Winning at life is a great big audacious and overarching goal but there are 2 issues:
1) What does winning at life mean?
and
2) What can you do today to achieve this?
In this short article, I’m going to address the second (the first is covered here).
So, what can you do TODAY?
What are the 5 most potent habits that will catapult you into success and the life of your dreams?
Reading
This is a staple of winning. People don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know there are a million ways of getting healthy or making money. They either trust the latest documentary on Netflix or the general vibe of their Facebook feed (which is a select group of people probably with very similar world views to you). Reading blows the world apart for you (in a good way) and in lieu of finding highly successful people to hang around with and mentor you, you can get this via books.
My advice: Make time to read daily or at least weekly. Have a few books to hand in different formats and just begin. For more about how (and why I read 104 books in a year, click through here).
Prioritise Health
Exercise and nutrition are not just for gym bros and Instagram influencers. If you want to win at life you have to put yourself first. First off, exercise gives a whole host of benefits quite apart from ‘just’ health. On top of this, if (when) you do end up crushing it in life, you want to be fit and healthy to be able to enjoy it. So many people hustle for years in their careers or businesses promising themselves that once X happens they’ll relax – here’s the secret – it never happens. You need to start now or it will never happen (I have worked with people who own multiple companies and have already reached ‘their number’ in terms of wealth but still cannot stop.
My Advice: Start today. Put some physical activity into your daily routine (here’s a stretching circuit you can do at home). Start controlling your portion size and junk food intake and eating more veg. You can work out the details as you go but you need to start now.
Find Solutions Not Obstacles
You need to have a ‘can-do’ attitude. You need to learn to treat failure as a lesson and not as a definitive endpoint. You need to adopt a growth mindset and keep going forward. Here’s a test – if I were to say – I’ll give you $50,000 if you could build a shed in my garden, what would your immediate reaction be? “I can’t do that” or “No, probs, do you want it painted red or blue”. There are a million and one ways to accomplish this and this is the same as anything in life. Approach any situation with the perspective that you can improve and get better at it and you’ll find doors open and you’ll grow daily.
My Advice: Read Mindset by Carol Dweck (link) or for a short summary check out my post here.
Set Goals and Focus Your Efforts
Without goals, you are unlikely to get anywhere. The question to ask yourself would be – if I was in exactly the same place in 10 years time, would I be happy? If yes then don’t worry about it. If no, then WHERE would you like to be in 10 years time? Think big, get excited and most important start taking action today (this list is a great place to start for almost any goal).
My Advice: Write your 10-year goal down then work out what you need to do in the next 3 years to reach this goal. Then break this down further into the next 12 months and then next 3 months. Finally, work out what you need to do this month and TODAY. Here’s an article I wrote on pimping your new years resolutions but it applies to all goals.
Enjoy the Journey/Gratitude
This one goes hand in hand with the goal-setting task above. Goals set the direction of travel and this is far more important than the destination. The chances are if you’ve ever set goals in the past and reached them (this happens a lot for successful entrepreneurs), you realise, the second you tick it off the list you feel deflated and empty (after perhaps a moment of jubilation) and need new goals to feed your addiction.
While constantly achieving goals can be exciting and fulfilling, realise that you will never ‘complete it’. You’ll never feel fulfilled by simply achieving goals because there will always be bigger things to achieve.
My Advice: Start to be present and appreciate the journey. This is the part where you feel alive. This is the part that makes life worth living. Journalling and noting down your daily gratitude is a great way to do this. I find writing my goals each day and noting WHY I am grateful that I have the opportunity to pursue them. This was a game-changer for me.
Those are my big 5. Do you have any more to add?
Ping me an email at hello@doctoremil.com and I’ll consider a part 2 to this series (I have a few extra to add).