How to Create a Personal Success Framework That Works for You

How often have you felt like you were playing by all the rules, but something was just off? It wasn’t working like it was “supposed” to.

You were attending the right events. Networking like you’ve learned to do.

But you weren’t getting traction? You weren’t making the impact you wanted to.

Instead of copying someone else’s roadmap, you need a framework tailored to your strengths, values, and goals.

Because success is deeply personal. What works for others may not work for you.
In this article, I’ll help you build a Personal Success Framework that fits you. And who you are.

Step 1: Define What Success Means to You

Society tells us success = money, status, and hustle. Being part of the 5 a.m. club. And that may be how you define it too.

OR, stay with me for a sec… maybe that definition lands all wrong for you.

What if success to you is about the size of the impact you’re able to have?

Or maybe it’s that you can work only 4-6 hours a day and spend the rest of the day on what gives your life it’s color and meaning – your family, your hobbies and interests, volunteer work…

Maybe it’s the size and number of vacations you can take each year.

Real success is living in alignment with your values and goals, while still fulfilling your purpose.

So, right now, take out a piece of paper (or open up a blank Word doc), and answer the following questions:

• What does success feel like to me?
• What do I want more of in my life and work?
• What do I want less of?

Step 2: Identify Your Core Strengths and Work Style

Success comes from playing to your strengths. Not a morning person? Then don’t try to get up at 5 a.m. and crank out your book or do creative, focused work… the quality will frankly suck, and your productivity will be low. There’s almost zero chance you’ll get into flow if you’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

Now… I’m not saying you can’t learn new ways of doing things or you shouldn’t put effort into building up a skillset you don’t yet have but that you know will help be successful.

You can and should learn to do what you need to do to hit your goals. But acquiring a skill is different than using your natural energy cycles to do your best work.

Because energy flow is real. Don’t try to do your creative stuff when your energy is low. And don’t try to work in isolation, if you do your best work sitting at a coffee shop where people and energy are flowing all around you.

Instead of forcing yourself into someone else’s routine, design your framework around how you naturally operate best.

Go through your typical day:

• When are you most productive? (Morning, evening, in bursts?)
• Do you thrive with structure or flexibility?
• What activities give you energy vs. drain you?

This will tell you a whole lot about how to structure your days. For example, I’m a morning person. If it gets past about 8 p.m., I’m not doing anything creative. I might do busy work or read or something, but I’m not writing or creating. I have a client, however, who’s the opposite.

She gets very stressed when she has to start her day being creative and focused at 8 or 9 a.m. But by 11 a.m., she’s on her game. So, when she’s able to, she builds her creative time around her peak energy and focus time.

Step 3: Set Clear Priorities and Boundaries

Not everything deserves your time and energy. And even if something does deserve your time and energy, you don’t have to make yourself available to it 24×7.

Especially if you do have very specific times when your creative juices flow freely and your energy levels are high (and I’ve not yet met anyone who has access to these all day every day), protect those times.

Don’t schedule administrative stuff during that time. Don’t allow anyone else to put meetings on your calendar during that time. And protect it even from family interruptions as much as possible.

The word “boundaries” sounds restrictive, but it’s exactly the opposite. When you set firm boundaries, it’s very freeing.

Someone asks you to help them with one of their priorities, but it’s during your protected time, you simply say, “I’d love to help you with that. My schedule is full for the rest of the day, but I have time at 3pm tomorrow afternoon, if that works.”

In order to set good boundaries, though, you need to know what’s important.

You’re probably familiar with this analogy, but I’m going to use it to illustrate a point about priorities and boundaries.

You have an empty jar. You have large rocks, smaller rocks, gravel, sand, and water.

If you want to fit the maximum amount into that jar, what do you have to prioritize? The big stuff, of course.

You insert the biggest rocks. Then, you drop the smaller rocks around the big rocks. Then the gravel fills in those crevices left by the irregular shapes of the rocks. Next you sprinkle sand in, filling in between the gravel. And finally, you pour water over to fill any remaining space around and between the rocks and gravel in the jar.

When you try to do it any other way, some things don’t fit.

Your success is the same. When you allow the smaller things to fill up your jar, you don’t have time for the big things. They just don’t fit.

And the big stuff is never (or should never be) only and all about career or work. For example, in order to work at peak efficiency and effectiveness… it really helps to have a strong body and mind.

Or, if you step back and think about why you want your career or business to be successful, you’ll often come back to family or impact. You’re supporting your family. You want them to have access to whatever will make them successful.

Maybe you want to have a bigger impact. If what you do helps other people do better themselves… your impact has ripples. You help your audience, who then helps their audience… and you create a bigger and bigger impact around the world.

So now, think about, and write down, the 3-5 key areas that matter most to your success.

It could be in business, but it also could be in health, family, personal development…

These areas are your big rocks, your priorities. These are where you set your boundaries first.

Say NO to distractions that don’t align with these priorities.

For example, let’s say your 3 key areas are health, family, and growing your business.

That may mean you may spend 30 minutes every day exercising, another 30 minutes cooking or choosing healthy foods. And then you may have a hard stop for work at 5 p.m. so you can spend quality time with your family or friends in the evening.

During the work day you block off 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for the things that will move the needle the most on your business or career priorities.

When you put time in your calendar to support each of these, every day, you’ll feel more successful. And you’ll likely be more successful.

As long as you hold that time. Don’t allow lesser priorities… or worse, someone else’s priority, to take those big rocks out of your jar.

And if you haven’t been prioritizing this way, you’ll be shocked at how much extra time you now have to deal with the rest of life’s tasks.

Step 4: Build Success Habits

Success isn’t about big wins — it’s about consistent daily actions.

It’s about having a morning routine that works within your strengths and values.

It’s about setting up your day to handle your big rocks.

It’s about closing your day in a way that helps you start the next day in alignment with your success.

Examples of Success Habits:

This is something I spend a lot of time helping my clients with, and it’s a topic that’s too big for a single blog. But here are some ideas for where to start.

• Create keystone habits: Like, start your day with a morning routine that has a component of meditation or gratitude, a component of movement (a walk, some yoga, whatever works for you), and at least 30 minutes on your most important task. When you consistently start your day with purpose (like having a specific morning routine), you’re telling your brain you’re ready to win the day today. This is a keystone habit – it sets you up for success the rest of the day.
• Make sure you have at least one Health habit every day: Like non-negotiable movement breaks. If you wear a Fitbit, you know you can set them to buzz every hour if you don’t have at least 250 steps during that hour.
• Career or Business Habits: Daily work that advances your career or grows your business. Like reaching out to prospects or upleveling your skillset for work… purposeful activity that moves you toward your goals.

Step 5: Track, Adjust, and Evolve

A personal success framework isn’t static — it grows with you. So you’ll want to do some regular check-ins. I recommend an evaluation every 2 weeks. What’s working well? What have you planned to do, but continuously pushed off? Why?

If something’s not working, either tweak it so it does… or lose it. Try something else.

Is there a big rock you missed? Add it in and adjust around it.

Design a Success Framework That Serves YOU

Success isn’t about fitting into someone else’s mold — it’s about designing a framework that aligns with your strengths, values, and goals.

If you stay focused on your values and goals, your big rocks, and you set up your calendar and your habits to support them… you will have created a success framework that serves YOU.

Want more ideas about how to organize yourself to tackle your priorities? Read here to make sure you’re getting things done.