Einstein once defined insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Whenever you want to see a different result, a positive change, an improvement in your performance or realization of your goals… you have to do something different from whatever you are currently doing!

A lot of people complain about their situation, whether it’s about work, their relationship or achieving a goal. Think about a goal which you have been wanting to achieve, while you experienced no or limited success. Then, answer the following questions by writing them down on a piece of paper:

1. What is your goal? Try to describe it in one sentence for the sake of clarity towards yourself.
2. What have you been doing to achieve this goal so far?
3. Why do you feel or think you haven’t been able to reach your goal?
4. How can you revise your strategy? What can you do differently moving forward? For example, look at the people who have been successful in achieving the same goal. What did they do? Often, the same actions lead to the same results! Can you put more effort in your existing steps? Any new things you can try out?
5. Carry out this new strategy you have designed.
6. Review it a few weeks or months from now to measure its effectiveness. If the changes in results are limited, then repeat steps 1-5 as you review your strategy. If you haven’t been able to get the results you want, it just means that the strategy you have been adopting is not on-point. Keep changing it until you finally achieve the results you want!

Part of my job is to run the highly popular website of the Eurovision Song Contest, which attracts millions of people every year. By frequently looking into the site’s statistics, actively ask for feedback and look at other successful websites, we continuously try to improve the website. Sometimes that requires very small changes, such as a different font or a slightly different color. Sometimes, it requires to adapt our strategy. But every small and big change helps us to reach more people and to strengthen the brand! Life is not much different!

Photo by zoostory, blog inspired by Celestine Chua