Note: This article is by Marc Chernoff, who talks about a set of practices that distinguish successful people from others.
12 things successful people do differently
7. Keeping it simple
The painter Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” which is true. In our modern age, where information flows at the speed of light and innovation opportunities seem endless, we have many options when it comes to planning our lives and our work. Unfortunately, the abundance of options often leads to complexity, confusion, and inaction.
Many commercial and marketing studies have shown that the more product options available to the consumer, the fewer products they usually buy. In the end, choosing the best product out of three options is definitely much easier than choosing it out of 300 options. Most people give up when making a difficult purchase decision. Likewise, if you make your life complicated by distracting yourself with too many choices, your subconscious mind will give up.
Simplicity is the answer. If you are selling a product, make the options simple. If you are trying to make a decision about something in your life, do not waste your time assessing all the details of every possible option. Choose something that you think will work and try it. If it does not work, learn from the experiment, choose something else, and keep moving forward.
8. Focusing on making small, continuous improvements
Businessman Henry Ford once said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Just as you eat your meal one bite at a time, the same applies to achieving your biggest goals. Making small, positive changes, such as eating some healthy food, doing some exercises, and following some small habits that enhance productivity, is a great way to motivate you to live life and reach the success you aspire to, step by step.
If you start with small tasks, you will not need much motivation to get started either. Starting work and accomplishing something will give you the enthusiasm you need. You will soon achieve a series of subsequent positive changes. When I started applying this to my life, I felt so excited that I started this blog to share this philosophy with the world.
Start with just one task, and make a plan for how to deal with problems when they arise. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, make a list of healthy snacks that you can eat when you feel an urgent desire to eat. It will be difficult at first, but it will gradually become easier, which is the point. As your abilities grow, you can face greater challenges.
9. Measuring and tracking progress
Successful people make sure to track their performance in addition to actually doing their work. They take regular pauses to assess their progress, track it as they work toward their goals, and know what needs to be done to excel and advance their performance.
You cannot control what you do not measure correctly. If you track the wrong things, you will miss potential opportunities when they arise. Imagine if you concentrated on keeping track of how many paper clips and pencils you used while managing a small business. This is absurd because pencils and paper clips are not reliable indicator of what matters in a business and have no impact on things like profits, client satisfaction, market growth, etc.
The best approach is to identify your most important goal and then track everything that is directly related to achieving it. Spend some time to determine what your most important goal is and what you need to track, and then start tracking them right away. To visualize the progress, record the results each week in a spreadsheet and use the data to create weekly or monthly progress graphs. Then, do what it takes to get positive results.
10. Maintaining a positive perspective and learning from mistakes
Successful people focus on the positives and look for the bright side in every situation. They know that positivity is a highway to greatness. If you want to succeed, you need to have a positive outlook on life. Life will test you over and over again. If you surrender to the negativity of your inner thoughts, you will never be able to achieve your goals.
Remember that every mistake you make is progress, as mistakes teach you important lessons. Every time you make a mistake, you get one step closer to your goal. The only mistake that can really hurt you is choosing not to do something just because you are afraid of making a mistake. So don't hesitate or doubt your abilities, and don't let your negativity dampen your enthusiasm for work. Learn what you can, and keep pushing yourself forward.
11. Spending time with the right people
Successful people accompany ambitious, like-minded people who always support them. They communicate with those who add vitality to any place they enter, not with those who kill it. They prefer the company of upright people who genuinely inspire them to keep pursuing their dreams and goals.
Who you spend the most time with will shape who you become. Spending time with the wrong people will have a negative impact on you. However, if you choose to accompany the right people, you'll be more successful and capable than you would have been on your own. Find people who are similar to you and work together to make a positive difference in each of your lives.
12. Maintaining life balance
If most people tried to summarize what they want from life, they would list things like falling in love, making money, spending time with family, finding happiness, achieving goals, and so on.
Unfortunately, most people fail to achieve a balance that allows them to achieve these things. They usually achieve one or two of them while completely neglecting the rest. Allow me to present two examples:
- I know a very perceptive businesswoman who, last year, generated almost a million dollars from online business. She is admired by every entrepreneur I know because of the success of her business. However, a few days ago, she suddenly admitted to me that she was depressed, saying, "I'm worn out and alone. I have not devoted enough time to taking care of myself lately, and I feel like something is missing in my life.” I was surprised that one of the most successful people I know does not feel successful because she is not satisfied with the way she organizes her life.
- I also know someone who works as a full-time surfer. I find him every day on the beach in front of our apartment complex in San Diego. He is one of the most cheerful and optimistic men I have ever met. He usually has a big smile, but he lives in a rusty truck with another surfer. Both of them often beg tourists for money.
He admitted to me that the pressure of making enough money to eat often kept him from sleeping at night. Although I cannot deny that this man seems happy most of the time, I would not consider his life a success story.
These are just two simple examples of unbalanced lifestyles that prevent people from discovering their full potential. When you let your professional, social, or familial life take over you and your whole energy, it is very easy to lose your balance.
In Conclusion
It's true that being focused and organized is crucial, but if you want to get things done correctly and be truly successful, you must strike a balance among the different areas of your life. Neglecting one aspect completely at the expense of another will only lead to frustration and exhaustion in the long run.
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