It’s easy to sit back and be envious of other people, successful people that seem to have it all. But successful people do not achieve their success by chance. Rather, there are certain practices that they follow in life that help them to be able to boost their success, both in and out of the office. Understanding what these habits are can help you to also achieve success.
Of course, as Stephen Kay (2014) writes in Forbes magazine:
“We all define success differently…I think it’s important to take the time to explicitly define what success means to you. And of course, you don’t have to settle on just one definition”.
Certainly this is a good starting point. After all, success for some might mean being able to afford a fast sports car and being able to take flashy holidays. For another, it might mean being able to live comfortably without money worries or undue stressors. As Stephen Kay explains, each person is different and has different defining features of what they see as success. Whatever you see as success however, the practices that you should undertake to achieve it will be the same. The top 10 of these are:
1. Treat others as you would want to be treated – being respectful to others is key to success in life. You won’t be successful or respected yourself if you treat others badly. This simply turns people off you, and makes them look elsewhere for people that are nicer to be around – either in work or in life more generally speaking.
2. Don’t waste time – people that are successful in both business and life do not waste their time. They tend to spend their time doing things that will either be productive or on hobbies that are worthwhile. You won’t generally find successful folks watching soap operas, for example.
3. Lose the expectations – people that have expectations about the way something is going to be or how things are going to work out for them are often disappointed. It is better to set goals, work towards them and keep an open mind in life than to have unrealistic expectations that will not be met.
4. Plan to succeed – while people who are successful in life do not have unrealistic expectations, they do plan to succeed. They set themselves life goals and they work towards achieving them at any opportunity.
10 Practices to Boost Success in Life and Business . Intelligenthq5. Grasp opportunities – on the note of opportunities, those that are successful in both life and in business seize opportunities when they come their way. They don’t spend so long procrastinating that those opportunities pass them by. They can also spot a good opportunity when they see one.
6. They deliberately seek out new experiences – people that succeed in life and business do so because they have attuned their minds by taking part in new activities, travelling, exposing themselves to people that are different than them to keep on taking on board new ideas all of the time. This gives them a broader range of experiences to draw on in life.
7. Practice the habit of lifelong learning – those that are successful know that they need to keep learning. They never think that they know all that they possibly could know about a subject and they keep on seeking out new information and building up their knowledge.
8. Don’t dwell on mistakes – dwelling on mistakes is negative and does not help a person to move forward. Reviewing mistakes and learning where you went wrong and how you could improve things next time however, is a habit of the successful in life. They learn from their mistakes and they don’t make the same ones over and over again.
9. Embrace change – successful people in both work and life understand that things are not static. Nothing stays the same forever, and change is continual. Those that are able to do the best in work and life are those that accept that and look for the opportunities within change to improve their lot or that of others.
10. Rejuvenate – those that achieve the greatest success know that they also need time to relax, unwind and rejuvenate. They value their time away from work and don’t work all of the time. They know that after a rest when they come back to their work they will have much more energy for it.
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
