Health and Its Role In Success

Sometimes when business fills our mind and things get overwhelming, we are so caught up in the tasks at hand and we lose track of our health.  Being overly busy results in us being stress and even the strongest among us will eventually experience negative health effects. Being busy has become a way of life for many of us and we find ourselves forgetting an important aspect as we strive for success, our HEALTH. We are living in a very fast paced life and perhaps at some point if we keep ourselves busy, all our efforts will bring success. It takes away our time from other things and from other people. We feel pressured, annoyed and stressed because we feel that we are no longer in control of our own time and we are working to the demands of others. Many of us are afraid to slow down because we feel uncomfortable if we find we’ve got nothing to do. Therefore, we try to think of ways to look busy! So chances are we don’t pay attention to the food we eat and we do not have time to go to the gym for some exercise. For some people, high degree of stress in their life gives them the justification to turn to alcohol or drug abuse. Sometimes you may have the appearance of being powerful and successful but that doesn’t mean you are healthy. Usually, being busy has effects upon ourselves that we do not realize.

In “Today Matters” by John Maxwell, he said “People are funny. When they are young they will spend their health to get wealth. Later, they will gladly pay all they have trying to get their health back. “This is usually true. There are many highly successful people suffered from serious health problems that even caused their death because of lapses in health. Some died of heart attack, lung cancer and other major diseases. These people work hard to earn money working toward their own success but lost its purpose. Some people can be tempted to deal with stress by turning to alcohol and drugs like a variety of famous people who have battled addiction.

Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important but maintaining success in life can involve a good deal of stress. Success is useless if your health is at stake. Have a sense of purpose to help you make a decision to change. Embracing this will not only help you see yourself and your goals but also a chance to improve a positive self-image. Remember, you cannot get back what you have lost. 

It All Starts At Home

It’s been said many times, we can choose our friends but we can’t choose our family. Many have difficult family situations and believe we have no choice in that matter while others grew up with a loving family that provided the foundation needed to succeed. Some successful people were raised well by their parents and started getting into business at an early age. They took advantage of the privileged to learn - fearlessly embracing failure and learning from the experience. While some are fortunate to have this kind of family not everyone has that luxury. Others label themselves unfortunate or broken and life can be a never-ending road of enduring feeling of not being good enough. Maybe they grew up in a broken family, convinced they were not capable of being all that they can be. If that’s you, it doesn't need to stay that way. Sure you cannot choose your family but, you can embrace hardship from the past and use it to help shape your future and positively impact your family.

There are so many inspiring rags to riches stories and some of them did not even grow up with their biological parents yet achieved great success. I’m sure you’ve heard of Steve Jobs. He was widely recognized as a businessman, designer and investor known for his influential career as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. His biological parents were unmarried and still in college so they gave him up for adoption. He was adopted at birth by Paul & Clara Jobs. Paul was working as a machinist for a company and because of that, he taught Steve how to work on electronics and how to work with his hands. In their family garage, he would show him how to disassemble and rebuild electronics. This is where Steve developed his hobby of technical tinkering. Although it was known to many that Steve was dropped out of school because Reed is an expensive school which his parents couldn’t afford, his dreams did not end there. He had several jobs to make ends meet. Steve Jobs along with his friends started their dream in the garage of Job’s parents, the making of Apple computer and the rest is history.

Quality time with family is a big factor of a happy family unit. Although sometimes it’s difficult to pull away from our careers to simply hang out, have a conversation, play and love on each other, they are moments you’ll never get back. Business may still be there, but your children won’t ever be that age, at that moment ever again. The values and traditions you pass on to your children will definitely influence them as they grow. The behavior of growing children is influenced by many factors that include their parents and the community. And it all starts at home.

Many businesses are born out of inspiration and this drives us to do many things. As we all know, family life forges character and is our primary environment that influences our choices and habits. Home is the best place to learn, fail and to grow to know yourself. When the going gets rough and you have to deal with a lot of pressure, home should always be your source of strength and security. Never forget the importance of family in your success and how you impact the success of your family.

Priorities Gives Us Focus

Have you ever found yourself wanting to do more with your life but things don’t go as planned? Take a moment to reflect and think about the things you do in an average day. Does your time allocation reflect the priority of your goals? Most of us never even think about what we spend our time doing. We get up, we go to work, and we come home at the end of the day. We’re just going through the motions never really thinking about what we do or how we do it or even why we do it. It’s a bit more difficult to choose to do the important things if you have a lot on your plate. Instead of designing the life that you want, you end up living your life doing your work that you don’t want that could lead to disappointment or failure. Setting your priorities is one of the best ways to become successful. Even if you’re a wealthy man or financially challenged, what you decide to do can say a lot about your priorities in life. It gives you focus and you should live it every day. In “Today Matters” by John Maxwell, my favorite line is “time is our precious commodity.” It’s true that we can spend all the money we want and lose it but if we lose time, it’s gone forever. Time is always moving forward and we can’t stop it. If we missed something, instead of thinking ‘what if’ or what could have been done, we should plan our time carefully and live our lives by priorities that we set for ourselves.

I’ve observed that most people want to do more with their life because they think they can do everything. They’ve been working so hard without knowing they’ve compromised something. A good example we are familiar with is a story of a business person working long hours at the office as his work demands so. He’s occupied with business meetings, swamped with work and other social gatherings. As a result, he comes home late and he rarely spends quality time with his family. Little did he know that he’s losing his relationship with his son. He missed his football game, school’s family day and so on. Pressures at work caused uncongenial atmosphere at home. That is when he realized what he’s missing. Then he started making a positive transition in his life concerning priorities and luckily, he learned to prioritize his family.

There will always be time to go to work and there’s always room for the things that are truly important. Working to provide comfort for your family is good. Too often we tend to forget to pay attention to the things that are critical to our well-being and our family. Instead of doing certain things all at once, delegate your tasks, evaluate your strength and focus on that. Make the transition to planning and act your priorities daily because your decision concerning priorities will positively impact you in the future.

Attitude Helps Lead to Success

Sometimes we complain how difficult life can be. Then we think about how to improve it but when the opportunity comes we let it pass by or don't take full advantage of it. Successful people are the kind of people who are not satisfied with mediocrity while others become complacent and accept the status quo. Some missed out on opportunities because they lose the drive they had when the opportunity first presented itself.  What makes some people succeed while others fall into this trap?  Attitude. The amount of success you have in life is strongly related to your attitude. John Maxwell, author of “Today Matters” tells us, “your attitude-not your achievements-gives you success”. A good example can be derived from a story we are familiar with.

Two customer service representatives had the same training. They were taught how to resolve customer issues over the phone. They both admit that dealing with different types of people calling about various issues is a tough job and it takes a lot of patience. They started off their first 3 months doing a great job. Then one of the representatives started being late and making excuses. He showed no interest in resolving issues yet he wanted to be promoted. He got frustrated and eventually quit. The other representative however, showed consistency and a positive attitude toward work. No matter how difficult his job, he never failed to provide good customer service. He showed consistency and determination and was rewarded with a promotion. On the first day of his training, he set his goal that the time will come, he will no longer take calls and he will supervise representatives. Attitude helped him make it!

Not only do you need to make good decisions daily, you also need to display the right attitude as it makes a difference in how you approach your day. The good news is that even a bad attitude can be changed. It takes an incredible amount of effort but even barely average people can do great. Believing you can show a good attitude helps increases possibilities thus increasing your chance of success.

Keep your attitude positive and it will influence others. People like to be around positive people. Not only that, a positive attitude improves your relationships and positivity impacts your ability for success. On the other hand, a negative attitude is self-defeating because it strips you of your ability to achieve any type of success in your life. If you’re not willing to change it, you will never go far. So, what is your attitude towards success and toward life?

Making Good Decisions Daily

Perhaps you have made good decisions and now you desire to do more with your life. If you are to evaluate your life right now, can you say that you are achieving what you desire? 

Some people approach their lives passively and they don’t lead their lives. They want something but they don’t actively pursue what they want to achieve. Oftentimes we hear people saying “if only I could rewind the hands of time, I would definitely correct the mistakes I made”. 

You see, the choices we make each day have either positive or negative impacts on our lives. We don’t realize our involvement in wrong decisions until the time when we see the repercussions. We cannot turn back the hands of time and there is no time like the present. All of us are only given 24 hours regardless of our achievements, social and financial status. 

The truth is, each of us chooses how to spend our time and if you want change, then think about what you can do today because the decisions you make today give you a better tomorrow. In Today Matters, John Maxwell encourages us to “Learn the disciplines that go with each decision”. In every decision you make, you should add a high sense of self-discipline because without it, you will not reach your full potential.

This reminds me of an intelligent student who is fortunate enough to pass her exams but did the minimum amount of work required and celebrated in the belief that she didn't have to "try" to succeed. She openly admitted to being lazy and ten years later, she realized that she betrayed her potential back then. If she had actually tried, she could have received a scholarship and avoided student loan debt.  She'd not be in a disappointing marriage or a job that leaves her unfulfilled. If she knew this was the result, she could have done things differently. This story reminds us that we should be aware of the decisions we make today, for they determine tomorrow’s achievement or failure. 

Let’s face it, everybody wants to be successful. Sometimes we all want a guarantee before we begin so we know that our efforts will be worth it. It doesn’t work that way. The hardest part is how to get started. We make the commitment first; we see the rewards second. Think about what you can accomplish if you dare to make right decisions and dare to achieve good results. The most successful people in life are the ones who know the real value of making good decisions every day. 

Today's Decision Determines Your Success

Some people misinterpret the word “successful”. Everybody wants to be successful in their own way. The question is how do you really measure your success? If you have attained your goals and desires in life, do you consider yourself successful? If yes, does that mean you are content with your life? Sometimes being successful is easier said than done. Many think being successful involves having a lot of money, fame or status. Yes, these could contribute to your success but this is a faulty view of success.

Many people believe that “if only” they had the right opportunity, "if only" they knew the right people or "if only" they had the capital to invest then it would be easier for them to achieve their goals. You feel frustrated and all you can do is to wish you win the lottery. Success doesn’t work that way. It’s not about luck nor is success earned overnight. Stop living the "if only" life and start finding solutions to the excuses we so easily convince ourselves of.

We often think that to be successful we need to find the magic formula. We like “short-cuts” in life. Successful people regardless of their industry have been found to share similar traits. They have the ability to know their strengths and weaknesses. They work hard in the areas of their strength to become the best they can be.  Too often we believe we must work on our weaknesses to become better.  No, you will never become great in an area of weakness.  You can only become great in those things you are already good at.  Spend your efforts there and people will recognize your achievements.

The decisions you make today have a big impact on your life. Don’t re-live yesterday and don't worry about tomorrow because today is all you have. Review your goals and manage your life by making important decisions daily. If you make everyday decisions important and you discipline yourself, then you are on the right path to success. Your success starts with today.

Success = Contentment

Success.  It’s such a difficult word to get our heads around.  It’s often misrepresented in terms such as money, status, or things but yet inside we know it’s none of these things.  I believe success is an attitude.  It’s a place in life.  It’s something you feel inside yourself when you know you’ve done well; you’ve given your best and your able to see those efforts pay off in the lives of those around you.

You’ve known people who seem to think life is too hard; you know, those “nothing ever goes my way” type of people.  No one likes to be around them.  On the other hand, there are those people everyone wants to call their friend.  There is something about them that attracts others.  They are your “glass is half full” type of people.  They’ve learned to be content, to  be happy, and I believe its in that attitude of contentment they have found success.

People who are content, have figured out what matters to them.  They know their priorities and they know how to measure them.  I don’t mean they sit down every year with their paper and pen to list out their goals along with tangible measures.  There is nothing wrong with that but success isn’t measured in that way.  It’s who you are.  It’s about the journey your life is on and the lessons you’ve learned along the way.  It’s about how you’ve used those lessons to help those around you to become better people.

Success to me, is being able to put my head on the pillow at night having a little hint that today I left a positive impact on someone else’s life.  Honestly, that doesn’t happen every night but I strive for it.  Like you, I have good days and bad days.  Some days, I think I’d been better off staying in that bed than to have gotten up.  But we’re all on this journey of life and we make the most of each day we have.  We recognize that we’re not here to be served but to serve and once we’re able to get a hold of that idea, we’re well on the road to success.