Blueprint To Success: A Roadmap To Your Goals

By Waldo Steyn

We all have dreams, a vision, a goal, or a desire. What makes a small percentage of people so special - that they become very successful? What inner force drives certain individuals, to scale the highest mountains and dive into the deepest oceans?We as humans - can reason, can create a work of art, can compose music and feel emotion. No other animal on the earth, are born with these abilities. Why is it then - that some of us tend to fail miserably when it comes to reaching our goals? Readers that want achieve success really needs a book that take a comprehensive approach to money, life and personal development. If you want to be successful, then friend, this is the book for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716532511

Book preview

Blueprint For Success.

By

Waldo Steyn

About The Author:

Waldo Steyn was born 1972 in a little town in Namibia, called Tsumeb. He later moved to South Africa and now stays in Krugersdorp, Gauteng. Waldo is the author of several non-fiction books. Waldo Steyn is also a Motivational Speaker and Evangelist. He has his own ministry - called God's Farm Ministries. You can follow him on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. He is married and the father of two children.

©  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author, Waldo Steyn. This book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this book may result in prosecution. Book first published 2020, by GFM-Publishers.

Content:

Foreword:

A well-known, prominent public figure once said – It is not businesses that fail, it is people that fail!

We all have dreams, a vision, a goal, or a desire. Why is it then, that we do not realize our dreams? What makes a small percentage of people so special that they become very successful? What inner force drives some individuals, to scale the highest mountains, while most fail taking the first step?"

Fact is most of us had to settle for a mediocre life, where we have to work hard to earn a living. A lot of people are also working in dead-end jobs that give them no personal satisfaction. The worst part is some of these jobs are also dangerous or toxic to our health in the long run. We also have to realize that no job is really permanent. A lot of factors can cause you to lose your job, like restructuring, retrenchment, getting fired, resigning and health issues.

So this is where I have to ask – are you really satisfied with your current status in life? Are you really happy? Do you dream big dreams? Do you have a talent? Dreaming of starting your own business, and a better financial future? Do you urgently want a promotion at your current work place, but nobody notices you?

If you answered yes on any of the above questions, then my dear reader, you are just one of millions that dream of doing something better.

It took me a lot of time to do an in-depth study into the autobiographies (life-stories) of a lot of prominent, famous figures throughout our history. I was searching for an answer. I asked myself – what did these people have, that I did not? Looking at them one by one provided me with no answer. I could not find the x-factor that they all shared. Was it a gene, sheer luck or intelligence? What made them more special than others?

But it is when I finally looked at them wholly, as a group, that I discovered the answer. They all shared something very similar. 

Yes they are/were different people, they came from different backgrounds. Each of them had different skills and talents. They had different goals, but in some eerie way they all followed a similar path or road-map to success…

Simply said we can take their life-stories and turn it into a Blueprint to Success…

What Is The Blueprint To Success?

A blueprint is actually a copy of a technical drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. It was widely used in the area of construction and industry in the past century. The blueprint process was characterized by white lines on a blue background, much like a negative of the original. The term blueprint continues to be used less formally to any type of plan. Engineers, architects, and drafters just call them drawings or prints nowadays. Even though a blueprint is a reproduction, it can still give you detailed information – on how to fabricate a certain car or to build a house according to the plan’s specifications. Just like the original drawing.

All of us dream of becoming successful. One person may dream to become the next Henry Ford, while another wants to become a famous performer like Lady Gaga. We are a society that constantly look up to dynamic people or celebrities whose actions, stand or beliefs sets an example that we can identify with and relate to.  Fact is we like to copy other people. We see it continuously in fashion-trends, hairstyles, lifestyle and even careers. Not only that, we are actually a living copy of our parents, have you ever thought about it?

It is a well-known fact that children can inherit certain traits, skills and talents from the parents. I think it is locked in our genes the very day we are born. My son for instance, got my artistic side and my daughter inherited my love for literature. Funny isn’t it? But we can also inherit some of our parents’ negative traits or weaknesses. How many sons’ that you know of, grow up to be wife-beaters - when the father was a man that beat his wife?

In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich. - Henry Ward Beecher.

There was an animated kid’s program called Brave Starr on television, which was broadcasted from September 1987 to February 1988. If you are as old as me, you may recollect it. The episodes combined certain elements of the science fiction and western genres and were set in the 23rd century - on an imaginary desert planet called New Texas. 

The story revolved around the title character - Indian Marshal Brave Starr, who could call upon the special power of four spirit animals (hawk, wolf, bear and puma) whenever he needed to. This enabled him briefly to perform superhuman feats. He could also only use a certain characteristic of each animal. The Eyes of the Hawk - enhanced his vision and also granted him an aerial view of the adjacent area. The Ears of the Wolf - gave him super-human hearing. The Strength of the Bear - gave him super-human strength. The Speed of the Puma - gave Brave Starr super-human speed.

As should be obvious - Brave Starr only used certain qualities (the strengths) of each animal, not their shortcomings (weaknesses). I think you would agree with me, when I say that it is better to keep the good things, which can help you in the end, to build a stronger personality. Bad things will only weaken your personality. But there is more behind success than simply copying all the qualities, traits and the strengths of a successful person.

So what other things do we need to become successful?

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. - Napoleon Hill

Some of these things are hidden and some you will find in plain sight. My friend when you put any successful person under a microscope and you look deeply - you will also find vision, talent, skills, faith, patience, perseverance, ambition and hard work. All of the aforementioned are necessary tools in the toolbox of success, if you lack one – you are bound to fail.

Luckily we can learn new skills; we can develop vision, can learn to work hard and learn to become patient. One way of doing this, is to learn from other successful people. We can learn from them, to develop all the things which we need to become successful. Usually if one person accomplished something, another person can accomplish the same thing as well. When you travel down roads that were taken before, you can even avoid making the same mistakes as others, because we can learn from their mistakes.

Success is a bit like a puzzle, with a lot of missing pieces. As you know, when you miss a piece, it will leave an open space or void in the puzzle. People like Henry Ford for example, had his own traits and strengths - but also had shortcomings. His shortcomings can be likened to one of the missing pieces in our puzzle.

Thomas Edison on the other hand, had strengths where Henry Ford had shortcomings and vice versa. To make it short, we can use Edison to fill the spaces or voids that were left by Ford. That is why I am going to use a group of successful people. You can use them as mentors, on who you can base your own unique blueprint in the end.

When you look at a blueprint of a ten-story building it is quite complicated, it comes with all sorts of dimensions (shapes and sizes), specifications (the type of steel and strength of concrete that have to be used) and directions (where the plumbing and electricity and air-conditioning go etc.).

Our blueprint is not as complicated as the real thing. I am going to make it easy and real simple for you to create a blueprint to success on your own. The blueprint will work for a number of goals like - health, fitness, finance, business, learning and other personal development goals, but it is not meant for resolutions.

What Is A Goal?

The difference between a Resolution and a Goal is:

-      A Resolution is only a small step above wishful-thinking; it's an intention without a real plan and without granular attention to detail.

-      A Goal demands a desired result, and could be defined as the process of deciding what to accomplish, and then devising a solid plan to reach the Goal.

It is important that you know the difference between a Resolution and a Goal. The implication of a goal is that we desire change. It is an intellectual exercise that people use to plan ahead for the future and to achieve some semblance of their present dreams.

During my research, I picked up that successful people seem to have some qualities in common - such as a determination to succeed, perseverance and self-confidence in their abilities.  All of them also went through certain stages or points in their lives to reach their goals.  I have broken these stages up for you - into a plan, with four easy steps that can improve your chances significantly of being successful in life. I call this plan the Blueprint to Success.

4 Basic Steps to Success:

When we read through the life-stories (biographies) of famous people, it is not hard to pick out things that we can identify with. Henry Ford was good with engineering, Thomas Edison was good with electrics, Marie Curie and Chris Gardner were both blessed intellectually and Tina Turner had a golden voice. The above named people, as you can see are different in a lot of ways. But all of them shared one thing in common my friend and this thing stood out like a sore-thumb – they hated their circumstances and wanted change.

On a fateful day they all came to a decision – that enough was enough! So they decided to follow their dreams no matter what. Henry hated farming, so he left his family-farm and his inheritance, to become an engineer. He later built an iconic car-company. Edison hated the railroad, so he resigned from it, to become an inventor. His inventions and innovation later changed the world. 

These people would have stayed just where they were, at ground-zero with only a dream - if they had not come to a decision. This is also the first and most important step that you will have to take.

Step 1 - First You Have To Decide:

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. -  Theodore Roosevelt

As you may know, a builder cannot go to a construction-site and simply start with the construction a building. There is quite a lengthy process that he has to go through first. He needs plans and his plans need to be approved first. Core-samples must be taken from the building-site. The samples are sent away for testing, to see if the ground is suitable (stable and solid) for construction. The test-results, can take weeks if not months to come back. Only when the plans are approved and the tests show that the ground can support a building, will the builder receive a building-permit. This is the way it works with success. If you do not have solid ground (a decision) and a plan, to get you to your goal – you will definitely fail.

This is where you need to take core-samples to establish if you are really ready for change. Are you happy with your circumstances? Do you really want to change your life? There are things we think we want, and then there are things we really want. Imagine you say to yourself - I want to start taking art-classes. Yet, you don’t follow through. When you don’t follow through, you need to ask yourself if you really want it. If you just say you want it because your friend is doing it, or because you read somewhere that it’s fun, then you won’t have the inner motivation to take action. However, when the motivation comes from within, the desire to take action is a lot stronger. Basically, you need to get honest with yourself, and decide if you are intrinsically motivated enough, to take action or if it is merely something you think you should be doing.

Your dream is not a coincidence my friend. These dreams are at the center of who you really are. It is the core essence of who you really are as a person, and the very purpose of your existence. Why then does it seem to be so difficult to decide once and for all, to follow our dreams? I, myself think it is mainly because it is outside our comfort zones.

Once you establish that you want it, you may still encounter fear. You may think - I really want to try art-classes, but I am afraid that my friends will laugh at me! When you really want something my friend - the want must overpower the fear.

Elbert Hubbard once said, The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fear that you will make a mistake.

Have you ever found yourself hyped up or motivated to start something new? You get started with full steam, and about two-thirds of the way through your journey, you start to lag. You lose interest, meet some stumbling blocks and in the end you simply give up.

Well, you’re not alone my friend. Following through is one of the most challenging tasks, specifically when it comes to something that you are doing for yourself. The funny thing is when we have to do it for someone else (on the job) we have no problem to complete tasks on time and following through to the end. However, for some reason, when it comes to our personal goals, we tend to let things slide. Please tell me why do we work harder for other people than ourselves?

Do not tell yourself that you will follow your dream someday or soon. Since someday or soon never appears on any calendar, you'll never accomplish your goals if you keep pushing them off. If a goal is that important to you, please create a timeline for yourself. Even if you can't start working on it today, at least tell yourself when you will be able to tackle it.  It does not matter whether you want to apply for a promotion, plan to return to college or plan to start your own business - stop using words like someday or soon. There are no such words in the vocabulary of success.

Please don't focus on your fears, but focus on your dreams. By doing this your dreams become more important to you than your fears. Ask yourself this question - What do I want from life, don’t I deserve to be happy too? What is