How to become truly successful

motivation Jul 30, 2020

Studying successful people is easy because there are so many of them. But finding people who are successful in a traditional sense and also more importantly who are genuinely happy, healthy and vibrant - is not so easy.

For the last 10 years, I have taken the difficult path to study these happy, healthy outliers. Learning from them through the lens of positive psychology, my own experience and those of the many thousands of people I have coached here’s what I found:

It’s time to redefine success and work towards it

When I looked at those “successful” people, I noticed a trend. Many of them were great at their jobs but were also depressed, unfit, addicted, struggling in their relationships, dangerously unhealthy and unhappy.

If I asked you what you want from your career, I am sure many of the below would apply.

  1. To generate as much income as physically possible?
  2. To be the best you can in your business?
  3. To learn and progress as a person
  4. To stay healthy in body and mind
  5. To maintain a vibrant home life
  6. To have healthy relationships
  7. To enjoy the process
  8. To be happy

The old way of thinking gets stuck at point 1. The idea is to generate as much income as possible then, in theory, you skip to point 6 and Ta-daaaa - you’re happy. 

***My usual caveat I am all for career success and income generation but I view this as the cherry on top.

You see, the old way misses the fundamental point. When you look after all the other aspects such as health, fitness and nurtured your connections, you have a much higher chance of performing at a top-level and being happy while doing it.

So I set out on a mission. I wanted to redefine success and then achieve it.

My new success blueprint looked like this:

  • To create a vibrant home life
  • To nurture quality relationships, 
  • Stay in peak physical and emotional condition
  • Enjoy the process 
  • Be as happy and energised as possible 
  • Be the best I can possibly be

For several years I have used this new definition of success to guide my own actions. 

It’s scary at first

When you identify with the true success blueprint, there are no more excuses. This is on you. While it’s scary at first, it is also incredibly empowering. To know that you are in control of your destiny.

For me, the true success formula is about wellbeing first, which generates optimal performance, which very often leads to the cherry on top of traditional material success. 

The best part is that you have an element of control over all of these variables. 

Although the great philosopher, Epictetus would argue that you only have control over your beliefs, which I agree with in its pure form, but you also have control over your actions based on these beliefs. 

You can choose to nurture your relationships, you can also choose to eat a nutritious diet, train your body and mind. From this platform of vibrancy, you can also choose to learn the skills that will help you perform at an optional level in life and business. 

So the healthy take away from today’s blog is this.

Rather than focus on money or status or a certain level in your career. Shift your focus towards the following 6 skills, 

*I cover these 6 skills in detail in my book, “Let’s Do This!” 

  • Optimising your sleep
  • Reducing or removing alcohol
  • Moving your body every day
  • Eating a nutritious wholefoods
  • Making time for  rest/replenishment and recovery 
  • Nurturing quality relationships 

The secret is this - If you put all your effort into mastering these 6 skills you have a great chance of optimising your health and happiness with the cherry on top that income and career advancement often follow.

My parting gift is a book recommendation, “Happiness by design” by Professor Paul Dolan, who’s fantastic research and wisdom has helped shape my belief that we get to design our happiness and therefore true success.  

Stay connected with news and updates!

Join my mailing list to receive the latest news and updates. You're information will not be shared.

Close

Sign up for my newsletter and get my list of 10 great books to keep you strong in turbulent times

*I will not pass your email onto anyone else