Achieving greatness is something that is hard to define. What makes a person great is often highly personal, and one person’s idea of greatness may not be someone else’s. There are, however, concrete ways for you to get started on achieving your dreams and goals.

 “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Lay & Achieve Greatness

1. Laying the Groundwork for Greatness
2. Achieving Your Long-Term Greatness Goals

1. Laying the Groundwork for Greatness

1. Decide on your greatness goal.
2. Frame the problem properly.
3. Make your goal specific.
4. Use positive thinking.
5. Examine others' success stories.
6. Use positive action.

2. Achieving Your Long-Term Greatness Goals

1. Stay in it for yourself.
2. Learn from your mistakes.
3. Don't give up.
4. Break out of your comfort zone.
5. Put yourself out there.
6. Keep learning.
7. Don't act alone.

1: Laying the Groundwork for Greatness

1. Decide on your greatness goal.

“Being great” is such an indefinable thing that you have to choose something concrete to work with. Think about your strengths and your areas for improvement, and decide on a goal that makes sense for your personality. Research shows that you’re most likely to achieve a goal if it’s something you want and something you’re willing to work hard to achieve.

 2. Frame the problem properly.

Now that you have your list of the great things you want to accomplish, you need to frame the problem of achieving them so that you don't get overwhelmed. It's easy to feel like you can't achieve your goals, especially when you're just starting out. Frame your goals so that your goal is something you’re working toward, rather than something you’re trying to move away from. You’re more likely to achieve your goals when they’re positive!

 3. Make your goal specific.

Once you’ve framed your goals in a positive way, make sure you can achieve them. The best way to do this is to make your goals as specific as possible. Setting a specific goal makes you more likely to not only achieve what you want, but to achieve more happiness in general!

 4. Use positive thinking.

Visualization techniques can help you achieve greatness. Studies have shown that visualization can effective in improving athletic and academic performance. Many athletes have used visualization to help them win boxing matches, races, even gold tournaments. There are two basic types of visualization, outcome visualization and process visualization, and you should use them together for best results:

Outcome visualization is the process of imagining yourself achieving your desired goal. This visualization should be as detailed as possible and should use all of your senses: imagine who is there with you as you achieve your goal, what it smells and sounds like, what you’re wearing, where you are. You could even draw a picture or create a detailed “vision board” to help you create this mental visualization.

 5. Use positive action.

While positive visualization is very effective, it must be coupled with positive action. You have to actively work towards the goals you have set, rather than simply enjoy the thought of achieving them. This is where process visualization pays off: once you have envisioned each step you need to take to achieve a goal, it will be easier to actually take those steps.

6. Examine others' success stories.

You'll need to look and see what made other people, especially people who are doing the things you're aiming to do, succeed in their chosen path. There are often threads of similarities that run through these stories.

2: Achieving Your Long-Term Greatness Goals

1. Stay in it for yourself.

If you want to achieve greatness to impress others, your undertaking may be doomed before it even starts. This is because many of the people who achieve greatness aren’t seen as great at first. Stephen King, for example, was told that his first novel, Carrie, would never sell. It went on to sell 1 million copies in its first year, but as he says in On Writing, he was only able to continue writing because he was in it for his own passion: “I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”

 2. Learn from your mistakes.

It may seem trite, but learning from your mistakes is a hallmark of the great. People who continue to make the same mistakes over and over again tend not to get very far. According to best-selling author and inventor Scott Berkun, understanding four basic types of mistakes can help you understand them and prevent them:

 3. Don't give up.

 

Tenacity and perseverance are signs of greatness. People like Jesse Owens could have given up when they encountered horrific racism, but Owens did not and went on to win 4 gold medals and break a variety of records.

 

4. Break out of your comfort zone.

To achieve greatness you have to leave your comfort zone. Research has shown that individuals need a space just outside their comfort zone, called the “optimal anxiety” zone, to push themselves to higher performance levels. The more you’re willing to challenge yourself, the more your comfort zone expands.

 5. Put yourself out there.

Putting yourself and your works out into the world is the only way that people are going to see and acknowledge that work. It can be terrifying to show your first draft of a novel to someone, or put up your photography on a website for everyone in the world to see, but exposing yourself to others’ opinions and critiques is the only way you’ll improve and ultimately achieve greatness.

 6. Keep learning.

Even as you're succeeding, you will need to keep learning -- and not just from the mistakes you make. Keep looking at how other people are achieving their goals and see if you can incorporate that into your own life.

 7. Don't act alone.

 As you're achieving your goals on your way to greatness, always seek out the help and guidance of others. There isn't a single person who has achieved something that hasn't been helped in one way or another by people in their community, whether through schooling, through a single kind act, or through access to social programs.

Tips

• Always look for ways in which you can use your greatness to help other people. Benjamin Franklin’s daily routine always involved asking himself in the morning, “What good shall I do today?” and asking himself before bed, “What good have I done today?”
• Try physical exercise to get your creative juices flowing! President Barack Obama and entrepreneur Richard Bransonboth start each day with an intense workout, which stimulates endorphins in the body. These nifty chemicals reduce stress and anxiety, boost self-esteem, increase energy, and help you sleep better.
• Don't grow arrogant based on your abilities, or the abilities you think you have. Being humble is one of the keys to having other people see your greatness.

Warnings

• Don't grow arrogant based on your abilities, or the abilities you think you have. Being humble is one of the keys to having other people see your greatness.