If you took a good hard look in the mirror and thought about your life, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For too many people, the reality is that you’re not spending your time the way you want to. Too much of your agenda is driven by outside circumstances.

If you thought about what made you happy and how much of that you were incorporating into your life right now, the thought would frustrate you. Successful leadership happens from a place of freedom and the ability to spend your time on what you want to be doing.

If you looked at your goals, how many are what you truly want? If you’re not experiencing the kind of success and growth you’d like in your life, the reality is that your daily choices are keeping you from that place.

If it’s your goal to optimize your growth, which in turn creates more of it and leads to getting more done, it’s time to look at the daily choices you’re making. It’s time to get honest about whether or not you’re making decisions from a place of self-prioritization.

Here are three daily choices that help you pursue growth in a way that aligns with your vision, purpose and the things you want to do. Here’s how to have happier life experiences. 

1. Adjust your schedule to be proactive versus reactionary

Too often, we don’t end up spending the time we’d like to on our goals, dreams, and the things that create freedom. This misalignment happens because we’re living life reactionary. We’re trying to catch up to items on our to-do list, and as we’re doing the work, new demands come in.

When we think about our schedule and what we have to do, we’re always behind instead of being proactive. Successful leaders have figured out that if they’re going to accomplish more and create freedom, their schedule must be optimized and full of power moves.

One of the keys to exponential growth is setting a schedule from a place of self-prioritization and not letting outside circumstances influence your schedule. You create a routine and a schedule that is proactive and allows you to work in focused blocks.

Being proactive means you set boundaries in your schedule, with outside circumstances, and with yourself — to stay focused. Stop living life feeling as if you’re always trying to catch up. Take a breath, look at what makes sense, and create a schedule that allows you to feel like you’re the CEO of your life.

“It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Find an optimized daily routine that works for you

YouTube is littered with “day in the life” videos and “how I start my morning” content. If you looked at those videos, you’d probably be shocked at the number of views, comments, and engagement. These videos are so successful because people are desperately searching for a routine that could work for them.

A lot of those videos tend to be staged, but the idea behind them has some merit. While a specific routine worked for somebody else, it doesn’t mean that routine would be the best fit for your life, archetype, and how your body operates.

To foster optimized growth, you have to find a routine that works for you. That routine might be waking up early in the morning, working later at night, working in two-hour blocks, or everything in between. The key to a powerful routine that allows you to get more done is knowing yourself. This growth starts from a place of self-awareness.

To get more done, accomplish your goals, and live a freedom-based lifestyle, you have to find an optimized routine that allows you to work, play, and live life in a way that makes sense for your architect.

Your success will not necessarily come from modeling the success of somebody else. We’re all human beings and have different goals, ambitions, and archetypes. Successful leaders figure out what schedule and routine work best for them, and they implement it consistently. That’s the key — once you’ve found what works for you, consistency will be the way you create growth.

3. Break up the constant work with pleasure

If the Instagram memes were to be believed, the hustle 24-7 lifestyle is the only way to success. Let me let you in on a little secret — it’s not. Too many leaders are chasing an image of success that burns them out and frustrates them towards the process. If you’re all work with no pleasure built into your life — what’s the point?

Work in a focused way and get more done, but you should also incorporate moments of fun and pleasure. You can create a routine that has you working for a specific time, and the reward for that focused work is pleasure. That pleasure could be watching a fascinating YouTube video, watching TV, playing video games, reading a book, or listening to a podcast.

Only you know what pleasure means for you, but the goal is to train your brain to look forward to a reward for all of your hard work. Dan Miller is quoted as saying that when people look at his life, he doesn’t want them to be able to differentiate between whether he’s working or playing. It all mixes.

You’re working hard on your goals and creating a better version of yourself. You want to create a life that gives you flexibility and freedom. That life should be filled with an abundance of pleasure alongside hard work. Remember why you’re doing this, and remember that you have to take care of yourself first. Human beings are designed to appreciate pleasure.

The success, growth, and accomplishment you seek are possible when you optimize your daily choices and create a life from a place of what you want to be doing. Stop chasing someone else’s image of success, and don’t be influenced by the unseen pictures on social media of what it means to be successful.

If you’re going to have the necessary strength and energy to accomplish your goals and create a successful life, it has to come from an optimized place. Take care of yourself first and foremost. Drive towards the vision of success that you want to attain.