5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out in Life

The book that has had the most impact on my life and one of my all-time favourites is "Principles" by Ray Dalio.?

I've read this book for God knows how many times and every time I read it, there are always new gems for me to reflect and learn from. This book gave me clarity on how I live my life and how I run my business.

One key lessons from this book that I've applied in my life is the "5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out in Life".

?Here are the 5-Step Process in a nutshell:

1. Have clear goals
2. Identify and don't tolerate the problems that stand in the way of achieving your goals
3. Accurately diagnose the problems to get at their root causes
4. Design plans that will get you around them
5. Do what's necessary to push these designs through to get the results you want

Let's look at this process in more detail.

While you can have virtually anything you want, you can't have everything you want.

Therefore, first, you have to pick the goals that you're going after. It is important to have a clear goal. Your choice of goals will determine the direction that you are heading.

As you move toward the goal, you will encounter problems. Some of those problems will bring you up against your own weaknesses. How you react to the problem is up to you. If you want to reach your goals, you must be calm and analytical so that you can accurately diagnose your problems, design a plan that will get you around them and do what's necessary to push through to results. Then you will look at the new results you achieve and go through the process again.

You will have to go through a personal evolution when going through this process. Evolution is good because it is the process of adaptation that generally moves things toward improvement. All things such as products, organizations and human capabilities evolve through time in a similar way.

Evolution is simply the process by which things either ADAPT AND IMPROVE OR DIE. Therefore, WE MUST CONSISTENTLY EVOLVE AS A PERSON!

With that being said, to evolve quickly, you will have to do the 5-Step Process fast and continuously,? setting your goals successively higher.

You will need to do all the five steps well to be successful and you must do them one at a time and in order.

For example, when setting goals, just set goals. Don't think about how you will achieve them or what you will do if something goes wrong. When you are diagnosing problems, don't think about how you will solve them. Just diagnose them. Blurring the steps will lead to suboptimal outcomes because it interferes with uncovering the true problems. The process is iterative. Doing each step thoroughly will provide you with the information you need to move on to the next step and do it well.

It is essential that you approach this process in a clearheaded, objective and rational way. It is also important to look down at yourself from a higher level and be ruthlessly honest with yourself. If emotions are getting the better of you, learn to step back and take time out until you can reflect clearly. If necessary, seek guidance from calm and thoughtful people.

Nothing good ever happens when you react to a situation emotionally.

One great tip that I've learnt is to see that 5-Step Process as a game where the objective is to get around a challenge and reach a goal. Once you've understood and accepted the rules of the game, you'll get used to the discomfort that comes with the constant frustration.

Also, know that you will never handle everything perfectly. Mistakes are inevitable and it is important to recognize and accept this fact in life. However, the good news is that every mistake you can make teaches you a valuable lesson that helps you to improve and evolve as a human being. So, there's no end to learning.

?So what if you don't have ALL the skills you need to succeed?

Don't worry about it because it is true for EVERYONE! You just have to know when they are needed and where you can go to get them.

This 5-Step Process by Ray Dalio is a constant practice we must make every day. With practice, we will eventually be able to play this game with an unstoppable calmness in the face of adversity.

These 5 step might look simple but it is definitely not an easy process. As for myself, I am still in the process of pursuing my dreams and ambition. And yes, I still have a long journey ahead. I am writing this article not because I've made it in life but because I am still in the process of growing and learning.?

Life is a constant process of growth and evolution.

I hope this article that I wrote, could give you the clarity of achieving anything you want in life.?

Let's do this together.