I think I read one of these lists every week. There’s always one floating around face book along with “20 overrated things about being in your 20’s” which I also read and I’m going to stop because it does nothing for my life!

But back to my story, I found this list late last week and I liked it, it had some things that I already knew but it was simple, too the point and it didn’t try to make you feel bad for not doing everything on the list. I’ve been on a serious “success” and “living to my potential” obsession for almost 2 yrs now and whether you think that’s crazy or not doesn’t matter to me because it’s helped me a lot! As many of these lists that I stumble on and search for and even if they all say the same thing over and over again I read it because it reminds me of what I’m after and what will help me get there.

Of all the things on this list below that I need to work on the most it’s probably to “take advantage of my morning”. I love to sleep, and unless I need to be on a set at 6am or do a live morning show interview at 5:30 in the morning then I will be a sleep to a decent hour, nothing crazy like 12pm or anything but just not anything before 9am! But I would love to figure out the ways of changing my sleep pattern and waking up earlier to get more done in my day, I guess that’ll be my next task for my “self-improvement mission”. Check out this list below and tell me what you think, which of these habits have you already picked up and which ones are you working on? Happy Self Love Saturday! 

1. Win the Morning

While the world sleeps, the high performer works. Could you imagine if you woke up on purpose, with purpose every day? How can you expect to achieve excellence when the first decision you make on a daily basis is to procrastinate the day by hitting the snooze button?

Win the morning by waking up earlier than you normally do to get a workout in, feed your mind with good books, and fuel your body with a good breakfast—all before the rest of the world is deciding whether to get up or not. Win the morning.

 

2. Do Hard Things

We are surrounded by people who want the fastest and easiest path to success, but not you—not anymore. Rather than run from the challenge that is keeping you from doing what you want, stare it in the face; learn about it; and embrace it.

“The road to greatness is easy”, said “no one ever”.

Doing hard things will teach you lessons you wouldn’t learn otherwise, and will make you stronger than you thought possible.

You can do hard things.

 

3. Embrace feedback

The average person hates to be told what they are doing wrong or what they can do better. Learning to accept feedback is not easy, but once you decide to seek it out and act on ways you can improve, you will dramatically improve your progress.

Embracing feedback doesn’t mean to do what everyone tells you; identify key mentors or coaches who are great at what they do and more importantly, who care about your future, then allow them to take you places you wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

 

4. Learn from Failure

No one likes to fail, lose, or mess up; but high performers use adversity to learn lessons, and refuse to allow them to disable them emotionally. When you fail, identify what you did well, what you can do better, and what you are going to do about it right now.

 

5. Choose your attitude

One of the most important decisions you make every day is the attitude you are going to have when you walk out your door. Don’t take your attitude for granted or it will get the best of you.

 

6. Do one more

As an athlete, you can do 10 reps in the weight room, or you can do 11.  As a sales rep you can choose to make 15 calls or choose to do 16. One of the best ways to build mental strength is to do something you might not want to do, but you know will help you.

Do one more—because the average person won’t.

 

7. Have a purpose

The clearer you can see your target, the more likely you are to hit it. High performers don’t do things “just because”, as mentioned earlier, they do things on purpose, with purpose. When you know why you do what you do, you’ll have more power to do it.

 

8. Recommit every single day

One reason the average person doesn’t achieve their goals is because life catches up to them and they allow the things that they have to do blind them from the things they want to do. Every day, recommit to the things that matter most.

You empower yourself when your priorities are in line.

 

9. Be patient

Success is made in a slow-cooker, not a microwave. High performers understand that overnight success comes after years of hard work. Be patient with yourself, keep your eyes on the prize and focus on the process, the results will take care of themselves.

 

10. Fear no one

Refuse to allow people to intimidate you. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do something great. Putting others on a pedestal because of their talent, experience, and or accolades makes you susceptible to beating up on yourself because you feel that you’re not as good as they are. Anyone can be beat, including you; so respect your competition but refuse to fear them—who knows, they may fear you.