In life, obstacles and hardships are sure to come your way. It is a given, and these events have the potential to deny you a successful and content life. How do people manage to reach their life goals when forces seem to be working against them? If everyone stopped pursuing their “dream life” at the first sign of trouble, we would all be stuck in an unhappy and stagnant environment.
Perhaps you do feel unhappy in your current place in life. How do you get past this and achieve your targets? How do you become successful and happy like others that you see around you?
Simple – never quit.
There are several habits that successful people develop in order to maintain a fulfilled life:
1. Take Initiative
Take charge. You have imagined this extraordinary dream, and now it is time for you to dive in head first. There isn’t always going to be a boss around to instruct you when and how to complete a task. There is no such thing as the perfect moment, so begin now. Trust yourself and forge a path on your own (1). Motivation may be scarce at first, but it is sure to increase as you gain momentum.
2. Adapt
As previously mentioned, there will always be complications during the pursuance of your objectives. People will say no, you may run out of funds, or the next steps to take may not be apparent. In these periods of struggle, you must remember that you are able to adapt. Sticking to a rigid mindset that there is only one path in achieving a goal will surely lead you to failure. Stop occasionally and evaluate how things are progressing. Even if you haven’t come to a complete halt in the process, you may still be able to discover new ways to reach success more efficiently (2).
3. Be Realistic
This does not apply to when you are creating your goals. Imagine whatever in the world that will result in a satisfied state of being for you. However, don’t be too hard on yourself in reaching this goal (3). It is important to stay realistic in some aspects, such as having an achievable timeline. Everyone has heard the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Keep in mind practicalities so that you do not set yourself up for unnecessary disappointments along your journey towards your goal. In the end, it will facilitate your motivation and help to ensure success.
4. Accept Constructive Criticism
This habit is perfectly developed in tandem with the ability to adapt. However, in this case you acknowledge that you don’t always see all possible options in your situation. Sometimes another perspective can be extremely helpful (4). While you should still bring your uniqueness to every action you make, constructive criticism can open up possibilities never considered. We all must accept that we can’t do everything perfectly at all times. It is up to you whether the criticism is acted upon, but it should at least be considered.
5. Embrace Your Creativity
Every person has a mixture of traits and strengths unique to them. Utilize your talents and creativity to achieve your goal in a way that only you can. Embracing your creativity allows happiness to be gained on your own terms. Routes that work for others may not be feasible or attractive to you; by designing an individualized route a higher level of contentment is possible.
6. Communicate with Others
“No man is an island.” -John Donne
It is rare that an individual can make significant progress in life without accepting help from others from time to time. In order to receive this help, it first must be communicated that it is necessary. Successful people tend to possess strong communicational skills (5). The better you are at communicating, the more likely others are to believe in your dream and be willing to help. Be open with others and verbalize your plans. This will help form a supportive community around you in which motivation will thrive.
7. Be Courageous
The unknown is terrifying. It is impossible to know if the future will hold failures or success. What if you lose motivation with your dream and become unhappy in life? As we know, there are definitely going to be hard parts in life. Some may be excruciating and try to break your spirit.
You are strong, though.
It is with this knowledge that you can push past awareness of the difficulties that could lie ahead, and have the courage to continue working towards your goals.
8. Never Slow Down
Momentum is your ally in the battle to remain motivated and never quit (6). Procrastination and slowing down have strong potential of turning into a complete halt. Why risk a dream that is dear to you by doing this? If the methods in reaching your goal are becoming stagnant and it is becoming hard for you to stay engaged, refer back to adaptation and look for a new route that you will stay motivated on. In order to achieve success, you must embody your goals in every action you make. Don’t even consider slowing down.
9. Remain Passionate
Passion is the ideal stimulant for motivation. When you are passionate about a goal and love what you are doing, motivation will be in large supply. It may be hard to hold onto passion consistently, especially over a long period of time. If this is the case, remind yourself what sparked the dream to begin with. It is easy to get caught up in small stresses along the way, but the foundational reasons will be a source of passion as long as the dream remains close to your heart.
10. Stay Optimistic
Sometimes when embarking on a new path in life it is easy to become stuck imagining all the things that could go wrong, spurring you to want to quit. Or, if you are after putting forth significant commitment towards your goal, you may fixate on only the wrong things that have occurred this far (7). Immediately stop this negative mentality. It will lead towards self-destruction and the feeling of failure.
Adopt an optimistic perspective and focus on what has gone right so far. If you haven’t begun the pursuit of your dream, imagine everything you have to gain. When you realize that achieving happiness is the end result, a positive outlook is feasible. The difficulties along the way are worth overcoming to have success.
11. Continue to Learn
Seek knowledge on your path to success. In doing so you admit to yourself that there are infinite options available to help your goal become a reality. You can be open to learning in several ways.
Reframe your mind and see the negatives as learning experiences. Rather than seeing roadblocks as failures, use them to explore new routes. The once thought “failures” can be useful in the future to know which methods to avoid.
In addition, constantly research your dream. If your dream is to become a pilot then stay informed about flight schools, know what is new in the field, and remain updated on airlines that are hiring. If you don’t know the details surrounding your goal, you could easily miss some huge opportunities for success.
While it is easy to let some habits become neglected, it is important that all are practiced in conjunction with each other to maintain motivation and refrain from quitting on your dreams.
You owe it to yourself and your happiness to never quit.
