Everyone, absolutely everyone, has dreams, goals, and aspirations. But why do some people achieve everything they set out to do while others seem to remain trapped in the same position year after year?
The answer is neither a stroke of luck nor a special gift. It’s not about being smarter, having more money, or access to unique opportunities. It’s about something simpler, yet effective: having a clear goal and well-defined processes.
This is the true secret to success, both in life and in business. Without a goal, you walk without direction. Without a process, you become frustrated in the attempt. And without both, you become someone who works hard but makes no progress.
Today I want to share something that has worked for me to achieve goals efficiently.
1. Be Clear About What You Want
Think about this: a ship without a course reaches no harbor, not even by luck. You can have the best vessel, an incredible team, and unlimited resources, but if you don’t have a clear sense of where to go, the destination will be uncertain and dangerous.
Goals function as the compass that guides you. They allow you to focus, measure progress, and know exactly what actions to take. But not just any goal will do.
The key is that it must be specific, measurable, and motivating. Here are some common mistakes many of us have made when thinking about goals:
- Goals that are too vague: “I want to be successful.” That sounds good but says nothing, and it’s difficult to draw up a plan with such open-ended goals.
- Goals without deadlines: “Someday I want to start a business,” “I want to learn a language.” Without a deadline, procrastination becomes inevitable.
- External goals: If your objective doesn’t come from within you, but from external pressures, it will be difficult to sustain the effort in the long term.
For me, one solution is to define SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
For example, it’s not the same to say “I’m going to improve my business” as it is to say “I’m going to increase sales by 30% in 6 months, using a performance marketing strategy.”
An objective tells you what you want to achieve, using which tools as a plan, and a timeframe to achieve it.
I recommend the blog: How to Prepare Your Team for the Challenges and Opportunities of 2025
2. Processes: The System That Leads You to Success
A goal without processes remains in the realm of ideals. You may want to increase your sales, but without customer acquisition strategies, everything will remain as good intentions.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, says: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
That is, no matter how ambitious your goal is, if you don’t have the right processes, you’ll never reach it.
How to implement effective processes:
- Break it down into actionable steps: If your goal is to launch a business in 6 months, break it down into weekly tasks (market research, audit, financial plan, marketing strategy, etc.).
- Make it part of your routine: A goal without daily habits is difficult to sustain. Create a schedule specifying how that goal fits into your day-to-day life.
- Measure and adjust constantly: Don’t cling to a plan if it’s not working. Evaluate, adjust, and improve along the way.
3. Motivation and Discipline: The Mindset to Sustain the Journey
Clear goals and effective processes are fundamental, but without the right mindset, everything falls apart.
Motivation is the impulse that makes us want to change, but discipline is what keeps us on track when the emotion fades.
How to maintain motivation and discipline:
- Visualize your success: Think about how you will grow when you achieve your goal. This reinforces your commitment.
- Surround yourself with people who uplift you: Your environment influences your mindset. Connect with people who are on a similar path or who have already achieved what you want. We cannot ignore the fact that there are negative people, and that drains energy.
- Learn to celebrate progress: Don’t wait until the end to feel progress. Every small advance is a triumph. Celebrate intermediate achievements.
4. Learn from Failures
If there’s anything certain, it’s that there will be obstacles and mistakes along the way. But they’re not the end of the world; they’re part of the process. I always tell my team: “What did we learn from this?”
Each stumble is an opportunity to learn something new.
In an article from the World Economic Forum, they recount what can be learned from Bill Gates. One of the highlighted quotes says: “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure,” something I believe in and apply.
Don’t take failures as signals to give up. Use them as data to refine your strategy.
Speaking of lessons, I recommend this blog about what I learned from Bad Bunny’s strategy
5. Commitment to Action
At the end of the day, the difference between people who achieve what they want and those who don’t is action.
You can read all the books, listen to all the podcasts, and make a thousand plans, but without action, nothing changes.
Achieving what you want is not a matter of luck; it’s the result of strategy and consistency. The key lies in the perfect combination of a well-defined goal and defined processes that lead you to it.
Have you already organized the processes to meet your goal?
Carlos Cobián.
