A person’s thoughts are truly incredible, and we should all strive towards creating a tenacious memory we are able to rely on.
Many lucrative professions or hobbies require such a trait—actors, musicians, artists and entertainers in general do countless drills, just so the required information can be embedded in the memory with certainty. Clearly numerous doors that create an efficient future are unlocked if one has a great memory. Although beneficial, it is not an essential ingredient within the success formula—what you lack in memory can always be compensated with diligence.
Monitoring crucial elements in your life through list-making is still an unrivaled tactic for counterbalancing feeble recollection. By utilizing constant reminders, we can have significantly greater organization, we won’t be under the impression we have forgotten something, and we will have a clear insight into which task has a stamp of immediacy attached to it. Here are ten suggested lists that warrant implementation, in order to track achievements and nurture ambition.
1. List of Goals
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
—Zig Ziglar
Goals and ambition is what drives us and motivates us, but we really need ask ourselves what is it that we want in order to feel truly accomplished. Your list of goals should involves all the stuff that you deem are necessary to truly respect yourself. It can be financial stability, a place you can call your own, starting your family, being independent, etc. People have different criteria when it comes to goals, and this list especially is ever-growing; it changes as you mature, but it always feels great when you cross something out of it. Without such a list, you lose direction of where your life is heading, and we all need some inner guidance to focus on—a absolutely understandable reasons to get up in the morning.
2. List of Tasks
“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction which comes following the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our greatest.”
—Theodore Isaac Rubin
Tasks are in fact milestones on the way to goal completion, and these lists have a tendency to become quite copious. New tasks emerge on a daily basis, no matter whether you are a staff member, a student, or a freelancer. Even though they are arduous, we always have some sense of achievement once the task is complete, or when a certain problem is solved. By avoiding to make such lists and lists of our daily tasks, they’ll simply pile up and eventually become a hindrance.
Just in case you have larger tasks that need more than a day, a week or a month untill they can be completed, then break those tasks into smaller daily assignments, and put them on the list as well. As long as you monitor larger tasks while completing minor daily milestones, you’ll have a greater grip on progression and continuous source of motivation. List and sticky notes are in fact quite potent tools for rise in productivity, especially while we are working at home.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning you should also have a list of personal tasks, or tasks you do for the benefit of self-fulfillment.
These are related to your individual goals, and governing passions—writing a book, painting, crafting etc. These tasks will define you and offer a much greater sense of achievement, so give it your all to create something you can be proud of.
3. List of Contacts
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.”
—Aristotle
It would be delusional to assume you can make it all on your own; however, simultaneously, a flawed partnership can result in disastrous outcome as well. This can be very difficult to find compatible allies and contacts, since friends and family—in other words, people close to you—may not be the best choice for a business partner. If you would like to enter into a partnership with someone, make sure the person shares the same vision.
Tread lightly and try to check your potential partner’s level of reliability.
Throughout life, we come across skillful, capable and talented people, whose competence might be needed in the future, depending on your line of work of course. Do not be hesitant to offer a bit of support when they are in need, since you can gain a valuable contact. The idea being: make a special list of all important contacts, like reliable programmers, handymen, lawyers, etc. Don’t only contact when you are in need. You need to maintain a healthy and natural relationship and be there for those people if they require your assistance. In reality, it can be arduous to forge strong friendship bonds, but having important acquaintances and achieving a necessary acquaintance is very much possible.
Without such a list, you are leaving yourself sensitive to possible future complications; moreover, make sure this list is well-kept since once you lose a contact like this one, it can be somewhat troublesome to recover such data. Just be sure you have recovery data tools for your use to mitigate the damage if something were to happen to you smartphone.
4. List of Expenses
“A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart.”
—Jonathan Swift
This may be a quite mundane piece of advice, yet it is very often neglected. We are all aware, there are a couple of types of expenses: those that are required, (bills, taxes, food) and people expenditures used for indulging some personal cravings. There’s a degree of restraint that the majority of us lack in order to approach the matter with a satisfying level of prudence. To say it bluntly, we treat our wants like our needs, and necessities and primary obligations are pushed in the background. Of course, this may sound a bit exaggerated, but the truth is the pressure of a consumer’s culture eventually becomes overwhelming, resulting in a purchase we shouldn’t be able to afford at the time. This kind of behavior can be avoided by utilizing lists, and turning them into an omnipresent reminder of what is truly important.
By making lists of all the monthly expenses we are obligated to pay, we’ll have a clear overview with how much resources are there at our disposal. On the other hand, without this list filled with meticulous calculations, we are prone to believing that we have more freedom to engage in a shopping spree, ultimately causing our bills to pile up; thus, we finish up a step closer towards an economic suicide. Handling finances properly, or the fact that we prioritize the costs of living, is a responsibility that signifies maturity. Success is commonly measured by the amount of wealth and without adequate spending tactics, you prevent its accumulation.
5. List of Useful Tools
“If you’re the type of person who has to fulfill your dreams, you’ve got to be resourceful to make sure you can do it.”
—Vin Diesel
Today’s society vastly depends on the use of technology—we exchange information, conduct calculations, measure time, etc. This level of reliability also suggests liability. If something were to happen to our cell phone or personal computer, it would be a sizable setback that could harm our capabilities severely. As mentioned, losing contacts can truly be troublesome. It is even worse however, to have your life’s work lost and compromised.
Useful tools are not only limited to recovering damage; they also encompass tools that make your job easier. With efficiency and a greater level of competence, you are a step closer toward success.
Using the right apps and tools can make up for our lack of skills in a particular area, or simply help us manage our work in a more timely manner. Keeping a list of useful tools will come in handy whenever you are faced with more common problems, like finding a good restaurant for a business dinner, driving through unfamiliar terrain, task management, learning, and there are even tools capable of helping you recover stolen property.
Although the list is not as crucial as the ones mentioned so far, it is undeniable that having it can save you a lot of time if the need for it ever arises. The web is a vast sea of both useful and useless tools, and by removing those that are irrelevant, you won’t have to conduct countless searches when you are in need of adequate tools for problem solving.
6. List of Self Improvements
“The minute that you’re not learning I believe you’re dead.”
—Jack Nicholson
Reasonable to assume this one is unavoidable, and it always deserves to be mentioned. It is safe to assume we are all aware of our shortcomings; if not all of them at least some of them. Think about yourself, make a list of almost everything you would like to improve or change, then consider how to implement those changes. Despite the fact that those who are close to you do not pressure you into changing or improving, you should always make constant endeavours to do so, for your own sake.
The list of improvements should consist of physical changes, changes spiritual in nature, abandoning bad habits etc. No one expects you to change entirely in a short time period, but making a decision to change one thing on a yearly basis is a viable resolution, quite easy to execute. The list is there simply to remind you which improvement to prioritize, and build up your confidence after each completion. Refusing to change can either result in lack of confidence and depression, or becoming an overconfident and self-absorbed person that no one will tolerate for long; both of these traits are contradictory to your quest for a successful future.
7. List of Creative Ideas
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
—Waldo Emerson
Throughout history, people who made the most important influence on the world were those with a revolutionary mind-set, those who dared to challenge the established order.For an idea to be classified as creative, it needs to be new, it needs in order to make sense, and it needs to have some sort of use. For instance, creating something to help the disabled communicate online, or simply type—that way, people with lost their limbs could blog or become creative writers, and show the world a piece of their mind. Thus a keyboard in a form of braces could enable them to type using their tongue; however I am not an engineer, so I have no idea whether something similar to you could do.
Whenever a new idea comes to your mind write it down, then browse the web to see if you indeed have became aware of something ground-breaking. Once your list has grown, then you need to start pondering on the subject to see whether it holds closer scrutiny. Seek a second opinion and see what you would need to understand your idea. In a majority of cases, this is how successful people are created. Rest assured that it is very possible that people won’t be impressed with your creativity as much as you are, but do not allow yourself to be discouraged—after all, perseverance has a crucial role in a career too. Monitoring your thoughts incites productive thinking and hones your focus; it keeps our mind occupied. Letting your excellent ideas slide is only a wasted potential that will put your progress in a halt.
8. List of Future Plans
“The future is uncertain but the end is always near.”
―Jim Morrison
We have all heard statements like “Tomorrow is a mystery,” “Live for today,” and “You can’t affect the future.” Personally, I heavily disagree with such a point of view. Although I do agree that, especially circumstances, planning for the future is doing Sisyphus work, not planning it at all seems utterly mortifying. I also believe that everyone makes some kind of plan; the problem is this fear of uncertainty that thwarts our will to do something.
To make your resolve more adamant, compile a list of your future plans, see what you need in order to make them come true. This one is very similar to the first list—the one with goals; the difference is, it does not have to involve your personal future.
Rather, it is list of upcoming important events, important changes in law, or upcoming trends, useful software, etc. It will keep you well-informed and prepared, since staying updated and relevant are essential virtues for lucrative businessmen.
9. List of Contingency Plans
“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.”
—Denzel Washington
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, meaning there is nothing you can do without consequences. Every plan to succeed more usually has a set of barriers attached to it, or risks.
Although risks are inevitable, for the aftermath is always a good and necessary thing. Whenever you make your business incentives, or when you plan to invest in something, make sure you compose a thorough pros and cons list, as well as a list of possible negative scenarios. In the event that positive aspects outweigh the negative ones, you can be more encouraged to proceed further.
Make an effort to be constantly prepared for the backlash of major initiatives, and contain the possible damage. The absence of contingency implies recklessness, and it was adamantly made clear how this approach contradicts advancement. Make leaps of faith unless you decide to have no other options to explore.
10. Bucket List
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone.”
—Harriet Beecher Stowe
Finally, learn how to live for the sake of experiencing what life has to offer. It is invigorating, to say the least, and it keeps your regrets at minimum.
A primary reason why we want to be successful is to actually fulfil our dreams or complete our bucket list, to look back on our life during old age with a warm smile instead of a frown. Feel free to put even the impossible things on your bucket list, and find the next best thing using your creativity.
Everytime you reach a rough patch in your life, take a look at you bucket list and see what is the most plausible action to take in order to restore your will power and keep going.
