Success Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Roadmap for Achieving Your Dream Life (Part 5)

Uncover the hidden potential of your life by following your plan for success every day.

There is no doubt that Michelangelo was one of the greatest sculptors that ever lived. His most famous statue, the David of Florentine, is an astonishing piece of art. It is the size of an adult giraffe or a two-story building and is considered the perfect sculpture.

But did you know that the project seemed ruined from the start? The endeavor started eleven years before Michelangelo was born, and it quickly became an expensive failure.

The stone lay in the open air for roughly 35 years before Michelangelo could touch it. Several experienced sculptors had stated that the marvel was unworkable, and yet Michelangelo was able to succeed despite the less than ideal circumstances. So how was he able to do it?

He said: “In every block of marble, I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

First, Michelangelo had a clear vision of the statue. Then, he made a plan to free it from inside the stone. After that, he chiseled away for roughly three years, one day at a time.

What you and Michelangelo have in common

Maybe your current situation is comparable to Michelangelo’s imperfect block of marvel. It could even be that your difficulties started before you even were born. You may think it is already too late and that too much has already happened to you.

Maybe even experts weighed in and explained that you are a hopeless case. Yet, inside of you lies the potential for a better future, full of everything you could hope for. This potential is your dream life, and it is hidden within you.

Success planning will enable you to free that life from the confines of your current circumstances and bring all you can be into the light for the world to see. It will enable you to reach goals faster by providing a roadmap to success that you can follow daily.

I invite you to continue your journey with me by taking one step at a time. This series is a guide that lays out the concrete strategy of going from where you currently are to achieving your objectives. Planning and success work together like a hammer and a chisel. But before we start, let’s recap what we have covered so far.

Planning for success: What we have covered so far

In part 1 of this series, we aimed to understand how you define success, why your goals matter to you, and what has blocked you from achieving them. We researched what methods other people used to achieve what you hope for. And we discussed how to set up an accountability and support system so you can reach goals faster.

Part 2 introduced you to the concept of developing a holistic life vision. We explored the eight dimensions of wellness and imagined what your perfect life would look like in each area. We decided on the ideal starting point and reverse engineered a high-level action plan to get you from where you are today to where you want to be.

I then introduced you to the concept of objectives and key results in part 3. By breaking your goals into quarters, your action plans become manageable and create urgency. The objectives tell you what you want to achieve, while the key results give you measurable evidence that you attained what you set out to do.

Lastly, in part 4, we designed your weekly plan and your perfect week. First, we identified your three most critical objectives for the week. Then, we carved out room in your schedule by batching similar activities and time-blocking. In this way, we ensure that you will actually have the space in your week to complete the necessary tasks.

Whenever you have questions about planning and success, please refer back to the previous parts of this guide. Now let’s talk about how we go about planning your day for success and doing the actual work. By making progress towards your goals and objectives daily, you will achieve what you set out to do and much more. Your dream life awaits, so let’s start!

How to plan your day for success and productivity

I think we’ve all been there before. You wake up in the morning and have this massive list of things to do. But for some reason, you just can’t seem to get started. You feel like you’re paralyzed and don’t know where to start. And before your know it, negative emotions and anxiety start flooding your system, and you feel stressed. I know it’s frustrating, believe me, I’ve been there.

I used to wake up most mornings and immediately check my phone. I scanned social media to see what was happening worldwide, checked my email, and so on. Then I got out of bed, got dressed, and started my day. I would go to work, have meetings, answer emails, put out fires, and so on. And at the end of the day, I often felt like I hadn’t accomplished anything I set out to do. Sound familiar?

A day without a plan is like a ship without a rudder. You’ll end up going nowhere fast and probably get frustrated along the way. If you don’t take the time to plan your day, you’ll likely find yourself reacting to other people’s demands and urgencies. You’ll start your day without a clear direction or purpose, and as a result, you’ll have very little to show for at the end of the day. Instead of letting other people control your time, take back control by spending a few minutes planning your day.

By planning your day, you’ll know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it. This will help you make the most of your time and get more done in a shorter period. Plus, it will help reduce the stress you feel throughout the day. So if you’re tired of feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list, let’s try a different approach. It just might be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Planning your day for success begins the night before

Anyone who has ever been successful will tell you the night before is the most critical part of a successful day. Stop looking at any screens 30–60 minutes before going to bed. Make sure your smartphone is in airplane mode and put it away. Prioritize getting enough sleep. 99% of the human population needs at least 7 hours per night. If you’re cutting yourself short on that, you minimize your chances of being your best self tomorrow.

Dan Sullivan, a very experienced and successful business coach, has been teaching entrepreneurs how to maximize their daily productivity with one simple 2-step habit for over 30 years. Before going to bed each night, take a couple of minutes to reflect on your day. Write down three things that went well that day. Wins, by his definition, are not the only things that went well. They also include things you have learned and are grateful for.

Tell your brain that you will not sleep before it produces these three wins for you. If this is hard at first, rest assured that it will become much easier with practice. Another question is: Did I learn anything new today that changes my weekly priorities or quarterly objectives? Life is full of surprises, some of which may alter our plan. You may discover shortcuts or detours along the way. Be sure to implement them and adjust accordingly.

The next step is to write down what three wins you expect for tomorrow. To do that, look at your three priorities for the week and think about what you can do tomorrow to make progress. You should never have more than three priorities because, as Jim Collins, the author of “From Good to Great,” says: “If you have more than three priorities, you have none.”

With this simple routine, you rack up 21 wins a week, around 90 successes a month, more than a thousand wins per year. Creating momentum and reflecting on your progress daily fills you with gratitude and confidence. This habit also helps you start the day excited and with great clarity. Next, review your schedule for tomorrow and ensure you have time blocks for the most critical tasks in your most productive hours.

Let me tell you a secret: one of the best ways to achieve your goals is to task your subconscious with solving problems while you sleep. That’s right — before you go to bed tonight, take a few minutes to think about a problem you’d like to solve. It could be a concrete issue you’re struggling with or something more abstract, like trying to figure out your next steps. If nothing comes to mind instantly, try this question from the book “The One Thing”: What is the one thing I can do now that will make everything else much easier or even unnecessary?

Chew on that for a bit until you drift off to sleep. Do this regularly, and you’ll be surprised at how many new and unexpected ways you’ll find to improve your success plan and achieve your objectives. So tonight, before you call it a day, give yourself a little homework — and then let your subconscious take over. You might just be amazed at what you come up with.

How to start your day right with a focused morning routine

It’s no secret that successful people have routines. Bill Gates starts his day with exercise and email, while Jeff Bezos begins with coffee and the newspaper. So what is the purpose of a morning routine, and why is it so significant? And most importantly, how can you create one that works for you?

A morning routine is essential because it allows you to start your day on your terms. It’s a way to set the tone for the day and focus your mind on what’s important to you. You’re less likely to be thrown off by unexpected events or distractions when you have a routine. You know what you need to do and can do it without thinking about it.

My recommended and proven morning routine

Creating a morning routine is personal — there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The key is to find something that works for you and that you can stick to. In addition, a morning routine should be a positive experience that sets you up for success throughout the day.

I would suggest starting your day with hydrating and then a short exercise. It can be anything from 2 two 30 minutes. The main idea is to get the blood flowing and oxygen into your body. Then I would reflect on the question you have asked yourself the night before. You can write in a journal or meditate on it for a couple of minutes.

Use Freewriting for journaling and problem-solving

I prefer a method called Freewriting. Writers use it to overcome writer’s block, but it also works for solving problems or setting goals. This is how it works. First, get yourself a piece of paper and a pen. You can also use your laptop or desktop computer if you are a fast typer. Set a timer for anything between 5–15 minutes and start typing. Do not edit or worry about grammar or spelling. Just write down whatever thoughts enter your mind.

They may be nonsense or repetitive; there is nothing wrong with that. Just ask yourself the question again in writing. Do not judge the thoughts, do not correct yourself. You will not show your document to anybody; it is for your eyes only. You want to enter a writing flow state, and answers and insights will emerge with a bit of practice. Just give it a try.

Make working on your most important objective a priority

The last step is to work on your most important objective. As I see it, if you want to be successful, you must put in the work. That means prioritizing your most important goal and not letting anything get in your way. I recommend taking 30–60 minutes to do some deep work before checking your emails or phone. That way, you can start your day with a victory and gain momentum. No matter what your day brings, you’ve already accomplished something.

How to build an unstoppable mindset

We’ve all heard the phrase, “you are what you eat.” Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s not just what you eat that defines you; it’s what you believe. Your belief system is the lens through which you see the world, and it colors every experience you have. So, for example, if you think you’re not good enough, you’ll find evidence to support that belief everywhere you look. But if you believe you are valuable and deserving of success, you’ll find evidence to support THAT belief too.

The truth is, whether we realize it or not, we all have a roadmap in our minds that determines where we’re going in life. And depending on how clear that map is, we will either end up exactly where we want to be or get lost somewhere along the way. The key to success is to keep your mind focused on your goal and to surround yourself with people who believe in you and your ability to achieve it. When you do that, nothing is standing in your way of becoming the person you were meant to be.

Why do some people succeed and others do not? The answer is simple: it all starts with your mindset. If you believe that you can achieve something, then you are more likely to put in the work to make it happen. On the other hand, if you presume that success is out of your reach, you are unlikely even to try. Our mind is a potent tool, and what we choose to believe directly impacts our actions and outcomes. Therefore, above all else, it is crucial to protect your mind from negative thinking. Remember: your input defines your output. So fill your mind with positive information and thoughts, and you will be well on your way to a successful future.

I’m a big believer in setting yourself up for success by surrounding yourself with positive influences. That’s why, throughout my day, I make it a point to fill myself with information that supports my success plan. For example, I unfollow any pessimistic news sources and set myself on an information diet with plenty of motivational content. By filling my mind with positive influences, I stay focused on my goals and remain determined to achieve them. So, if you want to be successful, do what I do and surround yourself with supportive influences. It makes all the difference in the world.

Stay focused on your success plan

If you want to achieve something meaningful, you must buckle down and eliminate distractions. Robert Brault said it best when he said that we’re kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal. In other words, we often choose the easy way out instead of making the decisions that will lead us to success. Every day, we’re faced with countless choices, and each one takes us either closer or further away from our objectives. If you want to achieve your dream life, you have to learn to say no to almost everything that isn’t your goal. It sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. The more you can do that, the faster you’ll see success.

In today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with choices. What should we eat for breakfast? What outfit should we wear? What route should we take to work? With so many options available, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of our ultimate goal. However, there is a simple tool that can help us stay focused on the journey ahead. In their book Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?, Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge describe how they used this tool to help them achieve their goal of winning Olympic gold in the men’s Rowing Eight at Sydney 2000.

The crew decided that in every decision up to the Olympics, they would ask themselves one simple question: “Will it make the boat go faster?”. If the answer was “yes,” they would do it. If the answer was “no,” they would reject it. This simple question helped them to stay focused on their goal and make decisions that would help them achieve it. So next time you are confronted with a choice, try asking yourself: “Will it help me achieve my objective?” You may be surprised at how well this tool can help you stay focused on your journey.

Create great habits to support your success journey

You know the feeling. It’s 11 a.m., you’re at work, and you’ve already hit the vending machine twice. You had every intention of eating a healthy lunch, but somehow you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips instead. What’s going on? It turns out that willpower is not enough when it comes to making decisions. It is a finite resource that gets depleted as we make daily choices. And when our resolve is low, we’re more likely to choose the present over our future. So how can we make better decisions?

The key is to create success habits that don’t require willpower. For example, if you want to eat healthier meals, pack your lunch the night before, so you’re not faced with deciding what to eat at the moment. Or, if you want to exercise more, commit to working out with a friend so you’ll be less likely to cancel your plans. By making small changes in our daily routines, we can set ourselves up for success without relying on willpower alone.

A habit is something that you do without thinking, usually because it’s something that you’ve done so many times before. It’s a behavior so ingrained in your daily routine that you don’t even think about it. But you may not know that there’s a science behind habits. All habits have four fundamental parts: cue, craving, response, and reward. The cue is the trigger that initiates the behavior by predicting a reward, like the buzzing of your phone with a new message or notification.

The craving is the motivational force behind every habit. In our case, curiosity compels us to find out the content of the arrived message. The response is the actual habit you perform: you grab your phone and check the notification. And finally, the reward is the end goal of every habit: your craving is satisfied.

We all have habits. Some of them are good, like brushing our teeth and exercising. And some of them are bad, like biting our nails or smoking. Everybody has habits they want to break and good habits they want to create, but changing our behavior can be difficult. However, understanding the framework for creating and breaking these patterns can increase our chances of success.

To create a positive habit, we need to make the cue obvious, the craving attractive, the response easy, and the reward satisfying. To break a bad habit, we need to do the inverse: make the cue invisible, the craving unattractive, the response difficult, and the reward unsatisfying. By following these simple rules, we can change our behavior and create lasting positive change in our lives. I recommend reading “Atomic Habits” by James Clear to go deeper on this topic.

How to gain momentum by measuring your progress

Measuring your progress is crucial to reaching your goals and objectives. You can’t improve what you don’t track. But unfortunately, most of us have learned to measure the wrong way. A lot of high achievers are, in fact, unhappy because, as Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy explain, they measure the gap to an unattainable ideal. That makes them believe they should have done more, so they devalue their progress.

Instead, always measure backward; measure the gain. By doing that, you realize how far you’ve come, giving you the motivation to go even further. For example, let’s say your goal is to lose twenty pounds. Every week you weigh yourself, but instead of fixating on the number on the scale, you celebrate every two-pound loss. Before long, those two-pound losses add up, and before you know it, you’ve reached your goal. Measuring your progress is key to success, but so is enjoying the journey. So make sure to celebrate your wins along the way!

By celebrating your wins, you create a self-enforcing positive feedback loop. If you take time to do that at the end of each day, week, and quarter, you signal to your brain that reflecting on your achievements is essential to you. Thus, it will start looking for even more victories. As a result, your confidence will be strengthened, and your belief in your abilities will grow. Because of that, you will see even more potential in yourself and dare to undertake even bolder actions towards your goals. That will lead to you creating even more significant wins, strengthening your confidence. So start celebrating your successes today and watch your life change for the better.

Why not reaching all your goals is actually a good thing

Many people have a paralyzing fear of failure. Especially those with a fixed mindset would rather not even try than give their all and fail. However, if you follow this ultimate guide to success planning, you will change your life. I know it because I changed my life and am continually leveling it up. The methods laid out here do work. But will you achieve all your goals? I do not think so. And I believe that is a good thing.

We set our goals from our current perspective. We imagine how life could be different when we achieve a specific objective. It serves as a compass, pointing us in the right direction. It gives us purpose, and we grow as we progress toward it. Even if we do not attain what we set out to do, we will have developed tremendously. If you want to throw a ball as far as possible, you must aim higher than you intend to toss.

Achievement seldom comes easy. If you’re finding it difficult to reach your goals, don’t despair — you’re certainly not alone. Many of the most successful people in history have faced setbacks and failures. The key is learning from your mistakes and working towards your goal no matter what.

If you’re struggling to make progress, it may be time to rethink your strategy. Research how others have achieved similar goals, and look for new ways to approach your dream. Don’t be afraid to ask for help — plenty of people want to see you succeed. And finally, remember that even the most successful people sometimes need to try again and again before they achieve their dreams. So keep forging ahead, and don’t give up — success could be just around the corner.

Ultimately, pursuing a goal changes who we are. Because of that, our perspective may also change, and the goal has fulfilled its purpose. So if you no longer find yourself drawn to your destination, no longer motivated to achieve it, do not hesitate to set a new goal for yourself. There’s no shame in changing your mind. In fact, it’s one of the smartest things you can do. Because as you grow and learn, your priorities inevitably change. And that’s okay. What’s not okay is being stuck in a situation that doesn’t make you happy just because you’re afraid to make a change. Life is too short to waste time on things that don’t make you happy. And who knows? Maybe by pursuing your new goal, you’ll end up changing the world.

I wish you all the success in the world. If you follow the steps outlined in this guide, I am confident you will create your dream life. I fully believe in you, your potential, and your abilities. If you ever feel stuck, come back here and get inspired anew. I love to support you in any way I can. Thank you for reading. Now it is time for doing. It is time to create your own roadmap to success! Let me know how you fare.