There are many paths to success. No matter what has happened in your life and no matter what is happening right now, you can work through it and become incredibly successful! In fact, we usually sell our dreams short. You can accomplish more than you believe you can!

So how do we get there? Take these five secrets and APPLY them every day:

1 – Write down your dreams and your priorities. Then, play a matching game! It’s important to know what your priorities are. Think of how you spend your time, energy, and effort. The more you spend, the higher the priority is.

Do your priorities align with your dreams? Are you spending your time, energy, and effort on steps that will bring your dreams to life? If not, you need to evaluate your dreams and priorities to see what is out of line. Either you may be dreaming of things you don’t truly care about, or your priorities are not leading you to the place you want to go.

 

2 – Inject Purpose. Why do you want to be successful? Why do you care about the actions you are taking toward reaching those goals? When you can answer those questions, you have purpose. Don’t do meaningless activities because you think it’s the right thing to do. Find purpose in all of your tasks and watch your effort skyrocket!

 

3 – Move Forward. A past mistake or failure can haunt your present success. The best students have gotten a bad grade on tests before, blown off studying, or forgot to turn in a homework assignment. Instead of narrowing in on the mistake, focus on the next step. Forgive your mistakes, learn from them, and move forward with confidence. Beating yourself up will only bruise your confidence, happiness, and ability to succeed in the future.

 

4 – Check Your Attitude. The best students choose to have a positive attitude in every moment. Your attitude does not have to depend on your mood, how your day began, or things outside of your control. You always have the opportunity to be grateful and optimistic. When you make that decision, you give yourself the best chance to succeed each day. If you allow your attitude to be influenced by outside factors, you give up your ability to maximize your potential. Every morning, remind yourself of the attitude you want to bring to every situation throughout the day, then live it out!

 

5 – Feed Your Growth. If a body builder wants to gain muscle, they can work out all day and night… but if all they eat is chocolate, their muscles will not grow in the way they hoped for. The same thing happens with your mindset. If you feed it junk, it will not produce the results you want. Take a moment to really consider what you are feeding your mindset. What kinds of messages and examples are you giving yourself to work from?

Music, movies, topics that you talk about with friends, mentors and role models you surround yourself with, all influence your mindset and your growth. Protect and ensure your growth by surrounding yourself with positive messages that propel you forward. Advance your learning beyond the classroom. Always have a book to read that will give you a new perspective to consider. Make your strengths stronger and actively seek out and eliminate your weaknesses. Sign up for classes that will improve your skills and abilities, especially classes that will improve your mindset! 

 

The real secret is that most of us know how to be successful. We’ve heard great advice and seen it work for other people. The difficult part is applying it. It’s never easy to be great (if it was, wouldn’t we all be doing something amazing every day?). Follow these 5 secrets to success regularly and they will become easier to apply every time!