Stacking the Odds in Your Favour to Achieve What You Want

When there is something you want to achieve in your life or a change you want to make, the outcome is rarely guaranteed. 

So one of the most useful questions you can ask yourself is this: 

How do I stack the odds in my favour of making this happen successfully?

 

Use your answer to that question to shape a plan that gives you the best possible chance of achieving what you want. And keep coming back to it because as you move forward, things change and evolve. What you need at the start is often different from what you need further down the path. 

To help you get started, here are some practical ways to stack the odds in your favour with anything you want to achieve: 

1. Identify the steps that will take you from where you are now to where you want to be. Turn those steps into a plan. Review it regularly and adjust as you go.

2. Identify the reserves you will need to support you. This could be financial reserves, time, energy, or capacity. Be realistic about what is required.

3. Create contingency plans. Things don’t always go to plan. Think ahead about what you will do if something doesn’t work out as expected.

4. Identify the support you need and put it in place early. Don’t wait until you are struggling.

5. Identify what you need to learn. If you are doing something new, there will be a learning curve. Look for ways to shorten it.

6. Do your research. Other people will have done something similar. Learn from what worked, what didn’t, and what to avoid.

7. Take a look in the mirror. You can have the best plan in the world, but you are the one who has to make it happen. How you show up, your behaviours, and emotional responses will all influence the outcome (heavily!)

8. Identify what could get in the way. Be honest about it and decide in advance how you will handle it.

9. Be clear on what needs to change to give you a clear path forward. What do you need to start doing, do more of, stop doing, or do less of? 

10. Set boundaries that protect your progress.

Think about something you want to achieve or a change you want to make. Then ask yourself:

How do I stack the odds in my favour of making this happen successfully?

Use your answers, along with the points above, to set yourself up to succeed.

Because while nothing is guaranteed, you can definitely stack the odds in your favour.