This is an enticing headline; would we all love to have a black and white playbook for how to go through this chaotic life with success after success? Only a liar and the Dalai Lama would say no. Success feels great; it’s an indicator we’re doing something right, and that’s something to feel proud of.
While there’s no one-strategy-fits-all method for achieving success in anything you do, there are definite steps you can take to that are more likely to lead to your success than not. Here are 12 tips for finding some success in anything you do.
- Focus on what you can control: This is the kind of strategy for success that all the greats have discovered. What happens in life is not something you can control, but you are something you can control (maybe just not around donuts).
- Don’t ignore history: In anything you do, you can always get a leg up by referring to the experiences of those who tried before you. Trying to get fit? Look to people who succeeded in the manner you want to. Trying to write a novel? How did writers before you achieve this?
- Reflect: This is an important but easily overlooked tip for success. We go through our days without analyzing what worked well and what didn’t, and most importantly, why. By reflecting, you can course-correct more efficiently.
- Be honest: At the risk of sounding like someone’s noble grandmother, honesty helps you succeed in life, but not how you might assume. Being honest with yourself is just as crucial as with others, and it’s self-honesty that will guide your life with clarity.
- Stay organized: Sure, there are plenty of messy geniuses who have done great things, but it’s likely they succeeded despite their disorganization, not because of it. Staying organized leaves your brainpower for more important things instead of recalling where you last saw your keys.
- Check-in with yourself: It’s easy to neglect an essential tool we have in achieving success — ourselves. Don’t think pushing yourself 110% of the time is the only route to success; it’s more likely a faster route to burn out.
- Be a fool: Many people can never be great because they are unwilling to be terrible first. Embrace being a fool — it means you’re trying to learn something.
- Read every and anything: Few successful people don’t invest significant time in reading. Reading is the most painless way to learn hard lessons because you can learn through other people’s struggles.
- Step away from the goal: Sometimes, we get so caught up in pursuing a goal we give ourselves tunnel vision and can miss out on information that would help us. Take time away from chasing your goal just long enough to let other parts of life inspire your approach.
- Listen more than speaking: It sounds easy, but observe how often you talk versus listening in your next conversation, and you’ll know why this is one of our essential tips for success in anything you do.
- Reframe your failures: Sometimes we don’t succeed, but that doesn’t mean the failure is entirely negative. By viewing failure as an integral part of learning what doesn’t work to determine what works, you can feel successful even when you weren’t.
- Experiment: Be willing to try something unexpected in your efforts. Sometimes we become fixated on the way we think we should succeed that we don’t consider there are other viable paths to that success.
You might not succeed in everything you do, but by keeping these 12 essential tips for success in mind, you can find a way to extract even a bit of success out of otherwise difficult situations.
