How to be successful in life

How to Be Successful in Life: 12 Principles to Live By

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There are many different ways in which people define this loose term. To some, being successful means earning a lot of money. To others, it may describe overcoming a fear. And still, to others, it means simply achieving happiness in life.

The one thing that everyone’s definition of “success” has in common is achieving a goal of some sort. On the surface, this seems simple. But when you see people you view as very successful, do you ever wonder how they got there?

I remember being in graduate school, looking up to people who were well beyond my years who were making a huge impact in our industry. Those whose names were commonplace both in the classroom and out in the field. But I wondered what steps they had taken to get from where I was sitting to where they ended up and how I could follow that same path.

Sure, it took hard work for these people to become successful, plus probably a good bit of networking and maybe a little luck, but what are some principles or guidelines on how to be successful in life that people don’t consider quite so often? What are some of the not so obvious guidelines for achieving this elusive goal of success?

How to be successful in life

We all want to figure out how to be successful in life . Success looks different for everyone, but there is one equation you can use to achieve the results you’re after. The ultimate formula for how to be successful consists of several key principles: know your desired outcome, know what inspires you, take massive action , notice your results and adapt your approach. Here, we’ll dive deeper into this formula so you can put these principles into action and apply them to your own life.

How to be successful

Learning how to become successful is a highly personal process that you’ll need to adapt to reflect your unique values. The following strategies will bring you closer to your authentic self and the success you’re after.

1. Define success

Clarity is power. Knowing what success looks like to you is a critical component in achieving any kind of improvement. Are you looking to deepen your personal relationships? Maybe your goal is to advance your career . When you’re specific about what you want, it becomes easier to take the actionable steps to achieve it.

For instance, “I want to get a promotion” doesn’t give you a lot to build on. What role, specifically, do you want and how will obtaining that role better your life? Refine your vision to be something like, “I want to be vice president of the company within six months, making $300,000 per year.” It’s an ambitious jump, but it gives you a clear end result and something you can track your progress against along the way.

When you’re working on how to be successful in life , you must also know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals. Because when you have absolute clarity of purpose , you’ll keep that goal in mind even when it gets tough. Think about why you want that promotion – it likely has to do with financial freedom or providing for your family. Tony tells us that “Success is doing what you want, when you want, where you want, with whom you want as much as you want.” That’s a powerful purpose.

It isn’t always easy to define something as massive as your purpose in life. Use Tony’s three-part system, The Ultimate Edge , to learn how to create an extraordinary life in any environment. Tony Robbins himself coaches and entertains throughout this life-changing program. Learn that the key to success is discovering what you truly need and want in your life.

2. Adopt the right mindset

By focusing on everything that could go wrong, you’re essentially setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy. Persistent negative thoughts about yourself, like “I don’t think I can do this” or “Someone much smarter than me is better suited” are called limiting beliefs . Your energy will flow toward whatever is on your mind – so if you’re approaching a situation full of doubt and negativity, you’re likely to receive the outcome you feared .

When you focus your energy on what you don’t want, you only bring more negativity into your life. But if you clarify for yourself what you do want and train your brain to notice things that can help you make it happen, you’ll attract positivity . When a negative thought pops up, replace it with a positive one. Instead of thinking, “I’m never going to learn how to become successful ,” think , “I can do this” or “I’m going to figure this out.” Instead of dwelling on worst-case scenarios, imagine extraordinary results.

When circumstances become challenging, reflect on what caused you to pursue success in the first place. Were you conventionally successful but internally unhappy? Have you not utilized your skills as much as you’d like to? Whatever your reasons for wanting to succeed, use them as the cornerstone of your desire to work hard and achieve more.

Changing your mindset in this way takes work. Unlock the secrets of your psychological foundation with Tony’s comprehensive Personal Power II: 30-Day System . Learn how to build on that foundation to begin your ideal career, improve your relationships, optimize your time, reach financial success, strengthen your business, revitalize your health – and ultimately discover how to become successful .

3. Take action

Determining what you want is only part of learning how to be successful in life . Once you’ve done the inner work, it’s time to take massive action – because true rewards come with action, not discussion. This means shaking up your routines drastically, learning a new skill set and replacing bad habits with beneficial ones.

You can start by creating SMART goals , which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and set within a Time frame. Setting goals in this way helps break them down into manageable tasks that you can more easily achieve. That sense of accomplishment gives you the energy and drive to continue your hard work, creating a cycle of success that propels you toward your dreams.

15 Tips for a Successful Life

1. Define your core values

When you take the time to define your values, you create a foundation to build your life. But many people fail to clarify their values and take a longer route to meaningful success as a result.

Stop comparing!

Try and get your list down to about three of the most important priorities. When you do, you’ll find it much easier to choose a direction, make confident decisions, and succeed on your terms.

2. Get clear on your goals

Some people chase after shiny objects, never committing enough to a single goal to find success. Others invest too much committed to the wrong goal, afraid of quitting or letting others down.

The recipe for success is different for everyone. One person might feel their best living as a digital nomad, traveling to a different country every month. Another person might thrive on time with family and living in their dream home.

3. Be a learner, not a winner

Mistakes move you forward!

My progress in the sport of fencing increased ten times the day I decided to use every practice, lesson, event, and bout as a learning experience instead of a winning opportunity.

It means that if we step over learning in order to reach for winning, we place a huge barrier in front of ourselves — trust me, I’ve learned this one the hard way. In figuring out how to be successful in life, learning as much as you can leads to bigger wins.

4. Set up a support system

Big goals don’t happen overnight. Building a successful business, writing a book, getting a degree—it takes hard work and commitment to see those dreams through. But you don’t have to go through it alone, and you shouldn’t!

Find support!

If we rely on just ourselves, it’s like having a single jetpack, putting along towards a goal. With the support of a team, we have rocket power, achieving our goals much faster – vroom!

5. Put in the time

You may have heard of the 10,000 hour rule, popularized in Malcolm Gladwell’s New York Times bestseller, Outliers. Gladwell suggests that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to gain mastery. (that’s about 90 minutes per day for 20 years).

It’s an idea based on a 1993 paper from Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University. But many people have pushed back at this “10,000 hours requirement”, including Ericsson himself.

Commitment and consistency

If you want to get good at something, you have to put in the time. Spending just 10 to 20 minutes a day on a new skill, your brain will retain almost all of what you learned, according to neuroscience.

If you need to practice, study, experiment, and apply in order to succeed, then do that. Put in the time wherever it is required. No effort is wasted if we have our eye on our target, even if one or two or three attempts feels like we’re getting nowhere.

6. Commit to a goal that you’re willing to grind for

It takes a lot of hard work and grit to achieve long-term goals. People who found a successful company, wrote a novel without a book deal, or made it big in show business had to put in the work to get from nothing to something.

7. Get inspired

Inspiration is everywhere

Go to camps, clinics, conferences and retreats. Get private lessons and read books. When you get out there and try new things, you’re more likely to find inspiration for how to be successful in life.

8. Take (calculated) risks

The quest beyond where you stand today to where you want to go means stepping outside of your comfort zone. That means you’re going to have to stick your neck out there sometimes and take risks.

Sometimes taking risks can mean a night class once a week to train for that new career path. Or, you might start a side hustle to see if your business idea will actually work. Maybe you just need to meet new people and network to get more information about that new direction.

9. Learn from experts

If you want to illuminate the path to success, look for people who have already done it. Who are the captains in the industry that you admire? Find out how they turned their dreams into reality.

Study others’ success

Observe, study, and follow others who are succeeding along the same path you want to go. Spend time learning from them. Find at least one thing to avoid or one thing to adopt each time you watch others making progress toward your same target (or from those who have hit the target).

Why limit yourself to just one role model? You can draw inspiration from any number of people who inspire you. When we only learn from one master, we only know what that one person knows. When we learn from more than one expert, we have ages of knowledge and wisdom to lean into.

10. Ask a ton of questions

“By asking someone to share his or her personal wisdom, advice seekers stroke the adviser’s ego and can gain valuable insights. People do not think less of you — they actually think you’re smarter.”

Resource:

https://www.developgoodhabits.com/successful-life/
https://www.tonyrobbins.com/how-to-be-successful/
https://soulsalt.com/how-to-be-successful/