Life

5 Daily Habits That Lead to a Successful Life

Published

9 years ago

Sep 17, 2015

5 Daily Habits That Lead to a Successful Life

A “successful life” will hold a different meaning for each of us. What makes it a success is determined by the goals, dreams, aspirations you have in your mind and heart. Having a successful life starts with beating your doubt, fear, and self-limiting beliefs, and getting honest about the kind of life you want to live.

Too often, we wait for permission to take action on the changes we would like to make in our life. For 12 years, I waited for all the stars to align before I took the first steps towards a better life. It took three years of doing things that I long believed were impossible to achieve what success means to me.

If we could define a successful life in one word, that word would be freedom. Each of us longs to live life by our design. We long for the freedom to live each day—and each moment—the way we want to live it. If you are going to achieve freedom in your life, if you’re going to find success, you’re going to have to develop the right habits.

Quick wins aren’t real change. Changing your habits leads to lasting success in your life.

Here are five habits, that if worked on daily, will lead you to whatever a successful life means to you:

1. Continuing to Learn

Brendan Burchard wisely said, “An expert is a student first.” While there are too many cases of information overload happening today, the right knowledge can significantly increase your progress in life. It’s time to immerse yourself in great books, podcasts, and videos that motivate you to chase bigger dreams.

We live in a time with unparalleled access. We have access to all the information we need to help every area of our life. Develop a habit of continuing to learn from the places that will help your next steps in your journey to a successful life.

2. Maintaining Your Health

Your health has a positive or negative effect on every area of your life. The way your mind and body feels can be directly traced to the things you eat. Your food choices will affect how you live and how you achieve success. Exercise is a great way to stay in shape, get more energy, and vent out any frustration. Maintaining your health will pay dividends and is a habit that leads to success.

3. Purging Negativity

Deciding to make big changes in your life is hard. The journey is compounded when you add negative people or habits. Negativity will convince you that your self-limiting beliefs are right. Negative people are struggling with different areas of their life and project their struggles onto you.

To experience success in your life, you have to stay away and be on guard against the effects negativity can have on you. Make it a habit to purge negativity and surround yourself with love and positivity.

4. Embracing Failure

The standard view of failure is typically negative—it doesn’t have to be. Failure can mean that the current way you tried something doesn’t work, and you just need to adjust your approach. Failure means that you are trying something—that you’re taking action. Too many people will stay stuck because they’re afraid to fail.

If you think about it, that can be one of life’s biggest failures. Embrace failure, if you are taking action towards a better and successful life. Make embracing failure a habit because it means you’re consistently taking the necessary steps towards success.

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

5. Choosing to Live Instead of Exist

Life can be a lot of the same old, same old. We get stuck in routines, and our lives almost become one giant checklist. As we live each year without making the changes or living the kind of life we want to live, we end up existing in life.

Truly living doesn’t mean traveling the world and jumping off of cliffs in some cool country—unless that’s your dream. It means that you don’t settle for a good enough life when you could be living your dream. Make it a habit to truly live each day as if it were your last because it might be.

“Are you truly living, or just breathing?” – Jensen Siaw

I didn’t get any lucky breaks. I didn’t win the lottery or get a big inheritance. I worked hard on creating these habits in my life and took focused action for three years. Today I wake living my dream life and what a successful life means to me. I wake up each day determined to keep building on the progress I’ve made.

You can do this. You can create healthy habits that lead to an incredible life. You can wake up each day happy, knowing you’re living the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of living. It will be hard. It will take time—maybe a lot of time. But, it will be worth it to spend each day living life on your terms. You’ve got this!

What habits are you working on that are leading you towards success?

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Kimanzi Constable

Kimanzi Constable is an author of four books and a writer whose articles have been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, SUCCESS Magazine, NBC, CBS, FOX, and 80 other publications and magazines. He is the co-founder of Results Global Impact Consulting and Senior Editor at The Good Men Project. Learn more and get a free guide at kconstable.com.

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Life

How Learning the Skill of Hope Can Change Everything

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life

Published

1 month ago

Jan 6, 2025

Daniel Bell

Image Credit: Midjourney

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life.

Wishful thinking, on the other hand, is like having dreams in the sky without a ladder to climb, having a destination without a map, or trying to operate a jet-engine airplane without instructions. It sounds nice but is impossible to realize. You don’t have what you need to make it happen!

What Real Hope Is

Real hope is actionable, practical, and realistic. Better yet, it’s feasible and can be learned.

One popular approach is Hope Theory. This concept is used by colleges to study how hope impacts students’ academic performance. Researchers found that students with high levels of hope achieve better grades and are more likely to graduate compared to those with less hope.

Hope can be broken down into two components:

Pathways – The “how to” of hope. This is where people think of and establish plans for achieving their goals.
Agency – The “I can” of hope. This is the belief that the person can accomplish their goals.

Does Hope Really Work?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, hope as a noun is defined as: “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.”

As humans, we are wired to crave fulfillment. We have the ability to envision it and, through hope, make it a reality.

My Experience with Hope

For 13 years, I was a hopeless human. During my time working at a luxury hotel as a front desk agent earning $11.42 per hour, I felt the sting of hopelessness the most.

The regret of feeling my time was being stolen from me lingered every time I clocked in. Eventually, I decided to do something about it.

I gave myself permission to hope for something better. I began establishing pathways to success and regained agency by learning from self-help books and seeking mentorship.

Because I took action toward something I desired, I now feel more hope and joy than I ever felt hopelessness. Hope changed me.

Hope Actually Improves Your Life

Wishful thinking doesn’t work, and false hope is equally ineffective. Real hope, however, is directly tied to success in all areas of life.

Studies show that hopeful people tend to:

Demonstrate better problem-solving skills
Cultivate healthier relationships
Maintain stronger motivation to achieve goals
Exhibit better work ethic
Have a positive outlook on life

These benefits can impact work life, family life, habit-building, mental health, physical health, and spiritual practice. Imagine how much better your life could be by applying real hope to all these areas.

How to Develop the Skill to Hope

As acclaimed French writer Jean Giono wrote in The Man Who Planted Trees:
“There are also times in life when a person has to rush off in pursuit of hopefulness.”

If you are at one of those times, here are ways to develop the skill to hope:

1. Dream Again

To cultivate hope, you need to believe in its possibility. Start by:

Reflecting on what you’re passionate about, your values, and what you want to achieve.
Writing your dreams down, sharing them with someone encouraging, or saying them out loud.
Creating a vision board to make your dreams feel more tangible.

Dreams are the foundation of hope—they give you something meaningful to aspire toward.

2. Create an Environment of Hope

Set Goals: Write down your goals and create a plan to achieve them.
Visualize Success: Use inspirational quotes, photos, or tools like dumbbells or canvases to remind yourself of your goals.
Build a Resource Library: Collect books, eBooks, or audiobooks about hope and success to inspire you.

An environment that fosters hope will keep you motivated, resilient, and focused.

3. Face the Challenges

Don’t avoid challenges—overcoming them builds confidence. Participating in challenging activities, like strategic games, can enhance your problem-solving skills and reinforce hope.

4. Commit to Wisdom

Seek wisdom from those who have achieved what you aspire to. Whether through books, blogs, or social media platforms, learn from their journeys. Wisdom provides the foundation for real, actionable hope.

5. Take Note of Small Wins

Reflecting on past victories can fuel your hope for the future. Ask yourself:

What challenges have I already overcome?
How did I feel when I succeeded?

By remembering those feelings of happiness, relief, or satisfaction, your brain will naturally adopt a more hopeful mindset.

Conclusion

Hope is more than wishful thinking—it’s a powerful skill that can transform your life. By dreaming again, creating a hopeful environment, facing challenges, seeking wisdom, and celebrating small wins, you can develop the real hope necessary for success in all aspects of life.

Let hope guide you toward a brighter, more fulfilling future.

Life

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1 month ago

Dec 27, 2024

CT Dool

Image Credit: Midjourney

The quarter-life crisis is a well-defined set of stages—Trapped, Checking Out, Separation, Exploration, Rebuilding—one goes through in breaking free from feelings of meaninglessness, lack of fulfillment, and misalignment with purpose. I detail the stages and interweave my story below. (more…)

Life

Here’s The Thing About Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

Stop hoarding and start sharing your knowledge and wealth for the benefit of humankind

Published

3 months ago

Nov 21, 2024

M.S. Rao

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Few people have the habit of hoarding their wealth without spending. However, it limits their motivation as they tend to get into their comfort zones. When people start spending money, then there will be depletion in their coffers. (more…)