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Can you describe success?

If you ask most people to describe their idea of success, odds are very good that most would have an fairly nebulous description.  Many will be unable to articulate what success means to them at all.  Sadly, many of us imagine success in very general terms.

Maybe we image success as earning a larger paycheck. Perhaps it is having more freedom to enjoy our hobbies.  Maybe it’s retiring early.  It might even be a new job or career path.  Unfortunately, the inability to articulate a personal description of success may be the single most important factor that keeps you from reaching it.

After all, if you don’t know what it is you’re looking for, how can you ever expect to find it?

Why is a framework so important?

For anyone who has ever developed a website, application, or solution of any kind, you are likely frameworks.  Frameworks provide the foundation upon which we build solutions. A Framework can provide a road-map, best practices, tools, and the back-end interoperability which enable us to create robust, scalable solutions in the fastest possible time. Frameworks establish a set of instructions, procedures and modules, that remove much of the guess work, and allow us to focus our efforts on the areas that will bring us the largest returns.

In short, frameworks give us leverage that can help us do things that would otherwise be extremely difficult or impossible to accomplish on our own.

Where can you find a framework for success?

I am student of the great Zig Ziglar (affiliate link). Zig Ziglar was a motivational speaker, author, and teacher. He has helped many thousands of people achieve their dreams. He did this by sharing the trials and tribulations he himself faced, and how he became a champion cookware salesman, and later as a masterful public speaker.

Zig wrote and recorded many books and audio programs on the subjects of motivation and achievement.  These include best selling titles such as, See you at the Top (affiliate link), Over the Top (affiliate link), and Born to Win (affiliate link). Zig is sage in area of personal growth, and motivation.  In my humble opinion, he developed the best, and most extensive framework for success the world has ever known.

Zig’s work and words are still credited and quoted by some of the world’s most successful and influential people.  His teachings are as timeless as they are profound. Yet, they are at the same time easily understood and implemented.

Where to begin?

Over the next several weeks, I will be publishing a series of blog posts inspired by Zig Ziglar’s message of achievement.  I hope to layout a true framework for success with a focus on how to leverage it to achieve your own dreams.

To get you started, here’s a quick synopsis of what you can look forward to seeing in the coming series:

• Defining Success – The first step in any journey is to understand where it is you are going.
• Planning for Success – Before you can hope to succeed, you must first plan to succeed.
• Preparing for Success – Success is going to require knowledge, tools, and abilities you may not yet possess.
• Staying on track – How to stay motivated on the journey to your dreams.
• Career Success is worthless by itself – Success in any one area alone is neither desirable nor sustainable.
• Helping Others – One of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes is “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this and future posts in this series. And, as always, I truly appreciate your willingness to share your time with me.  Whether you’re reading this blog or listening to the podcast, I know your time is valuable.  I also greatly appreciate all the emails encouraging me to keep it up.  It’s nice to know that so many of you are grateful for the work I’m doing here.  Those emails are what keeps me going.

Now to borrow yet another phrase from the great Zig Ziglar, “See you at the Top!”