{"id":101183,"date":"2023-05-04T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=101183"},"modified":"2023-05-05T10:09:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T14:09:25","slug":"the-path-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-path-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Path to Success: How to Get to the Finish Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do you build the path to success<\/a>? What is the first step you need to take to reach your goals<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re stuck in your career or at school, it’s easy to feel like your dreams are a lifetime away. With the help of Jeff Haden’s book The Motivation Myth<\/em>, you can set your path to success<\/a> by preparing for the future and finding the right people<\/a> to mentor you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s look at how you should prepare for any obstacles headed your way, while also celebrating small wins<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Preparing for Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step toward reaching your goals<\/a> isn\u2019t finding motivation<\/a>. To begin, you must first design the path to success that will help you build the momentum<\/strong> you\u2019ll need to accomplish your objectives. We’ll cover Haden\u2019s advice about finding a professional example on which to model your path<\/a> and program for success and creating a routine that will kickstart you into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hardest part of following a course of action is starting in the first place. Haden says that once you get over that initial hump, it\u2019s much easier to keep moving toward your goal. What\u2019s holding you back<\/a> isn\u2019t a lack of motivation, but rather a lack of preparation<\/em>. Preparation gives you enough confidence to help you cross your first hurdles, after which, incremental success<\/em> will slowly grow your motivation to keep going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In Switch<\/em><\/a>, Chip and Dan Heath suggest that the difficulty you feel when starting toward a goal is caused by the friction between your rational and your emotional mind. Your emotional self responds most strongly to instant gratification<\/a>, and the seemingly endless wait for the rewards of long-term goals can feel daunting to the point of distraction. The Heath brothers suggest designing your process to provide your emotional side with some form of gratification as quickly as possible<\/a>, which is also what Haden goes on to recommend.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When starting out, don\u2019t focus on the end goal,<\/strong> whether that\u2019s earning a college degree, winning a swimming competition, or writing a best-selling novel. Instead, try to imagine how good it will feel once you\u2019ve got the ball rolling. Keep your mind on the next step toward your goal and the feeling of accomplishment your next small win will bring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: When following Haden\u2019s advice, don\u2019t be discouraged by how small the individual steps might be. One striking example is the stroke recovery process Jill Bolte Taylor describes in My Stroke of Insight<\/em><\/a>. After having a stroke and losing many of her cognitive functions, even a goal such as getting out of bed was a mighty achievement to be broken down in steps<\/a>. Taylor writes that celebrating every microscopic victory was crucial to regaining her autonomy, just as Haden suggests when tackling what you perceive as larger goals.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should be careful, though, not to celebrate too soon. Haden writes that this usually happens when you let others know what you hope to achieve. With the intention of being supportive, they\u2019ll often congratulate you in advance, which will simulate the feeling that you\u2019ve already reached your goal. But the feeling that you\u2019ve won the race before it\u2019s started is nothing but an illusion, and people who experience it are less likely to follow through on the work needed to achieve real success. Instead of telling your friends what you wish to accomplish, talk about the steps you\u2019ll take to get there.<\/strong> To do that, you\u2019ll need to know what those steps are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Haden\u2019s claim that talking about your goals is counterproductive comes from a psychological study published in 2009<\/a>. However, more recent research shows that sharing your goals with others can <\/em>create motivation through accountability, so long as the person you share with is someone you perceive to be more successful than you are<\/a>. For example, talking about your ambitions to a supervisor, professor, or mentor creates what psychologists call \u201cevaluation apprehension<\/a>,\u201d the feeling that you\u2019re going to be judged on your progress if you don\u2019t live up to your stated goals.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find a Teacher<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To design your path to success, Haden suggests finding a high-achieving professional to emulate. Study how they achieved what you\u2019re after, and determine the steps they took along the way. Haden stresses the difference between a professional and a coach, gives clues as to how to emulate their path to accomplishment, and suggests ways to place yourself in the right surroundings to gain access to a variety of professionals to learn from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haden recommends using a professional, not a coach, as a model because, unlike a coach, a professional won\u2019t cheer you on or cut you any slack. A professional who isn\u2019t a mentor by trade will simply explain what it takes to succeed and expect you to do it.<\/strong> The trick is to channel their experience and techniques. Once you\u2019ve identified a person to emulate, you don\u2019t even have to meet them in real life\u2014just pick someone whose path you want to mirror, and do what they did without taking shortcuts. It\u2019s not actually the person themself that you need but the program for success that they used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haden says to start by picking one thing your professional exemplar does that would point you toward your goal, then do it even if it seems to go against your normal behavior. If they\u2019re a novelist, perhaps they wake up hours before you do to write while everyone else is asleep. If they\u2019re a top-ranked public speaker, maybe they do vocal warmups every morning as part of their exercise routine. Whatever activity you select will stretch you in ways you aren\u2019t accustomed to and will grow your skills in ways you might not have expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build Your Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Haden says the true purpose of designing a program is so that you can stop worrying about your goals at all. Instead, a good program will let you laser-focus on your next step and nothing else. Here, we\u2019ll discuss how to choose a program to follow and how establishing a routine eliminates the need for willpower. We\u2019ll also cover tips for how to maintain your focus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, when plotting your course, you don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel or rediscover fire. Chances are that whatever you aspire to, whether it\u2019s to paint professional-level murals or to kayak down Class V rapids, someone else has already achieved it and mapped out a program to get there. You merely have to do your research and choose from the many different programs available. Haden suggests that you shouldn\u2019t waste time fretting over which program is the most ideal for you because you have no way of knowing until you\u2019ve started. The advantage of any good program toward success is that it lays out every step you need to take,<\/strong> saving you the time and effort of figuring it out for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next vital component is to turn your program into a routine. By making your efforts toward your goal automatic, a routine negates the need for motivation<\/em>. Without a routine, every day and moment means you must consciously choose whether to follow your program or do something else, such as binge-watch TV or play games on your phone. Having to make that choice depletes your will and makes it more likely that you won\u2019t follow through. However, if you establish a routine that keeps you on your program, you\u2019ll no longer have to decide what to do. Followed long enough, a routine makes the steps toward your goal<\/a> a part of your identity<\/strong>\u2014it\u2019s not just what you do, it\u2019s who you are<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Establishing a routine is easier said than done. Haden offers several tips to make it less of an uphill battle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n