You’re a Direct Reflection of the People You Spend the Most Time With!

The people around you are your mirrors. They are the ones who allow you to see aspects of yourself--and vice versa. If you spend time with people who mirror your own insecurities, or fears, or judgments, then you're going to see those traits every single day and begin to believe in them. They will be reinforced in you to the point where you decide that is "who you are."

On the flip side, if you spend time with people who challenge your fears, your insecurities, and the parts of you that need "work," you will inevitably change. You will soak up and inherit different traits.

Deliberately choosing the people around you is how you can sculpt yourself.

You want confidence? Hang around confident people.

You want to learn self-awareness? Hang around self-aware people.

You want to learn any skill, any craft? Hang around people who practice those things and do them well.

The challenge with this is knowing when to walk away.

Sometimes people come into our lives at a crucial time because something in us wants to learn--and they too want to learn something from us, and so a mutual friendship begins to form. But every relationship is a path, and knowing when it is time to move on to the next one (whether that means staying friends or walking away completely) is where most people struggle.

You have to be exceedingly deliberate with how you spend your time, and with whom.

- Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Realize That All Growth Occurs In Change!

Most people want and look for security. There's nothing wrong with that.

The difficult lesson is knowing the value of change.

"Change is inevitable." When we speak this cliché, it's insinuated to be a bad thing. We fear change. We have to keep a close eye; otherwise "change" will creep up on us.

I challenge you to seek out change. I challenge you to welcome change with open arms.

Think about it like a workout routine. If you go into the gym and do the same exercises every day, over and over again, eventually they won't become difficult anymore. Your body will get used to them, and your growth rate will plateau. You will become "comfortable."

And then, at some point, that comfort will begin to work against you--because the truth is, you need change in order to continue moving forward.

Instead of waiting for change to find you, go out and find it.

Look for the little signs when you are beginning to plateau, in any way, and change up your routine deliberately.

Be on the offensive.

Stay one step ahead of yourself.

Whether it's your craft, or your job, or your relationship, or your health, look for change.

Look for ways to keep it fresh, to make your mind and body work, to do what feels "unfamiliar."

All growth occurs in change.

- Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Understand that Self-Knowledge Is Worth More Than Personal Achievement!

Such a difficult lesson, and one that must be practiced diligently throughout the entirety of one's life; the difference between contentment and achievement!

You can immediately tell when you meet someone which category they fall into. They either emit a genuine confidence to pursue their goals for self-exploration, or they emit an ego-based confidence rooted in personal achievement!

I'm not telling you to not set goals and achieve them. I'm asking you to be aware of where your sense of self-worth comes from!

If you pursue things in the name of personal achievement, you will never be fulfilled--and I say this from experience.

True fulfillment is calm, and motivated only by creative freedom--a desire to further understand yourself and your craft. Personal achievement is fleeting. And so, in order to both "achieve" externally and find a sense of fulfillment and happiness, you have to keep a close eye on which is which.

Otherwise, do you know what's going to happen?

You're going to climb that big mountain in front of you, grind your face off to reach the top, and before you've even taken in one single deep breath and enjoyed the view, you'll notice the next mountain and think, "Oh, actually I haven't achieved anything--I must need to climb that mountain, too!"

- Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Realize That “Small Daily Habits” Are More Important Than “Big Infrequent Home Runs”!

Anyone can talk the talk. Not many people can walk the walk!

A terrible habit quite a few people fall into, is believing that "one day" it'll all come together! What does that even mean, "one day"!?

What are you going to do, wake up and find yourself in a $5-million mansion with two Ferraris parked outside?

What!!? Is it just going to "appear" out of nowhere?

"One day" is today.

"One day" is right now.

You're not going to "be patient one day." You're going to be patient NOW.

You're not going to "start doing things differently one day." You're going to start doing things differently NOW.

You're not going to "finally make it work one day." You're going to make it work right NOW.

Big leaps happen by adding lots of tiny steps up over a long period of time.

If you think you can skip that process, you're wrong.

Whatever it is you want to become, become that to the best of your ability right now.

Whatever it is you want to do, do that to the best of your ability right now.

In weightlifting we would call this "training until failure."

Every day; everything you do; train until failure.

- Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Realize That The "Easy" Road Ends Up Being More Difficult!

This is probably one of the earliest "big" lessons we learn in life!

When something seems too good to be true, it usually is!

Handouts don't happen. Free things aren't really free.As one of my mentors would say, "If you tell me quick and easy, I think long and difficult."

The reason a path looks "easy" is because it hides its difficulties in plain sight. And you choose the easy road because you did not take the time to really understand what it was you were looking at.

Sometimes we do this by accident; sometimes we do it on purpose (despite all the red flags we may or may not want to acknowledge).

But regardless, the lesson is one we all have to learn time and time again--the "easy" road is rarely easy. In fact, it usually ends up being more difficult than if you had just done things the right way from the beginning.

Nicolas Cole (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Keep Aware, Especially At Crises Times!

When something goes wrong, successful people stop and ask, “Why isn’t this working?”

They prioritize time for face-to-face conversations.

They do check-ins.

They create focus groups and ask what’s going on?

They find ways to boost the morale of the team.

They hold themselves accountable for what needs to be done to make whatever proper considerations in order to move forward.”

Successful People Are Vulnerable At Times!

When faced with demanding circumstances, how do you restore morale and re-inspire others to see your vision?

Though it may seem counterintuitive, being open and honest with your team during challenging times demonstrates a sense of trust that can develop into mutual respect.

“Start with being very clear and transparent”.

Sharing where you are struggling fosters an ecosystem of understanding and support, and does far more good than pretending that you are The Fearless, Flawless Leader!

- Nadia Lopez (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Use Their Prime-Time Effectively!

Your internal prime-time is the time of day when you are the most alert and most productive, according to your body clock. So, organise your life so that you’re doing creative work during your internal prime-time.

For most people this time of highest performance is in the morning after resting the whole night. For some people, however, it’s in the evening.

Occasionally a writer or a creative person might find that their prime-time is in the early hours of the morning. Some people actually work all night and then sleep in the morning.

So it’s important that you’d be aware of your internal prime-time, when you function at your best, so that you could schedule your most important projects accordingly to increase your productivity.

Your most important work usually requires that you’d be at your best: rested, alert and creative.

What time of the day do most of you feel the very best and have the most energy?

You must also be aware of what is called external prime-time. This is the time when your clients and customers are most available. Each person should give some thought to structure in their day for both external and internal prime-time.

Brian Tracy (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Improve Their Organisational Skills!

Resolve to improve your organisational skills and use a filing system both at home, at work, and on your computer.

As much as 30% of the day is spent looking for misplaced items! These are things that are lost because they have not been filed correctly!

Does this sound familiar to you?

There are few activities so frustrating as spending your valuable time looking for misplaced information and materials because no thought was given to a filing and retrieval system!

The best and simplest of all filing systems is an alphabetical system.

In conjunction with a filing system, you should have a master list or record of all your files in a single place, like on your desktop. This master list gives you the title of each file and tells you where the file is located.

Brian Tracy (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Start Their Day Early!

To increase your productivity, start your day early. The more time you take to sit, think and plan, the better organized you will be in every area of your life.

In the biographies and autobiographies of successful women and men, almost all of them seem to have one thing in common. They’ve developed great organisational skills, and a habit of going to bed at a reasonable hour and rising early to start the day.

Many successful people like to arise at 5 or 5:30 a.m., so that they can have enough time to think and plan for the coming day. As a result, they are always more effective than those who sleep in until the last possible moment.  

A few minutes of quiet reflection before you begin any undertaking can save you many hours in executing the task. When you get up early and plan your day in advance, you tend to be calmer, more clear-headed and more creative throughout the day.

Brian Tracy

Successful People Schedule Their Time!

Scheduling your time reduces stress and releases energy.

Being very active using your organisational skills to plan your day, your week and your month, gives you a greater feel of control and will help increase productivity throughout your day.

You’ll feel in charge of your life.

Planning your day in advance actually increases self-esteem and improves your sense of personal power.

It gives you a feeling of being in control of your life and your work.

Brian Tracy (modified by Amr Badran)

Successful People Prepare In Advance!

You know the old saying “Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”. The 6 P’s!

Prepare your work-list for following day the evening or night before. The last thing you do at the end of the day is you layout the day that’s coming. The best exercise is for you to plan the entire next day as the last thing you do before coming home from work.

When you plan the day the night before you subconscious mind then goes to work on your plans and goals while you’re asleep. Very often you wake up in the morning with ideas and insights that apply to the work of the day.

Now the major benefit of preparing your daily list the night before is that this exercise lets you sleep more soundly. A major reason for insomnia is people lying awake trying not to forget to remember everything that they have to do the following day. But ones you’ve written down everything you have to do on the list, it clears your mind and enables you to sleep deeply. 

This practice will help you increase your productivity throughout the whole next day of work because you will be more relaxed and more refreshed.

Brian Tracy (minor modifications by Amr Badran)

Successful People Combat Stress With Proper Sleep!

More recently in society, the human body has been forced to adapt to being constantly surrounded by moving images. Of course, this wasn’t always the case, and the constant exposure to glowing screens is in fact able to generate stress given how it prevents us from sleeping correctly!

Basically our lives are balanced by circadian rhythms – a set of strict patterns that the body operates by so that we can eat, sleep, rest, play and function without feeling constantly drained.

Ultimately, high exposure to glowing screens disrupts our circadian rhythms, meaning that when it’s time to hit the sack, the body doesn’t necessarily feel ready to shut down!

Sleep is absolutely essential for avoiding high stress levels. Everyone needs good amounts of rest; and by remaining glued to a computer screen for the entire day without taking a break, your body will suffer the consequences, and stress will rise as a result.

Take frequent breaks away from the screen, get some sleep, and see your stress ease up. 

Gareth Lloyd

Successful People Combat Stress By Being With Friends!

Surrounding yourself with the people you love can ultimately be half the battle to combating stress!

Even the most confident people feel most comfortable when in the company of others that they’ve come to know and love, and whilst going out to meet new people often has great results in the long-term, it can often be a difficult and mildly stressful experience initially.

If you ever catch yourself with your chin in your hands and a throb in your head, reach for the phone, ring someone you love, and arrange to do something fun.

Even sitting at home with a cup of tea and a friend can really help to relieve high levels of stress as it focuses your mind onto something you love.

What’s more, it gives you a perfect outlet to vent some frustration; after all, that’s what friends are for.

Gareth Lloyd

Successful People Combat Stress by “Laughing”!

If you’re stressed, the last thing you probably feel like doing is laughing. But if you are able to muster up even the smallest chuckle during your day, you’ll soon begin to find that the effects of stress slowly slip away.

When we laugh, the body releases happy hormones called endorphins, which actively counteract the blood-boiling chemicals that are produced when stress hits home.

Laughing allows us to take in a momentous supply of fresh oxygen from the air, stimulating the muscles and providing our system with some healthy shock treatment that eases tension brought on by stress.

If you ever begin to experience that oh-so-familiar feeling amplifying inside you, take a break to flick through some online joke sites, watch some funny YouTube clips, or scroll through some old photos of you and your family/friends that always cheer you up.

Laughing is something we need to do every day to stay healthy, and is great way to keep the nasty effects of stress at bay.

Gareth Lloyd