Success isn't random.
Creating a successful project is no different.
A business (whether an individual writing novels, a corporation selling insurance, or a nonprofit doing charitable work) is nothing more than a series of projects.
A successful business, therefore, is nothing more than a series of successful projects.
Look at any successful company – Coke, Nike, Apple, Kickstarter, Amazon, Chic-fil-A, Lululemon, Rogue Brewery – do you think their success is simply luck?
Or is it more likely that these companies have a system for instigating successful projects?
Creating a successful project is not about luck or coincidence (although either may help or hurt your project).
On the contrary, there are historically proven steps you can take in order to be successful.
*note: Every single one of the companies I listed above follows some form of this model for upper and lower level management when taking on any new project or product launch.
The following are 3 proven steps to guarantee your success in any project you're about to instigate:
What’s the last goal you set? Did you reach it? If not, where is that goal right now? Above your computer? In your wallet? Taped to the visor in your car?
A goal is only as good as your focus.
There are great tips out there for creating compelling, powerful goals (the SMART method is excellent: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), but none of it matters if you don’t review your goal daily…
And then take action daily to achieve the goal.
Goals give purpose and direction to our actions, but we need to review and maintain the goal daily to make sure we don’t get sidetracked.
Tip: Set a goal, write it down, and review it every day. It seems so painfully obvious it almost hurts to write – but how often do we put this common sense to practice?
Another one that seems obvious, but how often do we actually commit AND follow through with our projects?
There are ways to measure the success and failure rate of start-ups There are ways to determine the revenue generated from a specific advertising campaign. There are ways to identify the conversion rate of your product's splash page.
There is no way to measure all the projects that failed before they started.
There’s no way to determine the success or failure of a project if we never make it through the brainstorming and thrashing stage.
If our great idea stays an idea, it fails.
If we set a goal but never follow through, we fail.
Tip: Once you've identified your goal, commit your time, energy and focus toward realizing it. Don’t stop until it’s finished. Follow through.
This is what separates successful companies from failed companies.
The pattern of all great companies (and all great instigators) is to create, ship, measure, refine, and ship again.
The beauty of this method: it plans for future failure.
When Pepsi released Crystal Pepsi in 1993, they pushed the marketing and advertising campaign hard. And, for a short (very short) period of time, it was successful.
Until it wasn’t.
Pepsi didn’t push the failing product; they pulled it from the market. They tweaked the formula and released a citrus variation called Crystal from Pepsi, which you probably never heard of, because that failed too. They pulled it from the market.
Pepsi didn’t try to release a new version; the clear-Pepsi thing simply wasn’t working. So Pepsi took the measured results and used them for future product and marketing campaigns (Sierra Mist).
Pepsi can get away with more large scale product failures than we can, but we can still mimic the fundamental pattern of how they create and introduce new products to market (a system that has more wins than losses).
Eventually, one of these products will be successful. That’s the nature of measuring, refining, and shipping; you will eventually create something successful (i.e. something people want and will pay money for).
It’s not guess work; the creation of a successful product is very much a scientific process of measuring results and modifying inputs.
Tip: As long as we learn from our mistakes and use that information to shape future projects and products, we will inevitably create a successful offering. Always measure, always refine, always ship.
The success of a project has nothing to do with luck.
Serendipity and providence can help us, sure, but if we rely on either to propel us toward success, we’re destined to fail.
Serendipity and providence only help those who don’t seek them.
And while we don’t have control over our lucky breaks, we do have control over something more powerful: our actions.
"Life is pretty simple: you do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works." - Leonardo da Vinci
After a week of consistent, daily action, you find yourself too swamped in trivial tasks to do the important work.
You’ll pick it up next week, you think to yourself.
Don’t.
Put the trivial tasks to the side – immediately.
Right now, focus for 25 minutes on one small action associated with your project.
Here’s why:
Compounding interest.
Compounding interest is the financial theory that interest created from the principal (the initial investment) is added back into the principal, so, from that moment on, the interest made and reinvested will also earn interest.
It applies to life as easily as it does to bank accounts.
That small action today doesn’t mean much, nor does tomorrow’s small action, nor the day after’s small action.
But small action, like packing snow and rolling it, builds on itself. After rolling that snowball for 30 feet, you’re looking at a massive boulder.
After taking small actions daily for 30 weeks, you’re looking at a completed book, a flourishing startup, or a growing and powerful gang.
Success builds on success.
That’s why consistent, daily, small action – no matter how small – is so important.
When you've been on the path for a while, whether you recognize it or not, you are creating interest on your principal investment (the time and sweat of creative work), and that interest will continue to compound as long as you continue to do the work.
You may be starting small, but trust me, progress is always exponential and it always starts small. Those who 'make it' aren't smarter, more privileged, or luckier...they just kept at it.
"It's easy to become healthy, fit and vibrant. It's easy to become financially independent. It's easy to have a happy family and a life rich with meaningful friendships. Tapping into the Slight Edge means doing things that are easy. Simple, little disciplines that, done consistently over time, will add up to the very biggest accomplishments." - Jeff Olson [The Slight Edge]
So keep at it.
Yes, it seems overwhelming, especially when you’re swamped with chores, tasks, meetings, and things out of your control. And since we’re conditioned from birth for instant gratification, not seeing immediate results from your hard work is disconcerting.
But just remember, it is consistent effort over time that makes the difference.
And be careful of that voice in your head that tells you to stop or take a break. His words are venomous. That's the Resistance talking - trying to keep you from doing your truly important work.
So remember these simple steps:
1) Put away the chores, tasks, phone calls, etc.
2) Stay Shortsighted
3) Time yourself for 25 minutes
4) Focus on compounding interest.
Most of all, remember this:
"every action that is easy to do, is also easy not to do." - Jeff Olson
That says it all.
It's easy to do, and it's easy not to do.
In the context of the people you know and the world we live, is it any wonder that many find themselves in the positions they do? Regret seems to be a theme among the majority.
It's easy to do. It's easy not to do.
"You can't lose. Go." - Seth Godin [Poke the Box]
Now I've got a challenge for you...
Leave a comment below and let us know how you've applied small actions in your own life.
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