You’ve resolved that the skills and characteristics of grit, determination, persistence, perseverance, drive, and resilience are key ingredients to success by any definition of the word.

So what’s next in the list of universal ingredients to success?

Grace, competence, financial literacy, curiosity, effective communication, and good old fashioned showing up!

So what’s step one on the road to writing your own, authentic success story? Step one is to work on you. To understand your own needs and desires. To build a one-size-fits-you roadmap for your future. To create a customized vision statement that’s based on the definition of your desired future state.

When purpose and vision are not clear, the status quo becomes a warm, comfortable blanket to snuggle up in. It takes discipline to get to where you want to go. When you take a look around at the “successful” people in your life, I’d put all the money in my pocket on the bet that they all share the skill of discipline.