Be successful by doing the simple things right every day

Everyone wants to understand the magic formula for how to be successful in life. And especially at the beginning of a new year, we make resolutions to improve our lives, hoping to turn to success.

We made it our goal to quit smoking, exercise regularly, learn a new language, or save more money. But studies have shown that 80% of all New Year’s resolutions fail within weeks.

Why don’t people fulfill their purposes? And how can you create lasting positive change in your life?

Any famous actor, athlete, or businessman will tell you that success doesn’t come overnight. Instead, being successful is the result of years of practice and making the right decisions.

Master 3 Areas to Succeed in Life

To experience the magic of great success, here are three areas we must master:

First, we need to develop a philosophy of life that helps us face daily life with the right attitude.

Second, we must commit to lifelong learning.

And third, there are essential habits to keep in mind that will make success inevitable.

All the reasons why people are not successful with their New Year’s resolutions are related in one way or another to attitude, learning, and habits.

And maybe we weren’t ready when the New Year started. After all, it is just a random date and any day is perfect for turning your life around.

As the Chinese saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best moment is now.

And the good news is that we can all already excel in these success factors.

1. Develop the right attitude to excel in life

We live our lives moment by moment. And many of those moments are spent with seemingly unimportant activities like making our beds, brushing our teeth, taking the escalator, ordering coffee at Starbucks.

We also call these activities of daily life mundane, and many of us perceive them as boring.

And we tend to overlook the little things because they often don’t have an immediate result. Little things get worse over time. And as such, they make a difference.

And as the old Zen saying goes, “The way a person does one thing is the way he does everything,” every seemingly small choice in our life is important.

When we control the little things in our lives, we show ourselves that we are responsible for our lives.

Blaming circumstances never gets us anywhere. And by being in control of the little things in our life, we also develop the right approach that will eventually lead us to success.

95% of people do not achieve most of their goals in life. How can this be when all we have to do is focus on the simple things in life? Successful people know that everything they do in life is important.

Unsuccessful people often unknowingly think that what they do right now doesn’t matter.

Our vision of life is our philosophy of life. It determines our mentality and attitudes, feelings and, of course, actions.

An essential part of our philosophy of life related to success is knowing that we can improve our intelligence and skills.

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has called this the growth mindset. If you have a growth mindset, you don’t think your current situation is eternal.

This understanding applies particularly to how we deal with failure. When you see failure as proof of an inept personality, this limiting and prejudiced fixed mindset will become a natural constraint on your growth.

Dweck found that those with a growth mindset managed to bounce back from failures. More accurately, he noted that because growth-minded students did not consider their intelligence level to be fixed, they did not perceive failure as a threat.

Instead, people with a growth mindset know that they can learn from failure and use the experience to improve. As a result, they are more inclined to take on challenges and learn from them.

2. Lifelong learning will help you face new challenges

By having a growth mindset, you understand that you can and should continually evolve with your environment.

Good past choices that got you where you are today may not keep you there as the world changes.

Reading a few pages every day of an educational or inspirational book can greatly improve your life. By just reading a few pages every day, you could finish about one book every month.

When you learn something new, you need to practice to encourage retention. Practicing newly discovered materials also broadens your understanding of the knowledge you gain and makes it part of you.

The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “Knowledge without practice is useless and practice without knowledge is dangerous.”

3. Use the power of positive habits to become unstoppable

Quitting a bad habit can be challenging. And many try in vain.

Here’s how to effectively break a bad habit:

Don’t tackle the annoying habit head-on. Instead, replace it with a positive habit and watch your old ways disappear.

Good habits are an essential component to being successful in life.

But forming good habits takes effort.

Skill, education, experience, or means don’t count until you do something.

Therefore, the first and foremost habit to keep is to show up and be present.

Similarly, this is what the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson meant when he wrote: “Do it and you will have the power.”

It all starts with showing up, but many of us routinely don’t.

So time can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

If we are consistent with taking small, simple and positive actions, success will materialize over time.

On the contrary, by ignoring the mundane matters of life, we give up a powerful compounding effect.

And to make your life easier right now, surround yourself with successful people.

As the saying goes, ‘Birds of the same plumage fly together’, people of similar character or background tend to associate with each other.

In the same way, if you want to achieve success, look at the people around you. Where are you going? The people around us naturally influence us. And if your closest connections are headed for failure, you may end up there too.

So join people on the road to success if you want that to be your destiny.

And remember: it doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you go makes all the difference.