20 Steps to Success

By multi-published, award-winning author Dana Marton

www.danamarton.com

#1 Set Clear, Obtainable Goals

• Goals must be something you have power over. E.g.: “Write a book in the next six months.” And not, “Hit the top of the bestseller list.”

• Goals should be measurable. You must be able to clearly tell whether a goal was achieved or not.

• Goals should have a deadline.• “My objective in life is to help

women know how great they really are.” Mary Kay Ash

• “Gather the good, abandon the bad, clear your mind, move on.” Martha Stewart

#2 Make a Plan• Step 1: Identify where you are now.• Step 2: Identify where you’d like to be.• Step 3: Identify the steps that’ll take you from

Point A to Point B.• Step 4: Get moving. The universe responds to

action.• “People of accomplishment rarely sat back and

let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Elinor Smith

# 3 Start Now

• “At any moment, I can change my entire life by making a new decision.” Anthony Robins

• The more you grow, the more your career grows. Invest in personal growth.

• “All that you’ll ever be, you are now becoming.” Dr. Phil

• Randomly stop yourself 10 times a day and ask the following question: Is what I am doing taking me closer to my goal?

#4 Do Something New

• Have you noticed that people around you seem to have the same problem year after year? The same unfulfilled dream? Is the same true for you? Have you wanted to do/be X forever?

• “If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.” Thomas Jefferson

#5 Save Time by Not Reinventing the Wheel

• Good news: You don’t have to invent how to be a successful businessman, author, mother, investor, teacher, etc. Chances are, someone out there has already done what you’re trying to do.

• Identify the top 20 people in your field. Read as many articles/interviews about them as you possibly can. You’ll notice that they have a great deal in common. What are they doing that you’re not? Step out of your box.

#6 Be Careful with your Response to External Events

• Event + Response = Outcome• What happens to you does not define you.

Setbacks cannot hold you back. Unfavorable circumstances cannot hold you down. Outcome depends on how you respond to both negative and positive events.

• Counteract the negative with massive, strategic effort.

• Amplify the positive. Milk it for all it’s worth!

#7 Set Yourself up to Succeed

• Nearly everybody wants to write a book. Less than 1% start. Less than 1% finish. Less than 1% of those get their book published. Less than 1% percent writes a second book.

• When I started writing, I knew my chances for success were slim to none. I had a whole list of fears. What I needed was a list of positives to overwrite those fears.

• “I WILL succeed because….” Write one hundred reasons. Write until you feel like reaching your goal is inevitable.

• BTW, in the past 10 years, I have published 40 books in over a dozen languages around the word, selling nearly 2 million copies.

#8 Don’t Let Failure Slow You Down

• I wrote for 13 years before my first book was published.

• You don’t fail until you’ve given up.• “Failure is the opportunity to begin again,

more intelligently.” Henry Ford• “The world of tomorrow belongs to those who

give it the greatest hope.” T. de Chardin

#9 Embrace your Talent and Creativity

• “Creativity isn’t far away, or outside you. It’s an inner movement, a heart-shift, a joy making its way out of your throat or hands or feet. So go for it. No one’s watching. The payoff is magnificent.” Margo Jefferson

• “The purpose of art is to fill space in a beautiful way.” Georgia O’Keefee

#10 Don’t Settle

• “You will never achieve more than you’re willing to settle for.” Thomas F. Darden

• Always be preparing for the next step.• To be highly successful, you have to do what

highly successful people do.

#11 Learn from the Wise• “The guy on the top of the mountain didn’t

fall there.” Vincent E. Orza, Jr.• “Do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Oprah• “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Ghandi• “Do what you can, with what you have, where

you are.” Teddy Rosevelt• “Opportunity is missed by most people

because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison

#12 Define Your Own Success

• Money/position?• No longer having to do things you don’t want to

do?• Does success = happiness?• Is success when you’re happy?• Is success when you make others happy?• Success includes taking the time to restore your

soul.• What are your mistaken beliefs about success?

#13 Make Success a Habit

• Identify the skills you need to be successful. (E.g. Need to write better advertising copy. Need to learn how to use Social Media to sell. Need to be more positive. Need to be more social.)

• Learn those skills.• Practice those skills daily.

#14 Network

• Invest in relationships.• Surround yourself with people who know the

things you don’t.• Always work with the best support you can

afford.• Set networking goals. (Attend two

conferences each year, reach out to one expert in the field per month, etc.)

#15 Ask the Right Questions

• “Ask yourself powerful questions to create powerful results. What can I be doing right now, today, that will make the most difference in my career a year from now or five years from now? Then do it!” Mary Buckham

• When you ask the right questions, you’re halfway to having the answers.

#16 Measure

• Keep track of every effort in terms of the results it brings.

• Make decisions based on facts.• Identify trends.• Allocate assets (time, people, advertising

dollars) for maximum return.

# 17 Seek Feedback

• It is impossible to see ourselves as we truly are.

• It is impossible for a creator to see his/her creation as it truly is.

• Impartial, outside opinion is absolutely necessary.

• Seek feedback about your product, systems, delivery, image, brand, etc.

#18 Don’t Forget to Recalibrate

• Halfway down the road, you’ll know more than you do now. You will have changed. The marketplace will have changed. Your product and methods will also have to change.

• Success is a moving target. Set up flexible systems.

• Curiosity and flexibility are the best predictors of intelligence.

• 80/20 Principle: 20% of effort brings 80% of results.

#19 Be Kind

• The top level of any field/industry is a small interwoven group, people who know each other. And they have long memories.

• The person you step on today (or post snarky messages about online) could be the person you desperately need to give you a hand up tomorrow.

• In business, reputation is everything.

#20 Enjoy

• If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?• Joy brings positive energy that transfers to

your product and attracts customers.• “Ask yourself what makes you come alive and

do that. Because what the world needs is people who’ve come alive.” Howard Thurman

Go Forth and Succeed

• “This is the time for every artist in every genre to do what he or she does loudly and consistently. It doesn’t matter to me what your position is. You’ve got to keep asserting the complexity and the originality of life, and the multiplicity of it, and the facets of it. This is about being a complex human being in the world, not about finding a villain. This is no time for anything else than the best that you’ve got.” Toni Morrison

Brought to you by,Dana Marton

Authorwww.danamarton.com