You’ve probably heard, repeatedly, that success is primarily about attitude. While I might not go that far, attitude is every bit as important as the work you put into your success – and in fact, you won’t put in the right work if you don’t have the right attitude. So how do you create that attitude? These five techniques are some of the most important.
Be an Early Riser
No one wants to hear this, but it’s true. When you get up at least two hours early, before you have to start your routine, you accomplish more and feel more positive and productive throughout the day. While everyone else is sleeping, you’re completing the most important tasks of your day.
While everyone else is rushing to get ready and get to work, you’re calmly going through your routine. Later in the day, when everyone is stressed because there is so much to do and so little time to do it, you’re relaxed and cool because you’ve already finished your most important tasks, before they even woke up. This one technique can change your life if you do it regularly.
Choose the Right People
It has been said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So look at the people in your life, and ask yourself if that’s really who you want to be. Surround yourself with positive people who are as dedicated to their own success as you are to yours. This may mean spending less time with friends you’ve been used to.
It may mean moving to a new work environment that nurtures your success. It will definitely mean paying more attention to who you are and who you want to be – and that alone will improve your success mentality.
Have a Plan
Take some time on Friday afternoon or Monday morning to plan your week and figure out what you’re going to be focusing on. Also think about why these tasks and projects are the important items for your week. Then every day make a plan for what you’ll be working on, based on your weekly plan. Know that you will always get distracted and things won’t go as planned.
But have a plan, because if you don’t you’ll wander aimlessly. Know where you want to go and have a plan for getting there. Even if things don’t go as you hoped and planned, knowing what you need to do and where you need to end up will help you reach your goals.
Be Grateful
Keep an attitude of thankfulness and positive thoughts. Even when things seem to be going badly, take the time to remember how thankful you are for the good things in your life. This may sound sappy, but there is science behind it; studies show that people who are grateful succeed.
It’s not just about positive thinking and hoping everything will be okay, but about truly being grateful and understanding how much of your life is just right at the moment. This may be hard to remember to do at first, but when you make a practice of gratitude, you’ll see a definite increase in your ability to do what you set out to do. Your attitude will push you forward.
Study Success
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Read to lead”. Well, with technology now you don’t necessarily have to read success-related books. You can listen to podcasts or CDs or watch videos on YouTube. The important thing is that you do absorb these books by people who’ve created their own success.
It’s not only the inspiration here that matters, but your dedication to studying. If you constantly study, you’ll learn, and you’ll engrain in your subconscious the idea that you are a student of success. And that matters.
If you follow all five of these suggestions for just one month, you will be amazed at the difference in your attitude. If you do it for six months, you will notice that not succeeding has become not an option. And if you do it for a year you will find yourself succeeding beyond your wildest dreams.
John Mak is the owner of simply1software.com. His online purpose is to deliver quality information about software and other high end products for consumers. He’s also offering special deals and discounts for remote PC/MAC access software GoToMyPC Coupon, and a unique Mozy Promotional Code for those who want to save their files and their money!
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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Success depends on the attitude as well as the a way person interprets success. For me climbing ladders of success is an appraising achieval and beholding the final step is the ultimate goal.It is rightly said ” You are know with the company you keep” . So, keep successful people close and achieve their status, Just don’t loose hope.
Karan Lugani recently posted..Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple
Thank you Karan,
”Your vision becomes clear when you look inside your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” Carl Jung
Hello Karan. That can’t more truthful right there. Friends of mine in South Africa has as saying: ‘Meng jou met die semels, dan vreet die varke jou op’. It’s got to also be said that a balance is necessary. You need to have people that keep you positive and inspire you. On the other hand, you also need to share and teach down – that’s’ how you reproduce yourself..
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You really can’t explain how beneficial waking up early truly is. This has been a KEY to making my business a success. Also, having a positive attitude and being grateful for everything thing that happens no matter how big or how small has made a big difference. Be grateful for everything equally, remove the “it’s not enough” mindset.
Great attitude Sean! I like the way you think and the way you say things! It makes a big difference when we are not grateful. Things just seem so wrong, but if we had the positiveness inside things will be great each and every day!
I have met many men in real life that have habit of early rising and they are very successful in life. Plan and positive thinking are plus point on it.
My dad was telling me when I was a kid, don’t let the sun find you in the bed!!! It’s really powerful what we can do by managing our time for the next day before we go sleep at night.
Great points. To expand on the last point about studying success, it’s even better to attend live events so that you can not only learn from those who are successful, but can interact directly with them as well which can really spike up the learning experience. I know that this has been the case for me when I attended live events.
Hello Clint,
Interacting with successful people is another step up! It pulls you up and makes things better in general. Great constructive comment!
Hi there, John!
Attitude is everything! If we believe and convince ourselves in the success, it will eventually come along. Of course, we shouldn’t stop working on our plans to make that success possible. Anyone working hard gets a reward-the effort has to pay out.
You are making good and logical points here, as we should really be organized, study success and most important, have a plan of how to achieve what we want.
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Thank you Kristina for participating in the comments. I totally agree with you on working hard. That comes when your goals are clear. I see some of my friends and they just don’t know exactly what they want. They may want a better car or a new TV but that’s something that doesn’t take you higher! Spending money on liabilities and things that doesn’t take you somewhere are wasted money and time.
Thanks for sharing,
John
Hi John,
Thanks for taking the time to write this great guest post! As far as being an early riser, I get your point, but myself I’ve always been a bit of a night person. It’s true, I’ve experienced it many times myself, when you get up early you feel more focused and refreshed sometimes, but I also know from experience this can still apply to those such as myself who do their greatest work in the evening. Either way you look at it there are still 24 hours in a day, how you use that time in your waking hours whatever those hours may be is what matters most. Of course many would disagree, but that’s just my opinion.
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Thank you Darryl!
I will agree with you. It’s not only morning rising for some people. I have a friend who can’t wake up before 11-12pm! That’s because his life is completely different than mine. What matters the most between the 24 hours in a day is how productive can we be! We can work 5 or 8 or 12 hours but how productive can we be in between these hours? I would suggest to read a book from Tim Ferris called “The 4 hour Workweek”. It’s a very good book and helped me a lot!
To your success,
John
These are some great points. I especially wish I had known about the average 5 people you hang around the most when I was younger. I probably would have gotten more accomplished, and be much better off than I am today.
Thank you Lionel, I think everything depends on our environment, what people we interact every day and how much time we spend with them! We need every kind of people, family, friends but we have to manage the time we spend with them and to choose which one can pull us up. Another matter is when we can divorce our selves from the others and forget about what “they” want and focus on what “we” personally want in our lives!
Did not know I was the average of the five people I used to get with way back I was a child. I experience to rise early and you are right it feels good.
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Great Adam,
It feels so good to see the sun rising with a cup of coffee in your hands! I personally like to do that almost every morning and sometimes I am going to the beach to enjoy that beautiful moment.
I agree to all the pointers that you gave. In addition, having a POSITIVE ATTITUDE is also another factor in gaining success. It’s all about mind over matter. Thanks for a good read.
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Thank you Teyona, glad to see you around!
Excellent article, John. I agree on all points. I used to not give much thought about sleeping well and would often wake up at the last moment and arrive to work half asleep, but over the past few years, I have realized more and more how important a good amount of sleep as well as getting up sufficiently early is. Not to mention how unplanned I was too, especially during my school days. But I guess that was also down to the company I kept, who were not really bad, but not the most academically minded either. But now I try to associate more with productive people that can help me become a better person overall and hopefully I can do the same.
Great Rick!
I am glad I can help. Another way for you to know and get more energy so you can make it through the day is the power of breathing! It’s the most important thing before doing anything else. The right breathing by following some techniques can increase your power for the day! Sleeping good, breathing and eating healthy is good things to do for all of us!
Thank you for stopping by,
John
Thanks, John. A lot of people I know are into breathing exercises and I am going to join them soon. I have also been considering taking up yoga as well.
This is all really valuable advice. Organizing your life and sticking to a routine is so important. Getting up everyday and organizing a daily to-do list has proven to be very beneficial for me and I think you’re absolutely right about being grateful. Having a positive attitude can be hard to achieve but can accomplish so much for you!
Thanks for sharing Carrie,
Organizing a daily to-do list is a must for everyone. Sometimes I am creating a list last night so the next morning I’ll have it ready! Secondly it’s good to take breaks but don’t get destructed with other pointless things and lose your productive time!
John – great guest post! I’ve seen everywhere that getting up early is a great way to get motivated and maintain a high energy level, but I’m such a night owl that I find it hard to do! Plus I feel more productive at night. Do you think this could change if I tried to condition myself, or are some people just meant to be more nocturnal?
Hello Natasha!
Nice to see you here and thank you for your reply! I don’t think that someone should change. Each one of us can find the right recipe that leads to success and create his own path. The order is:
1. Know what you want
2. Find someone that is already successful
3. Model what he/she is doing
4. Create a plan
5. Be flexible and be unique
This is what I believe someone should do if he wants to achieve his goals and Go Big.
John
Hi John,
Great list!
I am in the camp that relates attitude to success. Why? Attitude is the composite of our thoughts, feelings and actions. Our conscious mind controls feeling and ultimately dictates whether our feelings will be positive or negative by our choice of thoughts, and then our body displays those choices through action and behavior. Our feelings are expressed in actions or behaviors that produce the various results in our life. Our attitude is the cause and where we are in your life right now is an effect. We’ve all heard of the Law of Cause and Effect. Positive results are always the effect of a positive attitude. Attitude and results are inseparable. They follow one another as night follows day.
Rachel Lavern recently posted..There Must Be 16 Ways to be a Loser
Thank you for the addition Rachel,
I will make a small add too. We read and we learn a lot of things everyday. What’s the most important part during the day? What I’ll have to say is STOP THINKING! Too much thinking doesn’t create results. What matters is the DECISION we have to take. If you don’t like something or if you want to do something DO IT and don’t think about it over and over and over again. Attitude comes from ACTION that produces results. Everything is about TAKING ACTION!
To your success,
John
Planning plays a vital role in success and planning with positive attitude is nothing. Because of good attitude we earn mental calmness and satisfaction and because of satisfaction we travel on a long road of success.
I agree with you Azhar! Success is very close when we put down our potentials and have a good plan! Thanks for sharing,
John
I always plan ahead but most of the time, just like you said, you will always get distracted and things won’t go as planned, even at my working environment, when plans are being made by official, most of the time it only take effect for awhile and then everyone back to square one.
It’s really very hard to even have a perfect plan, but again like you said, it is better to have then no have. And I always plan for tomorrow before I go to sleep, for example what needs to be done and what time I should finish the job within the day.
Waking up early is hard for me unless it’s a force, just like the days I have in army, everyone had to wake early almost before the sun rise and ya… it’s really tiring but it keeps the day relax and flash which actually keeps a person’s temple down to almost zero.
I personally believe success comes right attitude, and I also believe the above 5 stuff you mention is really important not just in life but also in health. Thanks for sharing this awesome post!
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Wong, thanks for sharing your insights on the subject. I too plan the night before and such days go really well. I am streamlined, exactly know what to accomplish on that day and work only on those tasks that need to be completed on that day. More importantly, when I sit at my desk for work, I already know what to work on and I don’t want to start a day by writing a to-do list.
So glad that you’re using this approach.
Hello Johnmak. I gotta tell ya, your point about being an early riser is pivotal. If it wasn’t for my wife still having a 9-5, I’d probably have a problem. And I think that’s a challenge for a lot of people working from home.
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Hello Ivin,
I totally understand but as I also mentioned in some previous comments, I am saying that we got to adjust our time for better productive time! Working from home is another style of life. We have to think differently!
Thanks for commenting,
John
Excellent points John…
I don’t particularly like the getting up early part because now that I work from home I enjoy making my own schedule. But as the day wears on I end up having some things come across my desk that need attention that I may not have planned so my time ends up being spent doing things that I hadn’t alloted for. So I really do need to make a better effort of starting my day earlier so that I will feel much better about accomplishing everything I intended to do.
I also agree that your mindset plus the activity goes hand in hand. We can all believe we will be successful but without putting everything else into play, it’s not all going to magically happen all on it’s own.
Appreciate these reminders, great job of sharing those all with us.
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Adrienne,
That was very helpful comment of yours! I am glad you found good info here. My days are weird the last few days. I can get up at 5 and work straight till afternoon or I can stay late at night. What I noticed was that when I couldn’t focus I had to leave and go swim or for a walk so I could stop thinking too much! I was reading recently an article about thinking and I came to the conclusion that when It’s taking too long to think I have to stop and do something else to be more productive later and focus on what will bring me results!
Thanks for stopping by to comment and give another point of view cause we are different and we need variety so we won’t get bored!
John, the beauty in your post lies in its simplicity. Surely, each of us has seen at least three of these mindset adjusting suggestions before. However, taken together, in the order presented, creates an actionable flowchart for our brains. I mean, let’s really consider this:
Be an Early Riser
Choose the Right People
Have a Plan
Be Grateful
Study Success
If you don’t even allocate time to become a success … well, duh, right? So it’s great that you started here. In choosing the right people to emulate, you subconsciously begin to lay out a plan for your success. Naturally, along your journey, you will be grateful, not only for those people whom you follow but also for all of the experiences that strengthen you.
Ironically, by placing Study Success at the end, we tell our brains to focus on the journey, not the destination.
Cheers,
Mitch
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Hey Mitch!
Thanks for these extra tips. I believe what you said about the journey. It’s like setting a goal but doing it with pleasure. If we do something that doesn’t make us happy it’s not going to take us higher.
Glad your stopped by,
John
I like the tip about surrounding yourself with positive people. I keep forgetting that I have the choice as to who I surround myself with. I have grown accustom to gaining friends through circumstances such as being in the same class together or being in the same dorm. Now that school is over and real life settles in we are no longer handed our friends but have to learn to pick them, lets choose to pick the good ones.
That’s the best way to think Karen! It depends on our peer group if we’ll be successful or not!
Hope this new year will bring you the right people so you can achieve your goals!
To your success,
John
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