we do have better”. (Feldman, Robert S.)

Having problems?

After set up realistic goals for you, problems will happen. Your ability to work with those problems will determine the completion of your goals.

Struggling with Problems?

Some people struggle with problems because they get surprised with issues that could be anticipated or because they assume that life should be perfect in all aspects. But problems do happen in life to everybody and does not matter your age, sex or social status. What makes the difference is how you generate alternatives to work on.

Resolving Problems:

·         The first action that you should take in resolving problems is to know what the problems are.

·         Second action would be breaking the problem down into smaller and more manageable pieces.

For problems that seems to do not have solutions:

·         Try to view a problem from another person’s point of view, it is often possible to obtain a new perspective on the problem that will make it easier to solve.

·         Forget about it. Sometimes it’s best simply to walk away from the problem for a while. After a short period of time, you will be able to relax your mind and think about possible solutions.

To avoid problems:

Some problems cannot be avoided and just happen. Therefore, making a good plan to achieve your goals and anticipate things before it happen would help. In addition, many issues give us a signal before they become problems such as mechanical problems in your car or relationship problems.

The good thing is:

When you get older you get more used to resolve problems. It does not mean that the problems will be easier to resolve but it means that your ability in resolving problems will be more effective. Loosing your favorite toy when you are a child is a big issue as loosing a lot of money in the company that you manage, but when you are old you can think about more solutions than you would think when you are young.

There are many steps to follow to become a successful person.

If you need help to learn those steps contact:

 Arlene Mc Conville MBA Management

 arlene_mcconville@yahoo.com

Or Argosy University

1001 Bishop Street 400 ASB Tower Honolulu-HI

Phone: (808) 791 5210

The principles on this blog were taken from: Feldman, Robert S.. P.O.W.E.R. Learning: Strategies for Success in College and Life, 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Learning Solutions.