{"id":632,"date":"2012-11-12T12:01:41","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T19:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/?p=632"},"modified":"2018-12-06T08:30:25","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T15:30:25","slug":"never-fail-again-3-proven-steps-to-guarantee-your-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/never-fail-again-3-proven-steps-to-guarantee-your-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Fail Again: 3 Proven Steps to Guarantee Your Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Success isn't random.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating a successful project is no different.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A successful business<\/em>, therefore, is nothing more than a series of successful projects<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Look at any successful company \u2013 Coke, Nike, Apple, Kickstarter, Amazon, Chic-fil-A, Lululemon, Rogue Brewery \u2013 do you think their success is simply luck?<\/p>\n

Or is it more likely that these companies have a system for instigating<\/em> successful projects<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Creating a successful project is not about luck or coincidence (although either may help or hurt your project).<\/p>\n

On the contrary, there are historically proven steps you can take in order to be successful.<\/p>\n

*note:<\/strong> 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. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The following are 3 proven steps to guarantee your success in any project you're about to instigate:<\/p>\n

Step 1) Set and maintain your goal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What\u2019s the last goal you set?\u00a0 Did you reach it?\u00a0 If not, where is that goal right now?\u00a0 Above your computer?\u00a0 In your wallet?\u00a0 Taped to the visor in your car?<\/p>\n

A goal is only as good as your focus.<\/p>\n

There are great tips out there for creating compelling, powerful goals (the SMART<\/a> method is excellent: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), but none of it matters if you don\u2019t review your goal daily<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

And then take action<\/em> daily to achieve the goal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Goals give purpose and direction to our actions, but we need to review<\/em> and maintain<\/em> the goal daily to make sure we don\u2019t get sidetracked.<\/p>\n

Tip: <\/strong>Set a goal, write it down, and review it every day.\u00a0 It seems so painfully obvious it almost hurts to write \u2013 but how often do we put this common sense to practice?<\/p>\n

Step 2) Commit and follow through<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another one that seems obvious, but how often do we actually<\/em> commit<\/strong> AND follow<\/strong> through<\/strong> with our projects?<\/p>\n

There are ways to measure the success and failure rate of\u00a0start-ups\u00a0\u00a0 There are ways to determine the revenue generated from a specific advertising campaign.\u00a0 There are ways to identify the conversion rate of your product's splash page.<\/p>\n

There is no way<\/strong> to measure all the projects that failed before they started.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way to determine the success or failure of a project if we never make it through the brainstorming and thrashing stage.<\/p>\n

If our great idea stays an idea, it fails.<\/p>\n

If we set a goal but never follow through, we fail.<\/p>\n

Tip: <\/strong>Once\u00a0you've\u00a0identified your goal, commit your time, energy and focus toward realizing it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t stop until it\u2019s finished.\u00a0 Follow through.<\/p>\n

Step 3) Ship, measure, refine, and ship again<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is what separates successful companies from failed companies.<\/p>\n

The pattern of all great companies (and all great instigators<\/strong>) is to create, ship, measure, refine, and ship again.<\/p>\n

The beauty of this method: it plans for future failure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Pepsi released Crystal Pepsi in 1993, they pushed the marketing and advertising campaign hard.\u00a0 And, for a short (very short) period of time, it was successful.<\/p>\n

Until it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Pepsi didn\u2019t push the failing product; they pulled it from the market.\u00a0 They tweaked the formula and released a citrus variation called Crystal from Pepsi, which you probably never heard of, because that failed too.\u00a0 They pulled it from the market.<\/p>\n

Pepsi didn\u2019t try to release a new version; the clear-Pepsi thing simply wasn\u2019t working.\u00a0 So Pepsi took the measured results and used them for future product and marketing campaigns (Sierra Mist).<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

Eventually, one of these products will be successful.\u00a0 That\u2019s the nature of measuring, refining, and shipping; you will eventually create something successful<\/strong> (i.e. something people want and will pay money for).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not guess work; the creation of a successful product is very much a scientific process of measuring results and modifying inputs.<\/p>\n

Tip: <\/strong>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.\u00a0 Always measure, always refine, always ship.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The success of a project has nothing to do with luck.<\/p>\n

Serendipity and providence can help us, sure, but if we rely on either to propel us toward success, we\u2019re destined to fail.<\/p>\n

Serendipity and providence only help those who don\u2019t seek them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And while we don\u2019t have control over our lucky breaks, we do have control over something more powerful: our actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Set and maintain your goal<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Commit and follow through<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Ship, measure, refine, and ship again<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Life is pretty simple: you do some stuff. \u00a0Most fails. \u00a0Some works. \u00a0You do more of what works.\" - Leonardo da Vinci<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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 \u2013 Coke, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[234],"tags":[301,341,378,414,425,441],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}