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Create your personal success map

Create your personal success map
Create your personal success map

Do you want to be successful?  Map it out. Create your personal success map. You probably haven’t spent much time wondering how a bus driver, ship’s captain or airline pilot manages to reach their destination, mostly without too much fuss.

As a passenger, you just hop on at one end and stroll off at the other and why not?

You have to know this

When you do stop to think about it though, it’s obvious that two key pieces of information are essential before you begin any kind of journey, whether it’s to the local store or the other side of the world: where are you now and where do you want to be?

It’s become common in recent years to describe one’s life experiences as ‘a journey’ and, when considering the progress of your career, this is a useful idea

Where are you now?

Where am I now?
Where am I now?

Your current position can be plotted by simply listing a few things you know about yourself. For the sake of demonstration, let’s pretend this is you.

  • Age: 25
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree in business
  • Marital status: Single
  • Location: London, England
  • Job title: Client service executive in advertising
  • Annual income: £30,000

Where do you want to be and when?

Let’s assume that in ten years from now, you’d like to be here.

  • Age: 35
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA
  • Marital status: Married, no children
  • Location: New York, USA
  • Job title: Client services director in advertising or PR
  • Annual income: $120,000

Plot your current position and where you would like to be in the next 10 years. Use the criteria above and any others that are important to identify your ambitions.

When identifying your objectives, make sure you quantify them and give a time

Study and apply the 70-20-10 principle

Using the findings of research conducted by the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), Bob Eichinger and Mike Lombardo isolated three types of experience that influence executive development.

Create your personal success map
Create your personal success map

Now look at our map illustration

You’ll see 32 dots each one representing a point of action or decision taking along your ten-year journey.

Think of them as milestones or waypoint. You probably won’t need so many, it’s just to show you the idea.

Before you set out on the pathway to your ultimate goal, mark each milestone with the steps you need to take to get there. For example, if your first action is to sign on an MBA programme, enter your start and finish dates.

Don’t think of your map as a fixed plan

If your goals are reasonable, don’t blindly follow the path you’ve drawn for yourself. Use your growing experience and the feedback from colleagues, friends and associates to make improvements to your journey.

As you know from your travelling experiences, the destination is the key.
How you get there is less important.

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The Business Mentor

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