13 ways to be more successful in life.

At Anatomy of Success I encourage people to define success on their terms.

To assist with that definition, I believe a committment to better health, healthy relationships, healthy intimate relationships, and more satisfying work can be immensely helpful. What I call my four tenets of equanimity.

Regardless of your ultimate ambitions, creating more success is contingent upon hard work, discipline and dedication.

Here are 13 things successful people do that might be worth emulating.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

-- Helen Keller

Think Big

Be ambitious and don’t be afraid to pursue your dreams.

Often people that never had the courage to pursue their dreams offer unsolicited advice.

“Have a backup plan”. “That’s too risky”.

Having regret is far more painful than falling flat on your face.

Think big and be true to yourself. If it doesn’t work out, you can always adjust at the appropriate time.

Do what you love

Research shows over 75% of all working adults are dissatisfied with their job.

The explanations vary, but the results are the same. Unhappiness.

Still looking to find your passion and your purpose? Try creating it.

Doing what you love is far more important than doing what pays the most.

You can always adjust your quality of life to accommodate a satisfying career. You can’t get back wasted time doing something you dislike.

Learn equilibrium

Many people place so much emphasis on work they sacrifice health and satisfying relationships.

Is it worth it? The answer is no.

When work demands too much of our time and other areas of our life begin to suffer, it’s time to reexamine what truly matters most.

Without a healthy balance in our life, the pendulum starts to shift in the direction of bitterness, stress, and resentment, a price that has incredible health consequences.

No fear

Anyone who has achieved great success has endured incredible setbacks. It’s inevitable.

Thomas Edison Was famous for saying in an interview “I didn’t fail, I learned hundreds of ways not to invent the lightbulb”

Setbacks are an opportunity to learn.

Many people get so discouraged by failure they give up.

Open our mind to the learning lessons of setbacks and reframe the frustration of failure.

Resolve

Most people give up way too easily.

They start a fitness program with unrealistic expectations and give up a week later after the pain of sore muscles set in.

Here’s a revelation.

Success is extremely difficult, which explains why 90% of all businesses fail in the first 7 years. 

The challenges are incredible, and success demands incredible determination. There’s no formula and theres no short cuts, so let's stop looking and stay focused. Hunker down and prepare for battle, and it’s a war of attrition.

"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning."

Action

People that change the world act on their dreams and they do what’s required to make their dreams a reality.

If every person that invented something revolutionary listened to cynics, we would never have electricity, airplanes or smart phones.

When we dream big action is required to make big dreams happen.

Healthy relationships

Great leaders are endearing because they value healthy relationships and resist the need "to be right".

They listen well and welcome all ideas.

Healthy intimate relationships are no different. 

Arguing and battling over unnecessary details is a recipe for disaster.

Relationship dysfunction is the cause of much anxiety and stress. Working on healthy relationships is critical for enjoying more success and more happiness in life.

Creativity

Creative people are often dismissed as being foolish or unrealistic.

History is rich with creative people that were rejected.

People that had big dreams that were told they would never make it.

Freddy Mercy and Queen were turned down countless times. If that wasn’t the biggest oversight in our solar system.

Creative ideas are seldom popular or understood in the beginning. If your idea truly has efficacy, don’t give up. The critics are often wrong.

Believe

If you don’t believe in your dreams, nobody else will either.

Self-doubt and fear drive most dreams into the ground.

Once we stop dreaming, we abandon all hope of enjoying a better life.

Keep our dreams alive and believe in their legitimacy.

Positive Attitude

Research shows that people with a positive attitude derive incredible mental and physical health benefits.

It all starts with a growth mindset that embraces challenges as an opportunity to grow. It also emphasizes training our self to notice negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.

Don’t quit

Sometimes we must set off alone to achieve great things.

If we are surrounded by doubters and negativity, we start to believe the subtle whispers of failure and surrender our efforts to succeed.

Realizing big dreams demand a high price helps us gain perspective of the effort required to make them materialize. 

It also helps us appreciate when an alternative course of action may be required to enhance the prospect of success.

That isn’t “failure”, its being realistic and refusing to give up just because we hit an impediment. 

Hard work

Success requires hard work and there is no way around it.

Most people prefer the easy path, which is why excuses and blame are so appealing in our culture.

It helps people justify their lack of ambition in favor of convenient excuses that obviate personal responsibilty.

Nobody that has ever succeeded in this life did so without hard work.

If we are unwilling to do what’s required, we will never have the life we desire.

Be brave

In ancient Greece, the Oracles offered advice to people that wanted to know about their future. Above the doorway the words “Know Thyself” were inscribed.

Without courage and strong belief, our dreams will never come true.

Being courageous and brave requires setting off to do something extraordinary, even when nobody believes in our dream.

This takes bravery and self-confidence. Two essentail qualities required for success.

"The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do."

Sum it up

What you might have noticed is that many of the above lessons are similar — most are about developing the right state of mind.

Any other tips on creating more success? Share your thoughts in the comments section and please like and share this article. I love learning from you as well.

About Steve:

Steve Wohlenhaus is CEO of Weatherology, the leading company in the world at disseminating audio weather information.  Steve began his career as a major market television weather anchor in Minneapolis, where he received several Emmy Awards for science programming. Steve is an author and host of the podcast program Anatomy of Success. Reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn. Learn more about my work by clicking on any picture in this article!