The other night, Joshua was doing his stats homework. I was sitting on our bed next to him frantically flipping the pages of his text book to find the right formula for the question. Needless to say, it took us a good 2 hours of combined effort to get his homework done. (College, it’s the best, right?) But since then I have been thinking nonstop about formulas. And I came to a conclusion—I like formulas, a lot.
Formulas are so simple when you have the right one. You plug in the information you have, do the work and the result appears! In our lives we have formulas all around us if we stop to look at them. There is a formula for weight loss (less calories in+ more calories out=weight loss). Or even essay structure (intro+3-5 paragraphs +a conclusion=essay). So what about success? Is there a formula for that? Actually, there is.
When you look at success and what dreams you are going after there is more than likely a formula to achieve it. Now depending on your goals, that formula will look very different. However, the overall formula might look something like this: Effort X Skill X Determination + Opportunity=Personal Achievement Rate. Of course there is always an exponential factor thrown in there—you!
Breaking it down even further, you can find very specific formulas for the type of goals you are achieving. That is why finding a mentor is so critical to speeding up your success rate. A mentor might have already figured out the exact formula you need to use to mirror their achievement. If their path differs from yours use their success formula as something to look at and compare yours to.
One perfect example of someone who found a formula and is living it is my little brother Jaxson. He wants to be a NHL star. So he looked at all the players he loves and admires and figured out their formulas.
It looks something like this:
Practice(X3)+ Good Teams+ Skill Level+ Determination^2 / Going where the scouts are= Play with the NHL
What does your success formula look like? Have you given it enough thought to know the pieces and where they fit? Are there certain things you need to be doing every day that you haven’t yet plugged into your equation? Somethings that I find I’m always leaving out in personal formulas are Time and Persistence. I just want it to work the first time, or faster, or be bigger and better NOW. Looking at others and estimating time tables is huge in keeping you focused and helping you keep perspective.
When it comes to life and math alike formulas make our tasks easier. So take a moment, jot down a rough idea of your success formula and start living it! Like I promised, no math involved.