We prepare and learn all our lives – from pre-school to grade school to middle school to prepare us for high school. High school is good preparation for college. And college can be good preparation for finding a job. Yet none of this is very good at preparing you for general success in life. The most important ideas and skills for successful living aren’t taught in school. Unless you have an appropriate mentor, this critical part of your education is your responsibility.
Consider these secrets to living a successful and enjoyable life:
- Persistence is the ultimate power. There are plenty of highly intelligent and talented people living on the street. Even if you feel that you were born with the short end of the stick, you can still be incredibly happy and successful by any measure. The ability to persevere can overcome almost any obstacle.
- You can’t control other people. With practice, you can learn to control yourself. When you appreciate how challenging it is to control yourself, you’ll realize how futile it is to attempt to control others. Invite people into your life that you don’t feel the need to change, and everything will go more smoothly.
- The best investment is the investment you make in yourself. Spend money to enhance your skills and abilities. A gym membership and the right books can be the best money you’ll ever spend.
- Failing is an essential part of success. Those that ultimately succeed are those that failed the most. Fail quickly, learn, adjust your process, and have another go at it.
- It’s important to forgive easily. When you forgive others, you set yourself free. Forgiveness doesn’t always mean you give the other person a second chance. It means that you’re choosing not to suffer any longer.
- Most of the things you worry about will never happen. We’re all experts at creating imaginary challenges. We worry and expect the worst. Take a few moments and think about the biggest worries you’ve had. Most of them never happened. There’s plenty of time to get upset after something negative actually happens. Avoid feeling bad before it’s justified.
- You only need a couple of good friends. Good friends are hard to find. Those people that you believe have 20 close friends do not. Focus on making quality relationships. You don’t have enough time to take care of more than a couple of close friends anyway.
- Find a partner that fits into your life, rather than trying to build a life around your partner. Suppose you have the life-long dream of spending your winters in San Diego and your summers in the south of France. It doesn’t make sense to become romantically involved with someone that insists on living near their family in Oklahoma.
- Build a life you love and then find someone that fits into your lifestyle. There are more people you could happily spend a lifetime with than you think.
- Find your purpose. Living in a three-bedroom ranch with two kids and a dog is not enough. Imagine having everything you want in life, but spending 8+ hours each day at a job you despise. You’ll spend a lot of time at work. Ensure that you find something you enjoy.
- Stay in shape. Even the 3-sport high school athlete can eventually reach 300 pounds. It’s much easier to stay in shape than to get in shape. Develop an exercise routine and diet plan you can follow for a lifetime.
It’s possible to do well in school and still struggle with life. However, life is easier than you think once you understand these secrets you never learned in school.
I think I practice all those habits including having a gym membership for many years. I fail at many things but not everything.
That is good to hear Lily! Hope you enjoyed the blog. Stay awesome!
Agree with everything you said especially the 10th or.Staying in shape is crucial for a happy healthy life.
Thank you so much for your comment, Dr. Amrita. Stay awesome!
Have you heard that school is an interruption in the learning process or that schools were created to teach people to be employees or soldiers?
That is news to me, although I can certainly see how that can be. There is a lot of criticism against most modern-day school practices and curriculums. Of course, there are a lot of great things as well.
These are all perfect! One of my grandson’s was trying so hard in life but had a few failures. I told him they weren’t failures, they were just different ways of learning. Now at 24 years old he owns a very successful auto detailing and repair shop plus he’s always giving back to his community. #5 can sometimes be hard, depending on the situation. But I do agree that once we forgive, we can move on.
Wow. That is such a great story. We can look at failures as a lesson in life. Stay awesome, Martha!
Great tips, Paul!
For much of my life I avoided failure whenever I could, which meant I didn’t experience a whole lot. My love for learning and experiencing new things, thankfully, has proven harder to fight off so I’ve learned to fail but I know I still fight it too much.
This quote at the end really struck me as I had never thought of it before: “It’s possible to do well in school and still struggle with life.” I was a terrible student, the structure of traditional schooling did not work for me, it wasn’t until college where I could create my own schedule that I excelled. It’s nice to know all of the kids who seemed so much smarter than me need these pointers too.
Wow! Thank you so much Kimberly for sharing your experience.
Paul, this article of yours just presented in my Twitter feed today. Fun! You are so right in every point you make. #2 sometimes comes disguised as irritation at difficult people. When I was young, this was the biggest energy leak in my life. But I learned more and more about dealing with different types of people and accepting that everyone is doing the best they can, according to their understandings. And I remember to stay centered and grounded. Peace Within (I think you have the book) is now second nature to me. Thanks for a great piece.
I am so glad to read your comment, Kebba. Happy that you liked my blog.