Loving Your Life
10 Steps to Achieving Success

What's the secret to a successful life? It differs from individual to individual, who each view success differently.

Aspirations are influenced by our upbringing, our environment, our self image, family, friends and co-workers. There are many ingredients that go into making a truly successful life and The Life Guide: 10 Things You Need to Know About Everything That Matters, offers a "recipe" for anyone interested in creating a more successful, productive and healthy life.

"In order to change your life and become the successful person that you want to be, you need to define your own personal success by asking yourself what you want to achieve, and create a 'life plan' listing all of your goals and long-term ambitions. It doesn't need to be highly detailed, even jotting down some immediate goals and sticking to them will do," said Robert Ashton, the author of The Life Guide.

The Life Guide offers the following 10 ways to achieve your goals and long-term ambitions:

1. Take short steps- You don't climb a ladder in one step and self-improvement is just the same. Break every change you want to make into short steps, and take them one at a time.
2. Write it down - The act of committing your plans to paper makes them firmer in your mind.
3. Have heroes - Study the lives of people who have succeeded at what you want to do. Understand how they did it and recognize that they often struggled for years before achieving fame and fortune.
4. Pace yourself - You need to aim high, but make sure you leave enough time for the journey.
5. Be realistic - You might fantasize about visiting the moon, but getting to the Grand Canyon is easier.
6. Get a mentor - Family, friend or someone at work. Find someone willing to listen and offer encouragement and support.
7. Mark milestones - Mark each milestone along the way with a small reward. It's important to recognize and celebrate each significant achievement.
8. Look over your shoulder - It's all too easy to focus on where you're heading, but equally important not to forget just how far you've come already.
9. Benchmark - All it means is find someone heading in the same direction and measure your progress against theirs.
10. Think positive - Keep telling yourself it's possible and it will be. Let doubts grow in your mind and it'll all seem too overwhelming.

"Success is really about feeling that you belong, that you are getting noticed, and that what you are doing is good for both you and the people around you. It sounds simple, but of course the complexities of life make it quite difficult," sums up Ashton.

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