Are you ready to set yourself up for success this year? Are you committed to setting goals and achieving them in 2022? If your answer is yes, then you are in the right place to learn the keys to a successful new year!
Far too often, people have ambitious goals that they set for themselves at the start of the new year, but within a few weeks, they stop working towards these goals.
You may be wondering, Why does this happen so often? A reason for this is because people struggle with consistency. They have great intentions and want to create change in their lives. They want to be successful, but they are not always willing to put in the work to get to the place they would like to be.
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Success doesn't happen overnight” and this couldn't better reflect the reality of success. Success is the result of consistency, hard work, and the willingness to take new risks. The amazing thing about success is that it looks different to everyone, because you get to define what success means to you. Well dive deeper into this topic down below.
Define Your Version of Success
The first thing you need to do is figure out what success means to you. Without defining what success is, you can’t implement the daily habits that will get you to the place you hope to be.
We have been conditioned from a young age on a very specific definition of success set by our parents, school system, and society as a whole. We may feel that success equates to how much money we are making, or if we start a family by a certain age. Regardless, it’s important that you reflect and define what success means to you.
For some, living a successful life could look like finding a job and making a stable income to raise a family, while for others, it could look like traveling the world and learning as much as they can by meeting new people. Perhaps for some success is sticking to their purpose, and creating the business or side hustle they have always wanted to create.
Success is defined differently by different people, and can be according to financial goals, relationship goals, career goals, or a combination of each. Ensure that your version of success is based on your values and beliefs, not someone else’s.
Key Differences Between Successful and Unsuccessful People
So what exactly are the habits that separate a successful person from an unsuccessful person? Well, the difference between these two people is actually much smaller than you may think.
The one thing that separates a successful person from an unsuccessful person, is that one person simply allowed themselves to be uncomfortable. That’s it. The successful person pushed themselves into uncomfortable situations whenever they saw an opportunity arise. They recognize that you cannot be successful if you stay within your comfort zone.
On a psychological level, our brains cannot actually differentiate between good and bad. They only differentiate between what is comfortable vs. uncomfortable. This can explain why we do things that are bad for us, yet we confuse them with being good for us because they
“make us feel good in the moment.”
Take eating junk food as an example. Eating your favourite junk food feels very comfortable. At the same time, however, eating junk food gives us immediate pleasure, confusing us to think that it helps us feel good. While we may feel good in the moment, we actually end up feeling worse later on since eating junk food is bad for us in the long-term.
Photo by The Creativity Exchange on Pinterest
Productivity Tools for Success
Now that you understand the habits of highly successful people, and how to define your own version of success, I’m going to share some of my favourite productivity tools that can help you achieve success and stick to your systems this year.
The first tool I absolutely love is Notion. Notion is a tool that I came across a few months ago, and I hadn’t actually heard of before. It’s a free tool that helps you schedule tasks, keep an agenda, and organize your work in one centralized place. Notion includes many drag and drop features, and you can customize beautiful pages for journaling, and task lists if this is something you enjoy doing. I often use Notion to journal, and to keep track of what I would like to get done throughout the day.
Another tool I love to use is RescueTime. RescueTime is a desktop time tracker and productivity tool which shows you exactly where you have spent your time over the duration of a day. You can have RescueTime on in the background, and it will keep track of the % of time you have spent throughout your workday on less productive websites such as Youtube, Facebook, and on productive websites such as Google Sheets. You can compare how you’ve been spending your time on a daily basis, and see your progression as the weeks go by. I highly recommend this tool if you find it difficult to stay focused and want to know how much time you are spending away from your work.
The last productivity method I love to use is the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique is a highly effective technique that involves working in time intervals without any distractions. People often work in 25 or 50 minute intervals without any distractions, and proceed with a 5 or 10 minute break. By doing this, you can work smarter, not harder, and get more done in less time. That’s always the goal, isn't it?
6 Habits of Highly Successful People
With the right habits put in place, you’ll be able to achieve success on a daily basis. While it’s important to have a vision for your life, and goals you hope to achieve, it’s also essential to create the framework to get there by implementing systems into your daily routine. I’ve outlined 6 habits of highly successful people down below, and I hope you are able to incorporate these into your own life!
Wake Up Early and Get 8 Hours of Sleep
Not only does getting 8 hours of sleep make you “ feel good” but there are so many other benefits as well. Getting a proper night’s rest is crucial in learning and memory. Without enough sleep, you will find yourself struggling to remember important details, and it will be hard for you to take in new information. With the right amount of rest, you will be able to learn more, remember more, and process your emotions in a healthier way.
Move Your Body
Engaging in any form of exercise, for as little as 15-20 minutes a day can have a direct affect on your body and brain. Exercise releases endorphins, including dopamine and serotonin, which are the “ feel good chemicals” of your brain. The amazing thing about movement is that it has a direct correlation to significantly improving your mental and physical health and preventing you from developing disease as you get older.
Write Down 3 Things You Want to Accomplish the Night Before
Set aside some time in the evening before you head to sleep and simply write down 3 things you plan to accomplish tomorrow. By doing this the night before, you won’t feel rushed to come up with what those three things are the next morning, and you will experience a better flow state when getting your work done. We only have a limited amount of willpower that we can use each day, therefore, we should not use up part of our willpower right away in the morning since it will leave us with less for the remainder of the day.
Time Block Your Schedule
Time Blocking is one of the most effective strategies for organizing your daily agenda. Time Blocking involves dividing your day up in different time blocks.” You can divide these chunks based on specific tasks you need to complete, people you need to speak with, and anything else included on your daily agenda.
Give Yourself Time to Do Nothing
In my previous blog post, Embracing the Art of Doing Nothing I speak on the idea that it’s essential that we give ourselves a bit of time every day to do absolutely nothing. Without giving ourselves a break, we are likely to experience prolonged periods of burnout, which play an effect on our mental and physical well-being.
Limit Your Time on Social Media
We may find we are taking a small break from work, when all of a sudden we take out our phone for just 5-10 minutes. Before long, you’ve spent the last 30 minutes on your phone scrolling through social media, without any intent behind it. This happens to so many of us, and it’s so important that we set time limits on our devices to encourage us to spend less time on our phones, and more time doing the things we love to do.
I hope you have a clearer picture of what success means to you, and that you’ve found these habits valuable! How are you going to set yourself up for success starting today? Which habits are you planning to implement into your everyday routine? I would love to hear from you in the comments below!