9 Wickedly Successful Strategies

Millions of people trudge week after week at a dreary job, drive home fretting about money, only to spend their evenings robot-walking through the usual haze of homework battles and half-finished chores. Passion and fulfillment? No; sheer survival. And the worst part is most of us have accepted this as the way it has to be. But it really doesn’t have to be that way. You can truly change your life by breaking old habits, putting real boundaries in place and tapping into your determination to find the success you desire. Moreover, you can take control over your own happiness. To achieve 'Wicked Success' here are nine strategies that can help you:

Break the feel-good addiction
Results are yielded where our focus is spent. Unfortunately, however, because we like to feel good we often find ourselves gravitating to what is easy over what is productive; majoring in minor accomplishments, wasting time surfing the Internet, watching TV, hanging out on Facebook or playing games. Here’s a news flash: There’s no real life prize for beating the game high score. While there is certainly value in and a time for entertainment, let go of the excess time-sucking distractions. The more superficial things you engage in the more superficial your life and accomplishments will be. Next time you have a break choose to take a step toward achieving one of your goals.

Stop saying 'Yes' by default
It’s a hard lesson to learn but in order to be wickedly successful you have to be willing to say 'no' to some things, including some really great things and some really great ideas. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and pulled in every direction you won’t be able to lead yourself, much less anyone else. Stop overcommitting your energy to every person or situation that demands it. You need to set your own expectations of what you want to accomplish. Don’t let your career or life take a backseat to everyone else’s. Yes, you may have responsibilities to others but you’ve also got a responsibility to yourself.

Do something productive every day
You eat a whale the same way you eat an apple – one bite at a time. Successful people understand that to accomplish any project you can’t expect to do it all at once. This is often why our New Year’s resolutions don’t work out. After a few days of no results people get discouraged and quit. Realize that you aren’t going to achieve your goals overnight and that you will have to work at it every day for a long period of time. Committing yourself to doing something big every day towards that project or goal and you’ll reach it. Keep working out regularly and slowly but surely you’ll see the results. Find something you can improve and start improving it -- one bite, one step, one day at a time.

Stop hanging out with losers
When you choose to hang around people with negative traits negative behaviors those negatives will rub off on you. Think about it this way: If you’re struggling to achieve a goal, you shouldn’t hang out with someone else who is struggling to achieve that same goal. If you want to be great at golf, you don’t hang out with a bad golfer. Successful people tend to hang out with other successful people. Stick with the winners.
Believe in your abilities
If you see yourself as powerless you will be powerless. Anytime you find yourself entertaining doubts or trying to limit what you think is possible, remind yourself of your past successes. Let them infuse you with confidence and bolster your resolve. Believing you can do it -- whatever ‘it’ is -- is 90 percent of the win. When you expand what you’re willing to believe about yourself, you can transform who you are and what your life looks like.

Don’t wait for conditions to be perfect
Along the way to becoming successful, you may have to redefine what success looks like for you. Conditions will never be perfect -- there will always be something muddying the water, even if it’s just a little. The real challenge is accepting that you have to keep on moving forward even when things aren’t perfect. Misguided perfectionism can keep you from stepping out and going for what you want. Distinguishing what does and doesn’t require perfection is a hallmark of success.

Surround yourself with successful mentors
Inept coaches don’t fail to help you -- they help you to fail. Look around you for others whose work you admire and model yourself after them instead. Get out of the rut of your own habits and take your advice from people with a proven positive track record. Far too many people shy away from accepting mentorship. Accepting the leadership of others does not make you less capable of achieving your goals; it boosts your abilities. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. And when you get good advice, don’t be too proud to follow it.

Regenerate your passion for work
Tap back into the frame of mind you had when you were just starting out. Ask yourself, ‘What can I do to become passionate about work again?’ When you take this inward look, it is entirely possible you’ll see the path ahead going in an unexpected direction. Your passion might lead you somewhere else. You’ll know passion when you’ve found it because you’ll feel amazingly engaged and energetic. Desire will become energy and you’ll have plenty of it to create your new life.

Take care of yourself first
Step back and look at your daily routine objectively. Do you need to slow down? Take a few deep breaths? Spend a few moments enjoying one day before another day crashes in with new demands? We need to give ourselves objective advice -- and listen to it. It’s about thriving, not just surviving. You should never get to be so busy taking care of everything else that you forget to take care of yourself.


There’s no reason why this can’t be your biggest, boldest, most wickedly successful year yet. But for that to happen you have to match your big goals with some real changes. You have to take on a wickedly successful mindset that doesn't accept ‘no’ or ‘I can’t’ or ‘I’m too tired’ for an answer.

Vickie Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD, is a New York Times bestselling author; owner of a $16-million business, and has placed on the Inc. list of Top 10 Entrepreneurs and Inc. Top 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies in America. www.WickedSuccess.com.