When you want to drink tea, then no matter which variety that you decide to make, you will always need water, a pot, and heat. If you lack any one of these, there will be no tea.
Likewise, when you choose one of the many paths that lead to buddhahood, you will always need renunciation, bodhicitta and right view. If you lack any one of these, you will not become a buddha.
~ Chamtrul Rinpoche
Renunciation is the determination to be free from samsara (samsara refers to uncontrollably recurring rebirth).
Bodhicitta is the compassionate wish to attain the enlightened state of a buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Right view is the right understanding of the reality of emptiness (emptiness refers to the lack of inherent existence of self and of all phenomena).