If you want to know how to be successful in life and your career, then you are in the right place. There are certain skills you must have to position yourself for success.

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

What is success in life?

What does it mean to be successful in life? The answer to this question varies from person to person. It is whatever you define it to be. Perhaps for you, being successful means travelling the world or having financial freedom. While for others, it may mean moving up a career path aligned with what they consider to be their purpose in life. At the end of the day, irrespective of what you consider successful in life, it has to be something that gives you personal fulfilment and satisfaction.

So, what would you consider to be a perfect day for you? Would you spend the day video blogging for Youtube? Writing? Climbing tall mountains? Travelling the world? Fishing? Or perhaps simply just spending quality time with your family?

Your reason for wanting to be successful is unique to you. And as aforementioned, your definition of success is also unique to you. The people in your life will also have their own perspective on what success is, and it may not be the same as what you believe it to be. So it is important to follow your own path and not be swayed by others. On your journey to success, focus on what makes you happy and gives you job and personal satisfaction.

Personal/self-development and success.

Personal Development refers to your growth as an individual, to become a better version of yourself. It does not refer to your career growth, status in society or anything of that nature, but to your development as a human being. However, your personal development will positively impact every other aspect of your life, including your relationships and career aspirations to become successful in life.

You have to opt to make personal development happen for yourself, as it does not just happen to you. However, once you decide to work and invest in your personal development, you will be better positioned and equipped for success.

That being said, in cultivating and practising these keys to personal success, you will surely evolve and become a better of yourself, an extraordinary you.

11 things you need to know to make your dreams a reality and become successful in life.

1. To become successful in life, stop expecting overnight miracles or success.

How to become successful? Stop thinking it will happen overnight. Stop thinking it will be easy. You must put in some hard work to accomplish what you want out of life, to become successful. Hence the saying that nothing good in life comes easy; and that hard work pays off. These sayings ring true concerning becoming successful in life, in whatever field you are interested in. Not to say that people do not make it overnight, but these are sporadic cases. And thus seldom happens that way. Not also forgetting that consistency is key to achieving success.

You should expect to work hard on your goals every day for years. That is just being realistic. And when your goal or dream is something you love and have a genuine interest in. Working on it every day for years will not sound like a punishment. Also, success is not attained by participating in some expensive workshops, although it may help. However, your success ultimately lies in the palms of your own hands. You must put in the work, time and energy with the right attitude or positive mindset to get the desired success.

Do not expect to be an overnight success. Work on your mindset and prepare to work hard at practical steps to actualise your goals or dreams.

2. Write down your goals.

To become successful in life and for self-development, writing down your goals has a way of propelling you to accomplish them. Studies have generally shown that people who write down their goals are more likely to accomplish them.

This is also a great technique for the art of manifestation. However, you must write in the present tense for this to work via manifestation. As though what you want is already in existence. You can consciously create the reality or successful life you want, for we are co-creators of our own reality.

3. Evaluate your current goal(s) and make actionable goals to become successful in life.

To become successful in life, you must make goals you can follow to the end. Goals that spark your interest and pull you to accomplish them. In the words of Steve Jobs, “If you are working on something that you care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” Take, for instance, that you are working on a project and are really into it. Hours run by like minutes, and minutes like seconds, and you keep going. You are enjoying your work and barely feel how quickly time goes by. That is one sign that shows you are on the right track and your vision is pulling you.

So, you must evaluate your current goals to ensure they are realistically actionable. Having a goal such as wanting to be rich is not good enough. Such a vague goal will not motivate you in any particular direction to actualise it.

Consider what your natural talent is or what are you good at. What is your life purpose? And what does success means to you? And come up with an actionable, specific goal. Set a date to achieve this goal with actionable steps or sub-goals to actualise your main big goal. Also, have a purpose for wanting to achieve this goal. Your purpose will be the fuel you need to pull you toward your vision or main goal.

4. Work on being a master of your own mind, as what you focus on multiplies.

An important skill in personal development is to be a master of your own mind. Many people think they cannot control their thoughts, but this is not true. Perhaps they do not know how to. It is a skill to be learnt. You can control your mind and your thoughts, and you should. What you think of in your head affects your perception of the world around you. Furthermore, what you focus on grows. Thus, if you focus on positivity, you will have a more positive outlook on life and believe you will succeed in life and your career.

Therefore to become successful, you should focus on having a more positive mindset. This encapsulates positive thoughts, ideas, and feelings. It is said that you manifest into your life what you are and not necessarily what you want. So be what you want, think and act like it, and it will become with time.

5. To succeed in life, you must stop seeking validation from others.

You do not need validation from anybody to become successful in life. People do not need to approve your business ideas before you follow through on them. They are not your boss; you are your own boss. That is the whole point of being an entrepreneur. Not forgetting, however, that not everybody that smiles at you wishes you well. Sad but true. So how do you know that the opinions they give you on your business ideas are coming from a good place? Sometimes, it is better to keep certain things private and avoid being negatively influenced by others.

This notwithstanding, you need to live your life and live it to the fullest without other people’s validation that you are on the right path. You do not need this. To become successful in life, you need to trust your instincts or judgements and know for yourself if you are on the right path. For only you can truly determine this.

You will know you are on the right path when you can feel that you live the life you want when you do the things that give you immense joy and personal satisfaction.

So basically, do not let people cloud your thoughts. If you choose not to follow through on an idea, let it be because you decided against it yourself. And not because someone said something that discouraged you. People assume to know what is best for others, but how can this be so? Do not give people the opportunity to hinder you from following your dreams and becoming successful in life. In the words of Ray Goforth, “There are two types of people who tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.”

6. To be successful in life, you should do what you love. Start living your dreams.

Do something today that your future self will thank you for. It is one thing to dream and quite another to bring those dreams into reality. However, you can do it. Just believe in yourself and start taking action today towards achieving your dreams. There is no better time than the present to start working on your big ideas.

7. Stop looking or waiting for someone else to make it happen for you.

To become successful in life, a successful real estate agent, you-tuber, writer, whatever your aspiration is, you really and truly need to stop waiting for someone to make it happen for you. Stop looking for a mentor to connect all the dots magically. However, there is technically nothing wrong with having a mentor. However, you do not need one. These days all the resources you need to make your aspirations a reality can be found online and for free. You need to invest your time and energy to find resources and make things happen for yourself. This is by no means easy, but getting to where you want to be in life is well worth it.

Let us not forget that the journey to becoming successful is about walking down your own path. It is about taking ownership of your goal, decisions, failures and wins. It is about entrepreneurship and not about having a boss or a mentor.

Imagine if you had to run decisions you needed to make past your mentor for validation or approval before making a stance. Is that not the same as having a boss overseeing your work? Where is the freedom in that? Where is the entrepreneurial spirit of having things done your way? And have your business be a true representation of yourself and not of someone else.

Where you have someone or several people guiding your every step on your journey to success, your wins and losses will not be yours, however, if you take ownership of your decision-making process. Your wins and losses would truly be yours, and the feeling you will get when you become successful is beyond words.

8. To become successful in life, start brushing up on your skills.

You need to know your craft; continuous learning is how to do so. Being an expert on the very first day is not necessary. However, you would need to invest time and energy to learn all you need to know to be great at what you do. Remember, though, consistency is key to seeing favourable results. So follow through with your business idea and stick with it for a year, learning and brushing up on your skills as you go. By the time a year goes by, you will be impressed with how far you have progressed.

So, where you desire to have an online retail business, you need to learn and try various marketing tips and tricks to see what best works for your business. Stay consistent, and see how you progress in a year.

If you desire to become a successful you-tuber, there are many online resources, such as video tutorials on how to accomplish this. Do your research, start your youtube channel, and learn as you go. You have to start, though, do not wait to be perfect. Most of the big Youtubers today started small and were far from perfect when they started. The same thing applies if you want to become a successful real estate agent, you would have to do your research, make sure you have all the required documentation or license to operate as a real estate agent and start.

Building your expertise requires a lot of time and effort, but it is very well worth it. As it will surely help you in the attainment of the success, you seek in life.

9. To become successful, you need to stop standing in your own way.

The fear of failure usually stops people from trying. Your hunger for success needs to be stronger than your fear of failure, propelling you to actualise your dreams to become successful in life.

Procrastination is another roadblock that you can have in your own way. This hinders you from doing what you need to get done to become successful in life.  If you think about it, though, most of these things you have in your way are just in your head. If you work on your mindset and self-development and then have things in perspective, this will better equip you to chase after your dreams.

Irrespective of whatever barrier you have standing in your own way, remember that there is always a solution. And that solution lies with you. The first step to solving a problem is identifying the problem. The solution could be as simple as having a good night’s sleep to be well-rested to have better concentration and mindset for success.

10. Have a productive nighttime and morning routine to become a better version of yourself.

Starting your day right is very crucial to having a productive day. And productive days lead to a better version of yourself. It also leads to success in life. However, having a productive nighttime routine can also help you have a better flow in the morning, so you would not be rushed. Already organised, and know what you need to work on every morning.

So before you hop on social media in the morning or watch the news etc., spend some good quality time doing something that will inspire you and drive you to be that version of yourself that you aspire to be. You could do a gratitude prayer, read something educational or motivational, say your mantras, or read inspirational quotes. Find what best works for you.

You must ensure that the first thing you put into your mind in the morning is something that is in line with the success you desire or the life you want to have. The same thing also applies right before bedtime. Do something consistent with how you aspire to be. Check out this post on the 11 benefits of enjoying quality alone-time for more productivity tips.

11. Start doing. Start working on your goals today to become successful.

To succeed, you must start doing something to bring your goals into existence. Do not expect things to be easy, but rather expect to put in hard work and long hours. And be physically and mentally prepared for it.  Be consistent and keep working hard, and the chances are that you will arrive at your set destination sooner rather than later. You cannot get to your destination by just sitting down and doing nothing with your aspirations. Start working on your goals whilst keeping in mind that “success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston .S. Churchill.

So, in summary, when you are strategising or simply dreaming of how to be successful in life, how to be a successful you-tuber, how to be a successful real estate agent, blogger, whatever it may be, remember that you have the power in your own hands to make your dreams a reality. Put your heart into it, work with passion and see blossoming results.

Firstly, you must decide exactly what you want to be successful at. Secondly, create a realistic deadline for yourself (like a year, for instance), and then make a step-by-step plan to accomplish your goal. Keep in mind that a goal is just a dream without a deadline. Thirdly, start taking the practical steps in your plan to accomplish your set goal. Thus, start doing things daily to move you closer to your goal. And finally, make a promise to yourself that you will be consistent and keep moving forward until you become successful. Decide within yourself that you will never give up. Believe in yourself and keep a positive mindset on your journey to success.