Most people agree that today’s technology is (for the most part) making life simpler, allowing us more time for other things and ultimately giving us a wealth of opportunities to have more comfortable lives. While we can sometimes feel like throwing our computers out the window, can you imagine how we ever functioned without Facebook, cloud computing or iEverything?

Today’s technology can certainly have a positive impact when it comes to things such as productivity and communications, but what is rarely highlighted is how much it teaches us about success.

Here’s what today’s top tech trends can teach us about how to live successful lives.

What Today’s Tech Can Teach Us About Success

iOS vs. Android vs. Windows – Identify Your Belief System

While the war wages on which mobile operating system/platform is the best, with some people going to great lengths to convince you theirs is better, have you taken the time to pick your belief system (i.e., the actual set of precepts from which you live your daily life)? Mahatma Gandhi said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.” So if our destiny is determined by our beliefs, just as a building is only as strong as its foundation, what are the beliefs that govern your life? I’m not pushing my beliefs on you, but for the sake of reference, here are a couple of mine:

• I am worthy and capable of success in all areas of my life (based on 3 John 2)
• Whatever I want more of in my life I must first give (based on Galatians 6:7-9)
• “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” ~ Napoleon Hill

Big Data – Assess Your Current Habits & Results

Companies of all sizes are looking to harness the unprecedented power of their data to not only model the effects of past managerial decisions on the bottom line, but also predict and plan for upcoming issues as well. Why wouldn’t we do the same as individuals?

Everyone knows that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, but how many of us have stopped and thought about what we’ve done in the last month, year or 5 years and where we want to be 5 years from now? Once you know where you are and where you want to be, all it takes is finding a vehicle to get you there (if you don’t already have one that will get you there in your timeframe) and putting in the consistent work until you arrive at your goal or destination.

Outsourcing – Focus on Your Strengths

To retain focus on their own product development and core competencies, many companies recognize that outsourcing can be an effective and economical way to manage certain business processes. Successful people do the same thing – they focus on their trade and their strengths.

Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths book proposes this approach: focus on enhancing your strengths rather than eliminating your weaknesses. Otherwise, you will be clawing your way up to average. Nobody pays for average, but people will fly from all over the world and pay good money to see excellence. Everybody does a lot of things badly, or even average, but everyone can be excellent at something. The trick is to find that something.

Apps – Don’t Wait for An Opportunity. Create it

Apple’s trademark phrase “There’s an App for that” symbolizes the idea that where there is a problem, there are application solutions to solve it. If, for some reason there isn’t an app, then there are dozens of app development services and sites that enable you to create your own. The same goes for life – we can’t sit around complaining about what we don’t have or what someone hasn’t given us – we must go out there and create it.

As honest Abe Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict the future, is to create it.” If you have a problem or see an opportunity, go after it!