Tony Williamson

'Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.'

- Abraham Lincoln

Some decades ago, the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association recom-mended a formula for success in one's chosen career. Over the years, thousands of persons inside and outside of the life insurance profession have used this formula to achieve success, not only in their careers, but also in life as a whole. The formula is described in an acronym called DOME.

DOME stands for:

Diagnosis

Objectives

Methods

Evaluation.

These four areas of engagement, if properly understood and appro-priated, can propel you to success in your career, family life, spiritual life, health, finances or just about any area you choose at whatever age you are. In this article, we shall use career goals to explain the DOME. Space constraints will only permit me to analyse diagnosis. I shall consider objectives, methods and evaluation in subsequent articles.

DIAGNOSIS

In order to properly start the process of the realisation of your goals and dreams, it is necessary to ask yourself, "What is my situation now?" This is called diagnosis. Doctors know that proper diagnosis is indispensable to successful treatment. Similarly, you must know where you are in order to better know where you ought to go, and how you are going to get there.

Many persons in life have never taken an inventory of where they are now on the road of life. When they do, many realise that they are nowhere near where they want to be, as time rushes by leaving them staring blankly into the future like a cow at a new gate.

So, what about you? Are you where you want to be in life? Have you analysed your present situation? If not, let's do so now. Get a sheet of paper and write down the answers to these questions that you must now ask yourself: Am I where I plan to be in my career? Am I satisfied with my progress? Have I done the appropriate studies? Am I satisfied with my income? Where do I plan to be in five years' time?

For your family life, you could ask questions like these: Am I spending time with my children? Is my love life fulfilling? Am I carrying resentment towards my spouse? Are we as a family realising our goals - financial, spiritual, health?

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

To assist you in the diagnosis, do a personal SWOT analysis and write your findings down on paper. What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What opportunities lie before me? Are there any threats to the success of my career? Be brutally frank with your answers. When you identify weaknesses or threats, write out a plan to deal with them. Get professional advice if you need it.

Here is something important to know: Most successful people do not spend their time trying to improve their weaknesses. They concentrate on maximising their strengths. They find a way to cope with their weaknesses, but they work assiduously on their strengths. If you find physics or mathematics difficult, there's little point studying to be a rocket scientist. You may, however, have tremendous persuasion skills that might make you an excellent lawyer.

As far as strengths are concerned, write these out as they come to mind. Then go back over the strengths and prioritise them: No. 1 being the strongest, No. 2 the next strongest, and so on. Now attach to each a plan to make your strengths even better, or to utilise them more. For example, if a strength is leadership, secure some books on leadership and read them. Then offer yourself in leadership - to mentor someone, to teach a class, to lead a weekend trip to Cuba.

What opportunities can your strengths take advantage of? Do you have a good command of spoken English? Is your voice pleasant? Then look at radio or television that might maximise these strengths and multiply your income.

And what threats would hinder you? Identify them first, then plan to go around them, over them or tunnel under them. Where there is a will, there's a way.

Tackling weaknesses

Where your weaknesses are concerned, make a note of them, but do not be overly preoccupied with them unless such weaknesses involve antisocial behaviour or character flaws. In these cases, seek professional help and counselling. But if you are not very good at skydiving, perhaps baking or floral arranging is where your talent is. You can certainly make additional income from baking and selling cakes.

When this diagnosis is complete, you must have a written document setting out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Only then are you ready for the next three stages.