The end game
Given that it’s easy to lose sight of the end game when building the future brick by brick, let’s begin by restating the core principles. Beyond the many contextual meanings of success, there is a universal one: a better life.
For social creatures like humans, better life is made of better treatment.
Anything that brings us closer to better treatment, from achievements to improved peopling, has a value. Closing a deal, getting a promotion, or other forms of smaller successes bring value by raising quality of life through respect, allowances, better social position, money to follow passion, and connections to build something that matters. They are tools that move us one step closer to the ultimate success.
Professional goals have a crucial role in this process by bringing together and pushing the resources toward a definite direction. They channel and optimize efforts, generate skills and build knowledge. Working to achieve goals improves multiple areas directly and indirectly, and delivers transferable assets that serve people for years, sometimes for life.
That’s why business, career, or sport goals are so valuable: they pull people upward.
The first steps
Success is built from a series of well-defined steps, including milestones and the steps between milestones. For some, milestones form naturally because their definition of success is tied to a clear role or title. In their case, the official career ladder serves as a roadmap. The danger of this title-driven approach is that it usually doesn’t include a plan for “what’s after that.” Depression after completion follows for many when the goal that once brought meaning to their lives is gone.
As mentioned, all these wins are just tools to achieve what the game is really about: a better life, and need to be treated as such. This means that a strategy has to be set up for how they will actually improve life quality. There’s no point in becoming a world leader if one still can’t go on vacation, can’t invest in their health, or doesn’t have the freedom to choose and keep the people they want around them.
For those whose definition of success is not tied to winning a specific title or role, the steps are initially less clear and often need to be defined intentionally. This means sitting down and actually devising a plan—probably many of them, many times—because a good plan evolves as opportunities arise. On the upside, they have a slightly lower tendency to lose sight of the end game.
Note that not all steps set out in the plan will be, or need to be, achieved along the way. Sometimes working toward the goal already delivers what was needed; in other cases, winning doesn’t deliver what was expected.
While the details of a plan are personal to everyone, they are made up of universal stages that inherently follow each other.
Stage #1 – A personal definition of success with numbers
Foggy ideas don’t point toward actionable steps. “I want to live comfortably” does not tell what to do next to get there. A clear definition of success is essential. Success needs to be described with exact details, numbers, places, and treatment. Otherwise, the image will be too vague and the drive too low to kick-start the journey.
Let’s start with a foggy image. Say success for a person means making a comfortable living from their business with about four hours of work per day, spending the cold months in a holiday house somewhere south, eating out regularly, and having a solid friend group around them that makes them feel part of something. As specific as this might sound, it is still too vague.
Without numbers, places, and treatment, it’s just a daydream.
A dream starts to become a walkable path only when one puts a price tag on it. So how much money and personal effort does it require to get there?
1. Financial components
Turning that foggy image into something tangible means taking current spending plus the things the person currently can’t afford, combined with the cost of the home they want to live in. All of this needs to be researched based on the target location and added together to get a realistic monthly financial need.
Let’s say it comes to around 20K per month in Western countries (currency is irrelevant in this context). In addition, one might need 250K to buy a holiday house on a riviera (or another purchase format, such as leasing or shared ownership). These numbers must come from researching locations, size, and lifestyle costs. Let’s say the final numbers land at roughly 300K per year plus 250K in savings.
That’s no longer a foggy dream, that’s a goal.
2. Human components
Money buys comfort, food, and time, but treatment—which defines most of our lived experience—is delivered by people.
Human components include the communities a person wants to belong to, their own social standing, and the trust and intimacy they have in close relationships. These goals must be just as specific as financial ones. Wanting to be “loved” or “trusted” is too vague; it doesn’t guide behavior or partner-selection criteria.
A concrete goal looks like this: when they go home, they want to see a smiling face greeting them regardless of how late they arrive, because their partner knows they were doing their best. Or they want a business partnership where partners have a 24-hour response time, provide considerate feedback on all questions posted, and pay or deliver according to contract without reminders.
These are clear people goals that define what to look for and what to let go.
Stage #2 – Creating the action plan
Once the goals are outlined with numbers, places, and treatment (all of which may change along the way), brainstorming can begin on how to realize those numbers. For example, with a goal of 20K monthly income, one needs to strategize earning channels, as salaried roles reach that level mostly in certain sectors and/or specific roles, such as niche experts or mid-level managers and above.
If those don’t resonate, one might consider moving toward other working frameworks, shifting target audiences and change offers several times to optimize rates. From there, they might start building the basics of their own business capable of delivering the desired income. Property goals usually require separate income streams, such as investments, passive income, or parallel ventures.
Mapping these paths isn’t a one-afternoon exercise. It requires insider stories, peer discussions, observing competitors, understanding logistics, and separating real success from social media illusion. AI tools and forums like Reddit can help, but personal judgment is still necessary.
This is also the stage where people skills become critical.
Every step happens with, through, and because of people.
They have their own agendas and ways of doing things, so staying intact during many interactions is essential. This is where the definition of ideal partners, business behavior, and personal treatment becomes invaluable. If human dynamics fall apart, the journey becomes full of unnecessary conflict, and depletion is likely to set in before success is reached.
The two core peopling areas:
1. Channels for making connections
Random networking wastes energy and fills one’s book with low-quality connections. The idea that “they might know someone” usually fails because people only put forward those they trust, and trust is built through genuine exchange. An insincere approach is quickly recognized, keeping doors closed. It’s better to target like-minded communities where one can naturally interact. This is especially important in niche fields or higher segments, which rely on tight, trusted circles.
2. The way of approaching people
There are lighter and heavier layers to how to do actual peopling. The lighter layer is communication skills for networking, often copied from our environment and relatively easy to adjust. Cultural context matters greatly, though. What works in one setting can offend in another. Broad cultural cues help (industry background, religion, geographic origin, social class, etc.), but what a person associates themselves with matters even more. This makes openness and flexibility key.
The heavier layer involves invisible human dynamics that largely remain unrecognized by most people involved in an interaction: power imbalances, fear responses, preconceptions, and many others. These are harder to navigate because pointing them out is typically considered an insult, yet ignoring them keeps the discussion superficial, while reacting instinctively can damage the relationship. Awareness and smart peopling are essentials to build trust and open doors.
Stage #3 – Gathering resources for execution
When the path is clear, the final step is gathering resources for execution. Life is busy, and most resources, including time, passion, and mental space, are split between daily survival and long-term building. To move forward with future plans, life often needs restructuring.
This includes letting go of unnecessary responsibilities, stepping out of unhealthy relationships, and refusing allowances. These changes almost always require careful planning, because those who benefit from the current setup will resist letting it go. Nevertheless, reclaiming resources is a necessary measure to proceed with future plans.
Carving out space for business or personal progression is an art in itself. Activities and relationships must be reprioritized in favor of the future without abandoning the present as people have ongoing needs for belonging, nourishment, and rest. Working like a dog while neglecting other areas of life leads to depletion and eventual collapse, which can delay progress for years, or destroy it entirely.
Some reach the top only to collapse there because they confused success with material achievement alone, while every other meaningful aspect of life deteriorated along the way. Comeback is possible for them as well, but adapting a wider approach to success earlier is the most sensible way to reach what the goal was in the first place: a better life.
Summary
Accomplishments in life add value by creating improved situations and prompting better treatment. Progress toward them is rarely easy, everyone wins and loses battles along the way, and direction may change multiple times. But the ultimate goal remains the same: reaching a point where life feels: they’ve made it.
