How to Get What You Want (Without Drifting Through Another Year)

What makes people truly stand out? How do you rise to the top of your field or become a respected expert? Success of this magnitude starts with knowing exactly what you want and how to get it. In this episode, we take a deep dive into chapter eight of the book Lead the Field, which teaches that success is not an event, a title, or a destination. Instead, success results from having a clear philosophy, a healthy attitude, a worthy goal, and the discipline to grow into the person capable of achieving it. We’ll talk about how to create your own success, both in the new year and beyond.

Do you actually know what you want?

Many people are successful on paper but unclear in practice. They are doing a lot, but not necessarily moving forward. Answering this question honestly will help you gain clarity, which is necessary if you want to change. This practice forces clarity. And clarity always precedes change.

Q: If someone asked you to define “success” in one sentence, what would you say—without using status, income, or titles? Where in your life do you feel movement without direction—busy but not progressing? What is one area where you know you’re settling for comfort instead of pursuing clarity?

4 Principles That Will Help You Get What You Want

Principle 1: You Do Not Drift Into What You Want

Vague goals produce vague results. Most people never define a worthy goal. They respond to whatever feels urgent. Clarity invites responsibility. Vagueness protects comfort. If you want something different in the next season, you cannot drift your way there.

Principle 2: You Get What You Want by Becoming Someone New

You do not get what you want by wishing for it. You get it by becoming the person capable of achieving it. Every new level of responsibility requires a new level of emotional maturity, communication skills, and courage. Growth was not optional. It was the price of admission. If you are going to be a different person at the end of 2026 than you are at the end of 2025, something has to change. You must grow!

Principle 3: Daily Discipline Builds the Future

Success is built quietly. It is built through daily actions that align with a clear goal. There is no defining moment where discipline suddenly appears. It is formed through repetition. The future you want is built by the habits you are willing to build today, not the ones you keep postponing.

Principle 4: Your Environment Shapes Your Direction

What you read, what you listen to, and who influences you all shape your direction. Looking back, Sean did not just give me a book. He gave me access to a different way of thinking. Your environment is either fueling your progress or quietly working against it.

Q: If all external expectations disappeared, what would you choose to pursue this year? Where have you mistaken activity for progress? What would actual progress look like instead? If you could only accomplish one meaningful outcome in the next 12 months, what must it be and why?

Looking Ahead to 2026

Before you plan another year, another initiative, or another commitment, you need clarity on three things.

1. What do you actually want?

2. Who do you need to become to earn it?

3. What are you doing daily that supports that direction?

Application Activities:

1. Use a 3x5 note card or sticky note to write down “I am becoming a person who…” and then finish the sentence with who you want to be. On the back, write down three non-negotiable daily behaviors that prove that identity. Put it in a place you can review daily and share it with a friend, spouse, or coworker to help you hold yourself accountable.

2. Make a list of everything you consumed or allowed in the last 7 days (e.g., media, voices, habits, social environments), then label each item as whether it fuels you toward your goals, pulls you back, or is truly neutral. Set a goal of removing one of the items from your life in 2026. Then try to come up with one activity you can add in the next week (e.g., a book, mastermind, podcast, workspace, schedule, connection, etc.).