About one decade ago, I learned a lesson from a book that changed the way I see life and success. It goes like this: if you want to become successful in life, you have to focus on BEING and DOING before HAVING.
Let me explain what that means. Most people want to have stuff. They want to have money. They want to have a great marriage. They want to have good health. They want to have everything. That’s the problem; because having is the last thing. The very first thing you have to do is to BECOME.
You see, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it. It might have become a cliché, but it’s still true and will always be true that people who have certain results think and behave in a certain way to have and maintain such results. How you think affects the results you get.
People who have excellent health think and behave in a certain way. People who are overweight behave in certain predictable ways. People who have great marriages build it on trust and commitment to each other. You can predict that a million times. People who have a lot of money delay gratification. You can be sure that that’s true for a million years. So it is safe to say that what we are is what we have. That’s why Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do”
Today I’m going to share with you a few habits that changed my life.
- Worship your morning
The 34th United States President General Dwight D Eisenhower’s philosophy is that a man who does not finish half of his day’s duties by 10AM has lost the day. When I was young, I always cherished waking up in the morning and finishing half of my day’s task before the Sun has risen above eye level. I’ve explained in my previous videos how important it is to wake up early in the morning and be the bird that eats the worm. If you can finish more than half your day’s work by the time that others are planning to wake up, then you are a winner. Start to value your morning to change your life. Start to value your morning to be successful. Understand that 7am is not the same as 7pm. The way that your body communicates with nature and the way that your body reacts to different things change because the time of day is different. And also remember, never consume yourself with news or social media at the early hours of the day. This can distract your mind and put yourself into unwanted attention which can be a hindrance to the start of your day.
- Postpone Pleasure
You should know how to enjoy your life. You should have a very good balance between the pleasure of life and the work-life. You have to learn to sacrifice your pleasure for the betterment of your future. You have to know to say no to things that you know will consume the majority of your time especially in your 20s. This is the time for you to postpone all fashionable things. Live a normal life. Save money. But what you should do is to go after your dreams. Now dreaming about what you want to be and where you want to be and what you want to have is easy but chasing your dreams is the difficult part. It is not going to be about making easy decisions nor is it going to be easy like copying someone else.
- Collaborate
A lot of people have a knack of doing things alone. They do not want to share their success with other people. But remember, there could always be better brains than you out there. Most people were trained by a school system that only taught them how to do things alone. There is less group work in schools now. Children are forced to do everything on their own and everything better than the others. But always know that two is better than one.
Let me tell you why you cannot succeed alone. You are too small. You’re also limited. And you have too little time. Having the habit of curiously choosing a partnership and collaboration, it means that you’re looking for people who you know have strengths to cover your weaknesses. It means you’re looking for people who know what you don’t. It means you’re looking for ways to multiply your strengths and time. Again, three people working together can produce better results than 5 people working alone. It’s a simple truth.
- Spend time alone
There are people who wake up at 5am every day, hurriedly have their bath and commute to work through public transport to a noisy office and then commute back home very late in the evening to watch a few minutes of TV and then go to bed. Then they resume the same cycle the following day. That is a busy and wasteful life. If you don’t spend time with yourself, how are you going to know who you are? If you don’t spend time assessing your life, how can you be sure you are living and not merely surviving. Even if it’s going to be only a few minutes every day, spend time to think and examine your life. If possible, live and work in an environment where there is no noise because creativity hates noise and you can’t be successful in any field if you are not creative.
- Sleep Well
Your brain is by the most valuable asset you will ever have. For that powerful machine to function well, you need a good sleep. Don’t be deceived by people who claim to be sleeping only 4 hours a day with a 20 hour day and are still hard working. They are not hard working unless they have a few hours of nap during the day. Winston Churchill was one of the most significant people in World War II. He knew he had to be active almost all day but he also understood the importance of good sleep to his brain so Churchill demanded the people around him allow 2 hours of nap everyday excluding night sleep. Did you also know Albert Einstein slept 10 hours every night? So it is important to understand that although you must cherish your morning, you must also sleep well. To balance this, you can go to bed very early without staying up late. Sleep can be something very important that will help you be more productive.
