Have you noticed how many lists there are out there? Seven steps to achieve this. Six steps to achieve that. Ten 
easy steps to achieve happiness. Or weight loss. Or the spouse of our dreams. All seem geared to making us successful.
I enjoy lists. They can be fun and they keep me from drifting off target. Sometimes, they even make me think. They make me evaluate what I’m doing in comparison to what I want to achieve.
This proliferation of lists got me thinking about achieving success. Of course, success is something we can only define for ourselves. Others can’t do it for us. Oh, they’ll judge us according to their own standards. Our responsibility is not to accept their definition of success as our own.
I’ve come up with five steps to achieve success for your consideration. These steps do not only apply to writing or writers. They apply to everyone who wants to succeed.
Step One: Care deeply about being successful. As a writer, I must care deeply about what I write. It must be the best I can possibly do. Even if means sacrifice to do it. But, I can’t care so deeply that I reject suggestions and ideas to get better, to get closer to success.
Step Two: As a writer, I must treat due dates as important. Especially the ones I impose on myself. Another way to describe this is to treat my goals as important. Achieving success means setting goals and achieving them. Success is a journey of many steps. When we set a goal with a time frame for achievement, we make things happen. We have a target to focus on our energies on. We identify what tools and task we need to accomplish those goals.
Step Three: Care about others more than I do about myself. Don’t put myself first.
Step Four: Encourage others on their journeys to success. Someone helped us on our journey. We need to do the same for others.
Step Five: I have to ask myself: How do I want to be remembered? Does how I act bring me close to the answer? What do I have to change? A list would come in handy here.
This post is inspired in large part by a post from Dan Balow of the Steve Laube Agency. Here is the link to his post: https://stevelaube.com/six-easy-steps-publishing-success/
How do you measure your success?
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