4 Actionable Steps That Will Lead You to Success In 2022

At the start of every year, many of us dash off on one form of personal-development plan or another in the hope that it’ll put us in better stead for the year. 

And so, we journey into the new year, armed with steps we believe will lead us to success, riding high on the wings of lofty expectations.

However, no sooner have we started than the crossroads of decisions and challenges begin to surface, resulting in a forceful inflation of the “airbags” of “conventional wisdom.” 

While these “airbags” serve as a voice of reasoning and caution for some of us, it tends to work against most people, especially as reality and our plans start to collide.

Even though being cautious is commendable, the likelihood of it causing self-doubt is high.

Similarly, there’s the tendency too, to abandon well-intended pursuits when delays, disappointments, and failures show up in our way.

Despite these, Cresta Durojaiye, Productivity Expert and Certified Organiser, views delays, disappointments, and failures, differently. 

Durojaiye says:  

“Not all efforts are supposed to lead to a win. Some efforts will help build grit and resilience in you.”  

She believes that while our efforts should lead to a win, every step, big or small, has its purpose and merits and should be celebrated. 

She adds that delays, disappointments, and failures are part of our growth process.

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“Out with the old, in with the new”

With that being said, the year is about getting ready to end with a new one fast approaching, leaving us with no better time to re-evaluate how things have been for us so far than now. 

This offers us an opportunity to put our previous successes and setbacks into their proper frames.

Furthermore, it allows us to position ourselves for the future. 

And while some of our best efforts may not have yielded our highly-priced successes yet, it doesn’t mean that our personal development journey should come to a screeching halt. 

To this end, Durojaiye shares her 4Rs Strategy to help us achieve our goals in the new year. 

According to her, it’s a timeless plug-and-play process that’s easy to adapt.  

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Your actionable steps to success- 4Rs Strategy

The 4Rs Strategy is an actionable four-step plan created by Cresta Durojaiye, Productivity Expert and Certified Organiser, geared towards helping us achieve our goals.

These steps are easy to implement and can be used as often as needed.

Step One- Review  

To review means to identify and look through your intended goals. 

Doing this helps you to put things into perspective. It also allows you to pay attention to what you need to focus or zoom in on. 

Actionable Steps     

• Make a list of all the goals you had planned to achieve in the year or season. 
• Zoom in on each goal to know whether the plan has been completed or not. 
• Create two separate columns, which you will call: Achieved Goals and Not Achieved Goals. 
• Group your goals under the categories in the columns you created. Ensure that the goals you achieved go under the Achieved Goals column while the goals you haven’t yet accomplished go under the Not Achieved Goals column. 

With this completed, you’re ready for the next step.

Step Two – Reflect  

To reflect means to think deeply or pore over something.

 

In this instance, to reflect is to take a closer look at the goals you have reviewed and categorised as Achieved and Not Achieved Goals during the review process. 

The reflection exercise aims at helping you to track your progress level. 

In the same token, it helps you track those little wins that might have gone unnoticed.

Actionable Steps    

• Examine the tasks you completed, which fall under your Achieved Goals column.
• While there, observe your success trends — note the steps you took that helped you complete those tasks. 
• Next, go to the column of the Not Achieved Goals. There, pore over each goal to discover why the plans weren’t completed. Also, make a note of the reasons why. 
• Finally, observe the success or failure patterns. Doing this will help you note what you can improve on, do differently or do more of.

Reflecting allows you to draw out a new set of goals too! 

With this completed, you’re ready for the next step.

Step Three- Relaunch

To relaunch, simply put, is to try anew or to bounce back.  

You can only have a successful relaunch when you’ve painstakingly reviewed your past trends and reflected on the best way forward. 

This will, in turn, help you to put new plans in place to launch out with. You can decide to relaunch as often as you feel the need to. 

It’s never too late to relaunch. 

And there’re grandiose protocols or permissions needed. It’s your field, so own your space and take charge.   

Actionable Steps  

List out your new set of goals (make sure they are S.M.A.R.T – (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound).

• Break them into bite-size daily tasks. 
• Give each task a delivery timeline to help you accurately measure your progress.  
• Decide on a periodic check format that works for you (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly). This is the period within which you intend to measure your progress.

 When progress is not measured, you can often get discouraged, thinking you aren’t getting much done. 

Measuring your progress keeps you informed and helps manage your expectations appropriately. 

The last but not the least of the 4Rs Strategy is Rest. 

Step Four – Rest 

The value of rest can never be overemphasised.

The energy for a bounce-back lies in a well-rested body and mind. 

A well-rested body and mind, fully armed with a workable blueprint in place, can get you back on track and launch you out to achieving your goals. 

Actionable Step

• Take time off work-related activities to rest and rejuvenate yourself with activities that spark joy and calm your body and mind. 

Finally  

Now that we know that delays, failures, and disappointments are part of the growth process in our development journey, we must celebrate our efforts, and little wins every step of the way. 

Productivity and Organising Expert Cresta Durojaiye concludes that following due process clearly shows your trajectory, growth pattern and progress, making it easier for you to retrace your steps as and when needed. 

We also learned about her easy adapt “Rs Strategy.” 

The strategy entails reviewing our goals, reflecting, tracking our progress, relaunching, starting over with new or modified plans, and, most importantly, finding time to rest.   

On a final note, Durojaiye explains that our journey is unique. 

“Competing or comparing yourself or progress with someone else’s unhealthy. At best, you become a replica or a better version of someone else instead of being the best version of your (original) self,” she further adds. 

 Do you have any insights into achieving goals? Please feel free to leave your comment below.