Your Road Map For Success Workbook

You Can Get There From Here

John C. Maxwell

• Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781418570965
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Leadership

What is the definition of success? Some people believe it is defined through money and power. John C. Maxwell teaches that success is not something that can be acquired. Rather, it is a journey.

Maxwell reveals that success is not limited to those with big bank accounts or special abilities. Success can be achieved by anyone willing to apply a few practical principles to their daily lives.

An excellent enhancement for the book by the same name, this workbook teaches readers the keys to success and how to apply them to their everyday lives.

Week
1

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

DAY 1

The Journey Is More Fun When You Know Where You’re Going

DAY 2

The Traditional Picture of Success

DAY 3

The Right Picture of Success

DAY 4

Potential and Investment

DAY 5

Take the Journey

PRINCIPAL QUESTIONS

DAY 1: How do I make decisions?

DAY 2: How do I define success?

DAY 3: What is my purpose?

DAY 4: What am I doing to grow toward my potential and invest in others?

DAY 5: Am I leading my own journey, or following someone else’s path?

DAY 1

THE JOURNEY IS MORE FUN WHEN YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING

Several years ago, as I was thumbing through Success magazine, I came across a study that Gallup did on what people thought it meant to be a success. That appealed to me because I’ve always been interested in helping others to become successful, and I wanted to know what Gallup had gleaned. Their answers fell into twelve categories, but the number one answer was “good health.” Fifty-eight percent of the people identified that with success over anything else. I don’t know about you, but I value good health—and after my heart attack I value it even more. But if I had only good health and nothing else, I don’t know that I would label myself “successful.”

I’ve discovered that people often find it hard to define success. But if you don’t know what success is, how will you ever achieve it? That’s why I want to help you identify a definition of success that will work for you.

Let me begin this week by telling you a story. A few years ago, I stood before the seventy-four employees of INJOY—the organization I founded in 1985—and prepared to tell them some news that I knew would be exciting to some and discouraging to others. I was going to tell them that in a year’s time, we would be moving the company from San Diego, California, to Atlanta, Georgia.

My friend Dick Peterson, INJOY’s president at the time, and I had been talking about the possibility of moving the company for about six months. It had begun as a casual “what if . . .” conversation, but then we started giving it more serious thought. We weighed the advantages and asked our director of finance to run some numbers. We talked about the opportunities that such a move would bring. And finally, we determined that moving to Atlanta made sense professionally, logistically, and economically. We knew that if we wanted to go to a new level in our growth and development, not only as a company but also as individuals, we needed to make the change.

As we made the announcement, our concern was for the people on the INJOY team, and I saw a whole range of reactions to the news. Some looked shocked. Others looked as if they had been punched in the stomach. From our managers I saw relief: they had been keeping their knowledge of the move secret for weeks.

For fifty minutes, Dick Peterson and I explained all of our reasons for the move, gave them stats and information on Atlanta, and showed them a video from the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. And we told them that anyone who was willing to go to Atlanta would have a job when he or she got there. Then we introduced two people who had flown in from Atlanta’s top real-estate agency to answer questions.

We weren’t sure what kind of reaction we would get from our staff. We were proposing a major move that would radically change their lives. What a surprise it was when more than 90 percent of the team said they would move or at least consider moving to Atlanta! They were willing to take the trip.

What would it take for you to pick up and move to a new city?

[Your Response Here]

How do we make choices? What factors into our daily and big-picture decisions? A majority of the time it’s the idea that where we are going is going to be better than where we are right now. There has to be a reward for taking the chance or making the trip.

How does a recent decision you’ve made relate to the desire to be successful?

[Your Response Here]

TAKE ACTION

Ask three people to define success. It’s best if you can do this one-on-one rather than in a group setting. I suggest asking people with different roles—one person could be your boss or a coworker, another could be a friend, and another could be a relative. Jot down a few notes about each person’s ideas about success. Look at how their responses are similar and how they differ. Finally, write out your own definition of success based on your experiences, relationships, and other influences.

SUCCESS IS

[Your Response Here]

DAY 2

THE TRADITIONAL PICTURE OF SUCCESS

I believe that we make many of our decisions because we are striving to be successful. Each of us has a picture in mind of what we want our career to look like, our family to look like, and yes, from an early age we often conjure up images of the houses, cars, and things we would like to obtain. In many persons’ minds, success is something way off in the distance that they will run themselves ragged to get to—if they ever get to it.

The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can’t achieve success. The main obstacle for them is that they misunderstand success. Maltbie D. Babcock said, “One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic, something or other which we do not possess.”

What does success look like?

[Your Response Here]

What would you be able to do as a successful person?

[Your Response Here]

Most people have a vague picture of what it means to be a successful person. It looks something like this:

the wealth of Bill Gates

the physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger (or Cindy Crawford)

the intelligence of Albert Einstein

the athletic ability of Michael Jordan

the business prowess of Donald Trump

the social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy

the imagination of Walt Disney

the heart of Mother Teresa

That sounds absurd, but it’s closer to the truth than we would like to admit.

Describe a time when you tried to act, dress, or talk like someone else. How did people respond to you? How did you feel about yourself? How long...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Introduction
• Week 1: What Is Success?
• Week 2: Where Would I Like to Go?
• Week 3: How Far Can I Go?
• Week 4: How Do I Get There from Here?
• Week 5: What Should I Pack In My Suitcase?
• Week 6: How Do I Handle the Detours?
• Week 7: Are We There Yet?
• Week 8: Is It a Family Trip?
• Week 9: Who Else Should I Take With Me?
• Week 10: What Should We Do Along the Way?
• Notes
• About the Author
• My Road Map for Success