Deciding you want to succeed is a great first step, but the next step is to take a look at what successful people do and believe. Fortunately, if you start a search online, you can learn 15 things that all successful people believe.
There are lots of ways we can be successful. We can succeed in our work life, we can succeed in our love life, and we can succeed by living a healthy life. What do most successful people believe? Get ready to have your mind blown.
1. You Create Your Own Opportunities
It’s pretty rare that an opportunity comes knocking at the door – and if it does, it’s probably not holding a kale smoothie and a ticket aboard the Success Express!
If you’re planning on changing your life and becoming more successful, it’s important to create your own opportunities. Find time in your day to cook or go for a run. Try new things and experiences, and ensure you have set aside enough time to do them all! Once you start sticking to the mindset, the opportunities will come flooding in. Just remember to keep that door open!
2. Ignoring Responsibilities Is Damaging
Humans have responsibilities. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you earn or what you do – you have responsibilities for yourself as well as the people around you.
In terms of health, that means eating well and exercising, keeping your body in top shape and giving yourself the chance to live a long and healthy life. It also means keeping yourself in top shape for the sake of your family and the people you love.
The better you look after yourself, the longer you’ll be around for the people you love. Accept those responsibilities and act on them.
3. Ignoring Serious Problems Makes Things Worse
The longer you put off a problem, the worse you’ll make it. While it can feel like everything is getting on top of you when you’re facing a multitude of problems, and making difficult decisions about your lifestyle, it’s important that you tackle them head on as soon as you can.
If you keep putting off your exercise, and you let weeks go by without doing anything about niggling health concerns, then how do you expect them to get better? If you’re going to be successful in any part of your life, you’re going to have to tackle your problems head on – and it starts now!
4. You Should Keep Your To-Do Lists Short
When you think of someone successful, like a top lawyer or a politician, it’s easy to imagine that their diary is packed full of things and their to-do list constantly growing. This isn’t necessarily the case, however.
As a person becomes more successful, it becomes obvious that their to-do list must be kept as short as possible. That way, they’re closer to their key goals. Why do you think they hire people to help them?
Keep your to-do list as short as you can, and prioritize the most important things to complete in a day. The rest can be done later, while you focus on doing the best job you can on the important stuff.
5. The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle is almost universally acknowledged by successful people. Why? Well, because it’s just so evidently true.
The principle suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of the work that you do, and this crosses professions – whether you’re working in the entertainment industry or in manufacturing. There are things you do in your life that offer substantial rewards, and the rest have only a minor effect. Remember that – and prioritize!
6. Optimism Is Key
Have you ever met a successful pessimist? Successful people are always looking on the bright side – even if they’re wearing shades. Sometimes it can be difficult to see what positives there might be in the worst situations, but if you don’t put on those sunglasses and accept that there is a light side you need to be seeing, then you’ll get stuck in a spiral towards failure. Nobody wants that!
7. I Can Do This!
Sure, it’s corny. You’ve definitely been told to give yourself a pat on the back before, right? Well that kind of attitude of rewarding oneself and really, truly believing that you can do something will take you far in life. Without that belief in yourself and your abilities, it’s so much harder to make a difference to your own life, to the lives of the people you love and the lives of everyone around you.
Remember you can do what you need and want to do, and you know what…you’ll probably do it!
8. It’s Fine to Be Quirky
Successful people don’t copy. Sure, you don’t need to be the first to do something, but you do need to be better.
If you’re planning on improving an idea or becoming successful in a field that’s already full of champions, then it’s cool to be quirky. Come up with new ideas. Try new things. Be resourceful. You’ll get there!
9. Being Decisive is Necessary
If you’re not making important decisions quickly enough, then opportunities pass you by. Successful people always remember to be decisive.
Making these decisions quickly – but not immediately – ensures that action can be taken when a problem arises and that new opportunities can be embraced when they can benefit their life. Know how to do something, and then do it. Don’t sit around waiting and pondering!
10. Always Be Willing to Improve
It’s easy to assume that successful people love themselves, but that’s almost always not the case. A person becomes successful when they accept that they aren’t perfect, which is why they believe that they should always be willing to improve.
If you think your life is perfect, then you’ll never be successful. The human need to survive and thrive works well in nature, it works well in business, and it works well in all other areas of our lives. Accept your flaws and be willing to do something about them, and you’ll be on your way.
11. Life Is a Gift
If you don’t believe that life is a gift, then you’re less likely to cherish every moment.
By embracing life as something you may only experience once, and something so rare and special, you’ll be more likely to take steps to ensure that you and your loved ones have the best lives you can possibly have. Without this kind of mind frame, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut.
12. Lying Is Unhelpful
Successful people don’t like lying. This belief ties in with a lot of what we’ve already looked at. Think about it – when you lie, you’re essentially setting yourself back. You’re potentially avoiding a serious problem and not tackling it head on, you’re being negative about something you’re involved with, and you’re not really being decisive.
If you’re going to succeed, try and tell the truth more. This makes it so much easier to take decisive action that will improve your life and chances of success.
13. The Status Quo Isn’t Always Perfect or Right
Just because something is the norm doesn’t mean it’s the best. Think Steve Jobs. Sure, Jobs is used by pretty much everybody as an example of a successful man, but that’s for good reason. When he introduced the iPhone, Jobs showed us that we no longer needed to use buttons or styluses to control our phones. He also showed us that computers didn’t have to be beige, back when he announced the iMac G3.
If something is considered the status quo, try challenging it. If your life is full of status quos, then make changes. Successful people are always looking to challenge what’s considered normal.
14. Worrying About Clichés is Unproductive
Just because you’ve heard something a thousand times already doesn’t mean that it’s worn out and useless. There’s a fine line between status quo and genius.
This belief pretty much sums up this entire article. Some of these beliefs that successful people hold are things you’ve heard before, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work. If you worry about something being a cliché, and you don’t take action based on that assumption, then you could be missing out on amazing life opportunities and hindering your success.
Think about it!
15. A Clean Room Is Key
Finally, remember that the cleanliness of your home and your bedroom can have a huge effect on your mentality. Having somewhere clean and relaxing to spend time in after a long day is hugely important for your mental health. That’s why successful people have spacious bedrooms and walk-in wardrobes.
A space that features a bed and lots of empty space helps you cleanse your mind and relax. If you don’t relax, you won’t succeed. Remember – keep your life balanced!