Concentrate and Raise Your Game

Believe it or not, in order to succeed, you have to know what game you are playing, how to play it, strategise, concentrate on the finer points and how to control the game and aim for your goals. You cannot afford to be bothered by all the other distractions, your housemate's bad habits and constant complaining, politics, your family problems and their insistence to bother you with it (unless it's serious illness) and other distractions that other people impose on you or you make yourself.

If your competitors are winning, you must not be disheartened and start finding out the winning formula, either by observing your competitors behaviour or how they had won. You need to find out your strengths and work on improving them. At the same time, recognising your weaknesses and deal with them, step by step.

Map out your long-term goals, at least in the next 5 years. Find out how much work it takes to get there and break into manageable pieces and translate into short-term goals or even better, everyday actions that will work towards achieving your long-term goals. So, if you want to be in the Champion's League of Designers, say winning an award with PAM or working with Norman Foster in the UK, you start preparing now. You have nothing to lose.

The only thing is to concentrate and raise your game to another level. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity.