What is Meaningful Success?
In a society dominated by how many likes you get on Instagram, how many zeros are on your paycheck, where you live, what designer you wear, how many trips to Europe you go on and what car you drive, it is sometimes hard to know what signifies success. Is it going to an Ivy League college? Or living in Beverly Hills? Or becoming a social media influencer? Or is it none of those things?
The truth is, we all think, feel, and choose in unique ways; we all define our own meaningful success. How you understand and use your incredible mind is predictive of how successful you will be. Success is not a competition. You can never be truly happy as someone else but you make a successful YOU.
As I discuss in my new book, Think, Learn, Succeed, success comes down to what I call “mental self-care”. It is about how you think, and how to harness the power of your mind to live into your full potential in school, work and life. It is about controlling negative thinking patterns, developing positive mindsets, learning how to build healthy memories and embracing the unique way you think, feel and choose.
What are some ways you can improve your mental self-care today, and harness the power in your mind to succeed in every area of your life?
- Stop comparing yourself to others. Comparison is a killer, plain and simple. It will impact how you think about your own abilities, and affect your ability to use your mind to succeed in school, the workplace and life. It is important to remind yourself that the law of the brain is diversity: there is no “normal” human, and if you try be like Einstein, or even Celine Dion, you will fail. You make a lousy someone else, but a perfect you, because you think in a completely unique and wonderful way. It is up to you, therefore, to design your own blueprint for success. You can do something no one else in the world can do—now that is something to celebrate! Develop an expectancy mindset when you think about yourself: expect great things! Perhaps write what you love to do and want to do in a journal and read it when you are feel at a low.
- Do something you love. If you are not happy where you are, start looking for a new job. We all need a purpose, and your work should be your vocation—something that makes you feel alive and fulfilled. If you are not satisfied with your work, it will be hard for you to believe in your own success, and will lack the drive or determination to be the best at what you do. Indeed, it is hard to get up in the morning when you hate where you have to spend most of your waking hours. Don’t allow yourself to be comfortable where you are, even if you are happy. Develop your willpower mindset, and shift the direction of your life! Think of ways you can start changing your life today, and write them down!
- Don’t ruminate on your failures. Thomas Edison once said that his failures were not failures, but more information on what doesn’t work! When it comes to failure, change your perspective. We are all human, after all (even perfectionists!). Don’t be too hard on yourself, pick yourself up and see the effort as a lesson learned. Change the way you think about what has happened in the past, and avoid marinating on what hasn’t worked out—this will affect your mental clarity and put your body into toxic stress, impacting your mental and physical health and impeding your ability to succeed in life. Change the way you see your situation: develop a possibility mindset that sees failures as the steps to success, because success is possible!
- Find out how you uniquely think! We all think, feel and choose in different ways, and once you recognize that, and start discovering how you think, it will free you up to be the best, most successful version of yourself. I have created a Gift Profile that can help you begin to discover the wonderful way you think, enabling you to pursue the life you want to pursue--a life that is both meaningful and exciting. This profile will help you become more efficient in school, work and life! For more information, see my book Think, Learn, Succeed.
Mental self-care is the key to finding your vocation: what gets you out of bed in the morning, and every morning to come. To do what you love and be what you are made to be is the very definition of success. You can only be you, and who you are is brilliant, exciting, and inspiring!
Do you feel like a failure? Do you want to learn how to succeed at whatever you put your mind to? Come to our annual conference this year in Dallas, where you will learn how to define your own success and live your best life! Group discounts and CEU credits are available.