You can be successful at any age, but the strategy that leads you there will depend on your definition of success.
We often equate success to wealth and career accomplishments. While these two can be part of success, the ‘wealth/career view’ leaves out other important parts of life. Family, academics, athletics, and romantic relationships are some of the key areas of life in which you should aim for success.
While individual definitions of success vary, a lot of us define success as being happy, fulfilled, healthy, loved, and safe.
Whether you’re looking for how to become rich at a young age, or looking for a comprehensive way of improving your life, this article has you covered.
How can you Boost your Chances of Achieving success?
There is no perfect blend of ingredients that guarantee success, but there are steps that can take that’ll immensely improve your chances of being successful in your finances, life, love, career, and whatever is close to your heart.
1. Cultivate a Growth Mindset
Psychologist Carol Dweck’s research reveals that there are two types of mindsets shape how people view themselves and their aptitudes: The growth mindset and the fixed mindset.
For people with a fixed mindset, things like intelligence are static and unalterable. And so people with a fixed mindset view success, not as a product of effort – it’s merely a result of intrinsic talents.
Given that they believe qualities like talents are innate, for them, it’s either you have it or you don’t, and thus, people with a fixed mindset give up easily when faced with challenges. They walk away from things that don’t come to them easily because they see that as a lack of the innate skills needed to excel.
Conversely, those with a growth mindset believe they can learn, transform, and grow with a bit of an effort. People who believe in growth have higher chances of achieving success. What the going gets tough, they strive to improve their skills and work harder towards success.
How to cultivate a growth mindset:
● Believe that deliberate effort matters. Rather than seeing your abilities as fixed, believe that through hard work, you can become better at anything.
● Learn new skills. When faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, people with a growth mindset strive to learn skills that can help them overcome and succeed.
● View failure as a learning opportunity. Failures should be a source of experiences from which you can learn and improve.
2. Bolster your Emotional Intelligence
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) has always been seen as a key factor that contributes to success in most areas of life. But more and more studies now show that emotional intelligence is an even more significant contributing factor to success.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, manage, and analyze emotions. Emotionally intelligent people are not only able to understand their feelings, but also those of others.
How to improve your emotional intelligence:
● Monitor your emotions. Identify your feelings and try to understand what’s triggering them.
● Manage your emotions. Strive to view things objectively; You shouldn’t repress or bottle your emotions, but you should find appropriate and healthy ways of expressing and regulating them.
● Listen to others. Hear not just what they say, but also pay attention to their body language and nonverbal cues.
3. Develop Mental Toughness
Mental toughness refers to grit, the ability to keep going even when faced with obstacles. Resilient people view challenges as opportunities. They believe in their ability to shape their future. They also strive to finish what they’ve started.
So how can you cultivate mental toughness and boost your chances of gaining success while young?
● Believe in yourself. Always self-encourage, stay positive and eliminate any negative self-talk.
● Keep trying. Even then, when with setbacks and barriers, keep fighting; focus on sharpening the skills that’ll help you navigate your circumstances better.
● Set goals. To be an achiever, you need to set attainable goals. Goals give you a sense of direction and motivate you in the face of obstacles.
● Find support. Every winner has a reliable support system behind them. Mentors, friends, family, and co-workers cheer you on during difficult times as well as offer you assistance and counsel. This can help you get to the top faster.
4. Strengthen Your Willpower
In the world’s most extensive longitudinal study, researchers began observing a group of highly intelligent kids. As they evaluated how these subjects navigated through life from childhood to adulthood, researchers noted that those who became successful in life shared key characteristics that the unaccomplished lacked. These traits include willpower and perseverance.
The traits are often part of one’s overall personality; however, they can be improved. Persisting during tough times, delaying gratification, and keeping your eyes on the long-term rewards are often the keys to success in all aspects of life.
So how can you improve your willpower?
● Learn to distract yourself. For instance, if you’re on a quest to lose weight, but you have a difficult time avoiding your favorite snacks, you can learn to shift your focus into other things during these moments of weakness.
● Will power is a skill that you can improve and transfer into all aspects of your life. Like all skills, you start by aiming for small gains. For instance, you can start by avoiding your favorite sugary snacks. As you improve your ability to apply will power in service of small goals, you will find that you have a stronger will power when striving for bigger goals.
5. Let your Intrinsic Motivations Guide You
What motivates you? Is it the external rewards that push you towards your goals, or is it your intrinsic motivations that inspire you?
Extrinsic rewards like awards and money can be good motivators, but many people are most fulfilled and motivated when they are pursuing goals that they find intrinsically satisfying.
Research shows that extrinsic rewards can be excellent predictors of some aspects of performance, but it is intrinsic motivators that best predict performance quality.
How do you find and channel your intrinsic motivation?
● Challenge yourself. Often, people find that aiming for goals that are achievable but not easy, is an excellent way of marshaling motivation to succeed. Challenges keep you focused on the task, boost your self-esteem, and point you into areas in which you need to improve.
● Stay curious.
● Take charge. It’s hard to be intrinsically motivated unless you feel you can influence the outcome. Find a way of taking charge.
● Embrace competition. There will be people pursuing goals that are similar to yours; this shouldn’t make you feel intimidated. Competitors give you something against which to weigh your efforts and push you to work harder and keep improving.
6. Nurture Qualities Linked to Success
Psychologists have, for the longest time, tried to find links between specific traits and success in work and life. Based on the latest research, here are the qualities that consistently draw a parallel to success.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is the quality of being diligent and careful. Conscientious people not only strive to do their work well, but they also take their obligations to others seriously. So aim for excellence for excellence’s sake and always keep your promises to yourself and others.
Accepting Ambiguity
Life is messy; there are now always clear answers and precise ways of doing things. Successful people embrace this ambiguity. Rather than being inflexible and rigid, they accept whatever is thrown at them.
Embrace ambiguity by looking at issues from multiple perspectives and mulling over even the ideas and opinions that you don’t accept. And, don’t fear the unfamiliar.
Capable of adjustment
Success is also often hinged on the ability to adjust to change rapidly. Successful people reframe difficult situations as learning opportunities and obstacles as growth opportunities. This allows them to be agile and to recover faster.
Also, embrace change. If you feel overwhelmed when your plans don’t pan out, step back, and find ways to cope.
Courageous
The one quality that you find in all successful people is great courage. They take risks and are not held back by the fear of failure.
Research shows that courageous people tap into positive emotions to counterbalance fear. And so when you’re facing risky situations, focus on positive feelings. Bur, risk-taking should be offset with common sense.
Curiosity
Successful people keep inquiring about what’s going on around them. They are eager to expand their knowledge and skills. You should never stop learning.
Competitiveness
Successful people are motivated by competition and avoid sliding into jealousy. To nurture healthy rivalry, you should focus on your own progress rather than obsessing about being the best. And be happy then others are winning. Let their success inspire you.
There is no standard measure of success, and indeed there is no single definition of a successful life. But, by observing how successful people navigate their lives, you can learn new strategies and tactics that you can assimilate into your life. Nurture and cultivate these abilities, and in time you’ll be better equipped to reach your goals and achieve personal success.
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