“Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life.” — Charles Duhigg
You can have the habits of the world’s most successful people
We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by messages about our health and wellness. There are articles about what to eat, how often you should exercise, and how many hours of sleep you need. And yet there is one area that is consistently overlooked: the habits you have and the way they affect your life.
Many people think of habits as something that can’t be changed or fixed—but this isn’t true at all! You can have the habits of some of the most successful people in history if you put in enough time and effort.
Develop a growth mindset
You have a choice: you can either believe that you are smart, or you can believe that you have the potential to be smarter. The first is a fixed mindset, and the second is a growth mindset.
A fixed-mindset person believes their abilities and intelligence are innate and unchangeable. So if they don’t do well at something, they assume it’s because they aren’t good at it—and they avoid challenges as much as possible to avoid getting embarrassed by failure again.
A growth-mindset person believes their abilities and intelligence can be developed with practice, persistence, and effort over time. When they don’t do well at first, they assume it’s because they need to acquire the skills to do so—and then invest their energy into training themselves in those areas until they become proficient enough to succeed on their terms.
The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset might seem subtle—but its effects can be profound. People with fixed mindsets tend toward lower achievement and depression. In contrast, people with growth mindsets tend toward more extraordinary achievement (because every failure provides additional learning opportunities) and positive emotions such as joy from success!
This suggests that even though we all start with different levels of ability when we’re young children–some kids are naturally better than others–if we want our children (or ourselves) to grow up healthy mentally through adolescence into adulthood, then we need teach them about how everyone has potential for greatness within themselves.
Practice optimism
Optimism is a learned skill.
It’s not the same as being positive; it’s a way of processing information. When you’re optimistic, you look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty. You focus on what will go right in your life instead of what might go wrong or has gone wrong in the past.
When we have a terrible day at work or argue with our partner, we tend to dwell on those negative experiences rather than focus on happier moments. The problem with this is that it makes us feel worse about ourselves and our lives, which only makes us more likely to encounter more negative experiences in the future! That’s why optimism is so important: It helps us stay mentally healthy by reminding us those good things will happen too!
Improve your follow-through
Follow through is the ability to get things done and make progress. Without follow-through, you can’t start a project, finish a task, or grow as a person.
It’s an essential habit because it helps you get more done quickly with better results. Many people struggle with it, and they don’t understand how to improve their follow-through.
The good news is that improving your follow-through doesn’t require much effort; all that’s required is some self-awareness, making simple tweaks, and applying these new behaviors to your life.
Dream bigger than ever before
We all have dreams. Some of us dream of going to Mars, and others just want to be able to pay rent every month, but if we’re honest with ourselves, a lot of us have larger aspirations than that. We can do better than “just getting by”.
Not every dream can be accomplished in a day or even a year. Many dream of making it big in Hollywood or becoming the next Steve Jobs, but this isn’t always realistic. We all must start somewhere, and that’s what makes dreams so important: they give us something to strive for and be better at. Without them, we’d just be going through life without any real goals or ambitions.
Conclusion
We’ve covered a lot of ground, but there’s still one more question: Who is this article for?
Well, anyone who wants to be a better person (Growth Mindset)! If you’re unsure where to start with your habit development efforts, remember that it’s all about making small changes that add up over time. You don’t have to rush into anything and don’t need special tools or equipment; just focus on being kinder towards yourself and others.
Do something (anything!) every day. Pick your favorite and MAKE IT A HABIT!
- Do one thing to pamper yourself each day
- Make your bed
- Write in a journal – gratitude or otherwise
- Take a walk around the block
- Enjoy the sunrise or sunset
- Get up 5 minutes earlier to have coffee/tea by yourself
- Find a way to laugh
- Don’t leave home without being showered or groomed
You get the picture…
And if these tips sound too simple but you are not doing them…well, then maybe they are exactly what you need right now.
