Incredible ways to live a successful life

I won’t protest to know what a successful life is because quite frankly, it is different for each and every one of us. How we define success should always be by our own definition, not someone else’s.

With that said, successful lives are lived. There is no doubt about that. Having watched people around me, close up and from afar, calibrate success, failure, mediocre, and somewhere else in between, I have learned a few tips.

Have a dream

Without a dream, you have nothing to look forward to. Dreaming big gives you the ammunition to believe that anything, and everything is possible – if only you dream. Believe it or not, many people are afraid to dream, in fear that it will not eventuate. In truth, there is some reason in this, but if you don’t dream, you are limiting your possibilities.

Live with purpose

We hear this all the time, and so much so that at times it feels a little like marketing jargon, even to me. But something happened to me 12 months ago, and I realized for the first time in my life the importance of living life with purpose and knowing what your purpose is. Without purpose we squander the minutes, hours and days of our life without direction, and at some point we realize that we are directionless and that is dangerous.

Breathe in, breathe out

This is something I forget about all too often. As a stressed-out entrepreneur, I know that breathing in and breathing out is the only coping mechanism that I have. If you hold your breath for too long, it is catastrophic. You may die. The opposite of not breathing is breathing. It calms you down, sets a pattern in play that fills you with what you need to keep on going.

Healthy mind

Thank goodness going to a psychologist isn’t just a thing that New Yorkers or Hollywood stars do anymore. It is mainstream, and there to stay for a very big reason. Mental health is the single biggest issue we face in and out of work. The abundance of medication in the market and medical practitioners happy to prescribe it means that we are being “told” how we need to manage the way our mind works. I’ve learned the hard way that the only person responsible for your mental wellbeing is you and only you know what the best course of medication, counselling or lifestyle choices will help you build a healthy mindset and improve your overall mental health. When your mind is healthy, your world looks a lot brighter – that’s for sure.

Eat well, drink water

Not just for supermodels of the skeletal type walking down the catwalks of Paris, eating well and drinking water does help you in more ways than just your physique and skin. Slowly drink room temperature water for 4 hours and do nothing else. Think about how you drink it, and the way it travels through your body. It’s therapeutic but also important to providing you with the energy and power to make it through the day.

Eating can affect your mental health with certain foods triggering a bodily response. Work out what works for your body and what doesn’t. It will change your life. I did a blood test to find out food sensitivities 15 years ago and it changed my life.

Play and be playful

No matter how young or old you are, you will know that in the moment where you are a little silly, and poke fun at yourself, you can’t help but release anything that has been on your mind, and smile. If you can find ways to be playful, happy moments will become your norm. This will affect your overall ability to capture what makes you happy and revert back to that moment when need be.

Surround yourself with people that inspire you

It’s no secret that I choose to surround myself with people that are smarter than me, more talented and who have something about them that I don’t. It’s not only inspiring, it helps you grow on many levels. I find incredible ways to keep myself on track in business and life by talking to people that are inspiring and have different experiences to that of my own.

Keep yourself grounded

If success does come your way, try in earnest not to get too caught up in it. Enjoy the moment and savour the feeling, but don’t let it become you. At times I live a life that I never dreamed of, but then when I start thinking it is the norm, I spend time with family, travel to the outback in Australia or where I grew up, spend time with nature, talk to my school friends and give back to those less fortunate than me. When you lose yourself and the grounding falls from beneath you, you are always destined for a big fall. So success may be in that moment, but it is not sustainable.

Challenge yourself often

Set little goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them. Little goals I have found are more realistic than big goals because if you have enough of them and you check them off one by one, you feel like you are constantly accomplishing things. A sense of accomplishment brings to the forefront a successful mindset.

Choose kindness no matter what the situation is

This is easy to do, and hard. Easy because it feels so good to be kind. It’s hard when people are not doing the right thing or are unkind. But mostly people are lashing out because they are unhappy. Life didn’t deal them the cards they had hoped for. They have no real role models to show them the way. When you look at their actions from another perspective, you can be kind and compassionate. In my 40’s, there has been no situation that I haven’t chosen kindness first. It is a trained behaviour but a fulfilling way to live life.

 Sometimes in life we just need a reminder, or something to trigger our mindset to keep us all on a path that leads to happiness. Living in the moment, caring about those around us and being passionate about what is possible – all aids in living a happy, fulfilling life.