worth the sacrifice. Don’t Cut Corners: Let’s go back to the “doing” and “trying” concept. People who try to make an attempt at reaching their goals or solving a problem, don’t put all their energy into becoming successful because, in the back of their mind, they are planning what else they can do if they fail. Success not only requires you to put your best foot forward, but it is also important that you do things properly. For example, if you want to lose weight, cutting corners would involve taking a weight loss pill or having surgery. In other words, you haven’t done anything to lose weight. You tried for a couple of weeks and then took the easy way out by taking drastic measures. So, you might have achieved your goal, but in the process, you haven’t really achieved anything because it wasn’t your own efforts that got you there. What do you have to be proud of? That you popped some pills, or went and lay on an operating table? There is no pride in cutting corners. Don’t Make a Big Leap: It takes just as much self-discipline to take small strides toward your goal as it does to take huge strides. When you first start making your way to your destination, it’s tempting to try to get there as quickly as possible by taking huge strides. When you think about it, it sounds like a brilliant idea. You get all excited and you experience an initial burst of energy that makes you feel as if you can take on the world, so you put all your energy into making progress. But you will soon find that motivation runs out, and we also need more than motivation to achieve our goals. The solution to this problem is to make a plan and follow it to the letter. May I add that there’s nothing wrong with feeling excited and motivated; after all, if you are not going to be excited about achieving your goals, who is? However, the easiest way to achieve a goal is to work toward it at a measured and sensible pace; keep a journal and use it to monitor your progress. Once you have arrived at your destination, you can look back at where you’ve come from and feel proud of what you’ve achieved. Repetition is the Key to Success: Let’s say you have a goal to become fluent enough in Spanish that you can read a Spanish newspaper without struggling. Your first step in achieving this goal would be to work out what drills and exercises you will need to help you master the vocabulary, grammar, and spelling of the Spanish language. You might need to download a few apps, buy some books, or pay for some lessons. Your next step is to commit to repeating those exercises every day. There is nothing fun about repetition, but it is one of the requirements for success. Sometimes, you are going to feel frustrated