First, congratulations. You made it. You wrote that book. Asked that girl or boy out. Got the promotion. Maybe landed your first head coaching position. Started a new business. I know you have worked hard to achieve that goal, congratulations. Enjoy this moment because now it is time to work if you really want to stay on top.

We spend so much time working toward a goal that we forget to plan for what life will be like after we achieve that dream. And too many times we end up not sustaining our success. It’s not our talent that changes. Our talent got us to the top, it is being ignorant of the work needed once we make it to the top that brings us back down.  Let’s look at how we can prepare for that work.

Evaluate Your Goals

Transitions are a great time to reflect and analyze your goals. This is not easy, though. Achieving a goal is a clear mark for you to reach, but what do you want to do now? Do you want to sell 100,000 copies of your music? Do you want to be CEO of the company? Do you want to win a state title? By articulating what your goals look like it will help with the next step.

Create New Habits

A clear goal allows you to create a new plan and with a new plan comes new habits. This doesn’t mean your whole life changes, but to stay successful after reaching your goal demands you to create habits to sustain that success. With new goals in mind, you can see what it will take to achieve those goals. The new habits you will need to set become clear. But, you and I know that creating new habits is hard. That is why the third idea is so important.

Find Your Motivation (understand your why)

Hopefully, you understood why you worked so hard to accomplish your goal, but in the days, weeks, even years it takes to achieve a goal you can lose sight of the deeper reasons you set out on this journey. Rewriting your goals will help. Goals bring back a focus to your why. But rewriting your goals may not be enough. And honestly, if you find it hard to set new goals connected to sustaining your success, you may have forgotten why you wanted to reach the goal in the first place. It happens. Success is hard work and you can get lost in the grind.
If you are finding it hard to set new goals, or unsure what to do know that you are at the top, there are a few things to help find your why.  First, enjoy the moment. Recharge. Success takes energy. You will find it easier to make the transition from reaching the goal to maintain that success when your energy level is back. Second, be honest with yourself. Evaluate (with your goals in mind) what you want to do next. Sometimes reaching a goal takes so much time that you have changed. If you decide to strive after another goal, that is awesome. But if you want to now take this dream to the next level, be honest, it’s now time to work. You will need to remember why you are doing this, set new goals to achieve, and create new habits to stay on top.

Bio: Jamey Boelhower is a husband and a father of six. He is currently an Instructional Coach and an adjunct professor for Central Community College, Nebraska. You can read his regular blog “It Is All Connected” by clicking here. And you can follow him on twitter at @jdog90