We All Start at the Bottom

The secret is that every one who is at the top was once at the bottom. All the top performers started their career just like you, from the bottom. This means that if you learn and do what other successful people have done then you can be a success too.

Just because you are struggling today does not mean that things will not change. There are thousands of immigrants and international students who have a successful career and if you follow their lead then you will be successful. But the question is how.

1. Set Clear Goals: Know what you want

Setting up goals is the master skill. Your goals will determine your level and speed of your success. In absence of goals there is no success. If you are an immigrant or an international student one of your goals must be to find a job and have a career. You must set it as goal and work towards it. Its not going to happen on its own.

Lets set a goal "I am going to be a staff accountant in a public accounting firm. My career path is going to be Staff Accountant> Senior Staff Accountant> Manager> Senior Manager> Partner."

2. Identify What's Lacking: Which Skills Do You Need

In order to reach your goal you need to now identify that what's holding me back from achieving my goal. Its usually one or two critical skills that you need to learn in order to achieve your goal. As you learn these skills you start to move towards your goal and success.

In order to be a staff accountant you need the below skill set:

• Education: Bachelor/Master/Diploma in accounting field.

• Communication: Have moderate to excellent communication skills both verbal and written.

• Skills: Bookkeeping, Year-end, Personal & Corporate tax

• Software: QuickBooks, Caseware & Tax Prep

• Resume: A resume with right keywords and experience

3. Make a Plan: Use Calendar

Success is a process, its a science and it takes time and hard work. Once you have set a goal and identified the limiting factor, it is now time to learn the skills that you lack. Find a professional training course that can teach you the skills that you lack. Avoid the college courses as they only teach theory and not the practical side of things. You do not need a certificate, what you need is the practical knowledge.

Learning is a difficult process. It takes energy, time and money. You have to be willing to put in the hours in order to learn. You must disciplined yourself and do what is right and not what you feel like doing. The best way is to use a calendar to block time for the learning and every day practice the material that is provided to you. You target is to master it and remember :practice makes a man perfect.

4. Get the Motivation: Rewrite Your Goals Every Morning and Evening

There are no short cuts on the road to success. It is a long and grilling process. You will need motivation to keep at it long enough so that you are successful. There is only one kind of motivation and its called self motivation. You must motivate yourself. No one else is coming to motivate you.

Imagine your goal and the success that the achievement of this goal will bring in your life every morning and before going to bed. Write your goals every morning on a piece of paper & imagine the kind of home, car, bank balance, relationships, charity and travel that you will be able to have. If you do this every morning then this will provide you the motivation needed to keep going.

5. Be Positive: Think About Goal

You need to think about your goals all the time and not your problems. You problems will go away once you have achieved your goals. Do not let the negativity take you over. If you fell behind or make a mistake, just learn from it and move forward. No matter what the odds are you have a goal to achieve and no matter what it takes you will keep at it until its achieved.