I Want! I Do! I Get!

There's a great song out there by Jimmy Cliff, one of reggae's top artists, that in six words summarizes just how you succeed in life:I want! I do! I get!

These six words are a very powerful way of connecting what you want with what you will achieve.

First comes wanting something—a better life for yourself, your family, more money, a better job, whatever it is you dream about and long for. You desire it, you dream about it, you daydream about it, you yearn for it. But that's not enough.

Next and this the part too many people forget about—comes the doing. All of the wanting in the world is not going to move you one inch closer to what you want: you have to do. You have to find a better job, change jobs, take risks, write software, try new things, stop doing old things, go to college, work, act, do. The doing is the absolutely indispensable connection between what you want and what you get.

Finally, if you keep doing what needs to be done, if you keep adjusting what you do to move you closer to what you want, you get. Maybe not easily, maybe not as quickly as movies and television portray, but it will come.

One final philosophical note about these six words: notice that "I" is three of them? Not what others want, not what others say you are "supposed" or "should" do. What's more, no one is going to do it for you. You are the key to making these six words work.