Here’s How to Create Your Own Definition of Success and Then Achieve It
Virtually everyone has a sincere desire to succeed in life. However, achieving success doesn’t happen easily for most people. If you haven’t yet attained the high level of success in life that you’re hoping for, perhaps the following blueprint could help you to do so:
Define Success Using Your Own Internal Compass
How should you even define success?
That definition will change substantially, depending on who you ask. A CEO’s definition of success would be vastly different from an Olympic athlete’s or an actor’s.
The first step to succeeding in life is determining what you think would actually make you successful. This is something personal — something that only you can decide.
Determine Your Priorities According to Your Ideas About Success
Once you’ve come to an understanding of what success really means to you, then you can more easily define what your priorities are. For example, if you want to have a successful business, your priority list will likely consist of items such as making a business plan, acquiring funding and creating a brand image. In contrast, if you want to become a winning Olympic swimmer, your priority list would include things like breath control exercises and swimming regularly at the beach or local swimming pool.
Work Daily at Achieving Your Most Important Goals
Once you’ve determined the general direction of your priority list, it’s time to figure out a specific action plan for achieving each goal. When you undertake this process, it gradually becomes clearer what you’ll have to do to achieve success. More likely than not, it is these small, daily actions you initiate that will propel you swiftly towards success.
Prioritise Your Relationships
No one on earth can be successful completely on their own. Every successful person has cultivated a network of people and enjoys mutually beneficial relationships with others. If you hope to be successful in life, you’ll need to do this, too.
Optimise Your Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health
Excellent health makes it easier to attain high levels of achievement – and that holds true even if becoming a top athlete isn’t your most important goal in life. Achieving and then maintaining optimised health is crucially important; if you fail to do so, you’ll be far less likely to succeed at any of your other goals.
Your Physical Health
Exercise – Depending on what your goals for success are, exercise might or might not seem like a high priority – but either way, it is. There is no way to be optimally healthy without exercise.
Be sure to incorporate movement of some sort into your daily routine. If you have previously been sedentary for a long time, it’s a good idea to consult your GP for best results with implementing an unfamiliar exercise programme.
Healthy Foods – Your brain and body can’t function optimally if you’re feeding them nothing but a steady stream of junk food. Instead, be sure to nourish yourself with healthy foods including a broad variety of vegetables.
Sufficient Water – Proper hydration is an important key to physical health and wellbeing. Incorporate water breaks into your daily routine to ensure you’re drinking generous quantities of water.
Accident Prevention – It’s all too easy to accidentally destroy your health by having a preventable accident. There are many steps you can take to prevent accidents in your place of business and at home. Get enough sleep. Keep your environment tidy and free of debris. Regularly inspect all equipment and make sure to repair it if it becomes damaged.
Health Insurance – Accidents and injuries happen, despite your best intentions to prevent them. Fortunately, if you’re an Australian citizen, you have access to world-class healthcare through the public Medicare system.
However, private health insurance is also an option in Australia. There are many cases in which private health insurance can be beneficial. For example, if you’re an Australian who has attained the age of 55 or greater, or you’re part of a high-income household, it’s likely to be preferable for you to use private health insurance instead of making use of the Medicare system. This is because of government-initiated financial incentives for people to maintain private health insurance if they are able to do so.
If you haven’t yet looked into private health insurance, be aware that it could potentially be a worthwhile investment for you. And if you already have private health insurance, it’s wise to be proactive about reviewing your health cover at least once a year to make sure you’re getting the best possible value for the cost of your investment. In either case, the insurance comparison service provided at the Ask James website can be a helpful resource for easily reviewing your options and choosing the ideal plan for your needs.
Mental Health
You’re unlikely to maximise your success in life if you are constantly weighed down by mental health issues – so if you’re plagued by depression, anxiety or any other mental health issues, it’s beneficial to find ways of resolving them.
Positive Attitude — For starters, be conscious of your own mental attitude. Make an effort to cultivate a positive attitude and avoid a negative one.
What to Do When You Feel Stressed, Anxious or Depressed
Evaluate Nutrition Levels — Your physical and mental health are more closely aligned than you might realise. If you suffer from stress, anxiety or depression, it’s possible that the causes are mental – but it’s also possible that there are physical reasons you’re experiencing these issues.
A diet that is poor in nutrition can potentially cause or contribute to a variety of mental health issues. In particular, a diet that is devoid of sufficient magnesium can often lead to regular feelings of anxiety, stress and depression. This is because magnesium deficiency can cause damage to neurons in the human brain, and the damaged neurons can masquerade as anxiety or depression.
According to clinical research published in the Medical Hypotheses journal, magnesium is typically an effective and extremely rapid remedy for treating depression. The researchers point out that case histories exist in which positive results were achieved in less than one week. The subjects of these case studies were given 125–300 mg of magnesium glycinate and magnesium taurate with each of their meals and at bedtime.
If magnesium deficiency is the cause of any mental health issues you might be experiencing, taking a magnesium supplement will probably make a noticeable and immediate difference in how you feel.
If improved nutrition doesn’t help your mental state, it is advisable to speak with your GP or a mental health practitioner to seek additional help.
Make Time for Relaxation — Nobody can endlessly grind away at work without eventually burning out. To avoid burnout, be sure to schedule regular downtimes for relaxation.
Spiritual Health
Perhaps you’re religious and perhaps not. Either way, there are many possible ways to renew your spirit. Some people do this by meditating or gathering at various places of worship. Others make a point of spending time in nature, while others simply take a day off to catch a good movie.
As you can see, it’s important to be conscious of every aspect of your life if you hope to attain enduring success. This blueprint is designed to help you figure out which areas of your life might need attention. If you’ve pinpointed an area that’s holding you back from success, you’re now better positioned to improve that aspect of your life and achieve the success you’re longing for.
