Life tools
How to realise your ambitions in work, life and love
Surprisingly, success commonly emerges from the midst of challenges. That’s because they can act as a wake-up call, prompting us to rethink and make positive changes to our lives. Right now, with so much bad news in the world, we’re all facing big challenges.
Since the pandemic, and with the cost-of-living increases, we’ve been forced to do things differently. But this presents an exciting time to change and grow. We have more opportunities than ever before to achieve success and realise our ambitions. Here’s how.
OUR EXPERT
Amanda Dewinter is a social scientist, executive success coach and author of The Success Code (£9.99, PB, HQ). She is also chair of governors at a London state school.
1 CREATEYOUR OWN MISSION STATEMENT
Big companies and organisations meticulously plan for the future, typically having a mission statement stating why they exist, and their overall purpose and direction.
Take this idea and adopt a mission statement for yourself.
DO IT
In 10 to 20 words, craft your own mission statement for this next stage of your life. Write it down and put it where you’ll see it every day.
2 VISUALISE A BRIGHT FUTURE
Use visualisation to create a picture of what you want. Your subconscious will start working in the background to help you achieve it and you’ll be developing ideas even while you sleep.
DO IT
Write down your dreams and wishes. Create a vision board of them, made up of photos and words. Leave it where it will be a constant reminder.
3 SETAMBITIOUS GOALS
Goal-setting is a skill, and crafting well-thought-out goals is an effective way to begin the process of transforming your dreams and wishes into action and reality.
DO IT
Take your vision and mission, and from these create specific goals that will enable you to realise them.
Start by choosing one goal that is going to have the most impact on creating the life you want. Develop this into a SMART goal, SMART standing for: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.
4 LEARN MORE
Whatever your goals, there’s a gap between where you are now and where you want to be; learning new things bridges this gap.
The opportunities to learn have never been wider or more accessible. For example, if your goal is to find a new job, learn new skills to become a more desirable applicant. If your aim is to get fitter, learn a new sport. Perhaps your goal is to find new love or improve your relationship?
Then learn more about dating and relationships.
DO IT
Ask yourself what you need to learn to bridge the gap. Research how – take an online course, go back to college, read books, listen to podcasts, watch online videos, take a training course, go to a conference or worksh
