Let’s face it, success is not easy. If it is easy, everyone will be successful. And to a lot of people, success means acquiring new skills, learn a new habit, develop the right mindset, and become a new person. But sometimes, in order to become the right person worthy of success, you don’t need to add more things, you just need to give up on the bad things that hold and drag you.
When you study the success habits and mindsets of successful people, you will notice that they all possessed some similar traits.
And at the same time, they all have learned to give up on certain things to become who they are.
While it is true that you need to develop the right skills, learn the new habits, and adopt the right thinking, but giving up on the bad things that stop you from living your best life is also vital.
Imagine that you are driving. For most people, they are driving with their handbrakes on. If they want to go faster, they press the pedal to accelerate the car.
This is like keep on acquiring the new habits and mindsets without letting go of the old and dis-empowering ones.
Sometimes, to go faster, you don’t have to press the pedal harder. You just need to let go of the handbrake so that your car can go smoother and faster.
Do you get it? Giving up on the bad things are like letting go of your handbrake so you can drive faster.
Thus, here are the top 10 things you can give up to go faster and to achieve much more in life.
1. Give up thinking short-term
The first thing you need to give up is your short-termed thinking. A lot of people think short term. They don’t think too far into the future. They only see what lies in front of them.
I like this powerful quote from Larry Winget:
“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.”
Yes, people who think short-term will never make a plan. They don’t believe in planning. They believe that planning will not work for them.
“We can’t predict things and things just don’t happen according to the plan, so why plan?” This is why the short-termed thinking will never do any planning.
Starting from now on, think long-term.
Imagine the future you want. Think about living the dream life you have always desired. Have a vision and hold on to your vision.
More importantly, keep your vision and your dream in your mind all the time.
While it is true that you cannot predict the future, but having a plan is better than having no plan at all. When you have a plan, it makes you proactive because it gives you a clear direction of what to do and where to go.
What happens when you don’t have a plan? You become reactive and respond to whatever that comes to you.
2. Give up your excuses and stop playing the blame game
The next thing you need to give up on if you want to live a successful life is your excuses. Plus, stop playing the blame game.
Don’t make the excuses like: you’re too old, or too young, you’re not talented enough, you don’t have time, you don’t have the money, you don’t know how to do it, or you are just not lucky enough.
Come on, my friend. Stop making all these lame excuses.
Success is not easy because you need to give up on these excuses. Most people are not willing to let go of these lame thoughts that stop them, and that is why they are not successful.
Here’s a list of 19 common excuses that keep most people stuck in life. Read it and see if you are making any of them.
As long as you still hold on to your excuses, you will never break free and get ahead.
Excuses are the chains that prevent you from achieving what you want in life. They are the justification why you can’t do it.
Think about it, why are you not successful yet? Why are you not rich yet? Why are you not living your dream life yet?
Your answer is the very excuse that you need to get rid of.
When you stop making excuses, you give yourself a chance to try, to take action, and to do better.
3. Give up waiting for things to come to you
Do you always wait for things to come to you? You shouldn’t. Give up the mentality that you have to wait for the perfect moment or for things to come because you don’t need to.
Successful people go out and make things happen. They don’t wait.
If you are going to just sit and wait for things to come, I can tell you that nothing will happen.
Be proactive and stop waiting. Go ahead and make things happen instead.
If your ship isn’t coming, swim out to meet it.
Of course, this is easier said than done. What if you don’t know how to swim? Well, you can learn. What if you swim out but can’t find your ship? Well, maybe you will discover other ships.
Let me tell you this, success is not about sitting and waiting. It is about creating and taking actions.
Hence, set your goals, create a plan, and then act. Don’t wait.
Warren Buffett once said:
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
And Buffett is absolutely right. A year from now you will wish you had started today. Do it, and do it now. Stop waiting because time waits for no one.
4. Give up on playing small
Another crucial negative thinking you must let go is the playing small mindset.
You have to understand that if you want to be successful in life, there is no way you can play it small.
And since you are going to do it anyway, do it big. It is either you go big, or you go home. What’s the point of being afraid and playing small?
Regardless of whether it is at work or in life, those who achieved the most are those who dare to fail. And because they dare to fail, they take big and bold steps. They think big.
If you want to start a business, go and do it. Stop hesitating and doubting yourself. Just do it.
If you want to be a blogger, by all means, do it. I love how Jeff Goins, a successful blogger and best-selling author puts it, “You are a writer, you just need to write.”
Yes, if you want to be a writer, just write. You don’t have to think much.
Besides taking the initiative on your dreams, learn how you can grow big. Want to be a YouTuber? Look at how other successful YouTubers in your industry make it big. Learn from them.
Make it a target to go on stage to speak to thousands of people and inspire them. Set it as a goal to win the most prestigious awards in your industry.
Dare to fail and dare to go big.
5. Give up the people who hold and drag you down
This is another big thing you must give up if you want to get ahead in life. There is no way you can reach your dreams if you constantly live your life with people who drag you down.
Think about it. Successful people make friends and they mingle with other successful people.
If you spend most of your time with people who drink, eventually, you will become a drinker too.
And when you spend time with business people, guess what are the topics of your conversation?
Most likely, you will talk about what business to start, how the economy is performing, who and who have sold their businesses, the market trend, net worth, etc.
You will seldom hear a group of business people come around and talk about who has got a raised in salary.
Your daily conversation will determine your thinking. And your thinking will determine your life.
Thus, if you want to live a successful life, give up on joining the people who will stop you or drag you down.
If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t swim with the ducks.
6. Give up instant gratification
Do you crave for instant gratification? If you do, you must give it up. Instant gratification usually only brings short-term pleasure, but in the long run, it will never benefit you.
Do you choose to watch TV or work on your goals? Will you go for the plate of sweet chocolate dessert or a bowl of healthy fruit salad?
Well, the choice you make says a lot about you.
When you are given a bonus of $500, do you spend it on a night in the shopping or do you save the money and invest it?
Spending the bonus will give you immediate pleasure, which is fun, but only for a short time. But saving and investing that same $500 bonus will give you more money in the future.
I guess this quote says it all:
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
The same principle applies to you and every other area of your life. If you want to be successful, you must delay the immediate pleasure and do the things that most people are not willing to do.
The majority will choose to spend all the money that they earned. And that is why most of them are not financially free.
Only those who choose to delay gratification and go for the long-term reward are the ones who make it in the end.
Hence, give up your need for instant gratification. Learn to delay it for the long-term rewards that are greater.
7. Give up your comfort zone and addiction to the soft life
Don’t just say that you want to be successful. Don’t just think about being rich, you need to do it.
You must walk the talk. And to do so, you need to give up your comfort zone and stop living the soft life.
Stop wasting your time playing games, checking updates on social media, or doing unproductive things that are not contributing to your goals.
You must go out of your comfort zone to make progress.
It is not easy to get up early in the morning to train, to exercise, to take action, and to work on your goals.
Take a look at all the professional athletes. Do you think they were born a champion? I don’t think so.
Athletes who make it to the top of their games are those who give up their comfort zone. They are the ones who train the hardest and put in the most effort to gain the skills to become the best.
You have to do the same if you want to be successful. You can’t hide in your comfort zone if you want to make progress.
8. Give up your fear of failure and success
This is another crucial thing you must give up. You must not let your fear to stop you from living your best life.
You can’t get ahead if you allow your fear to stop you. Regardless if it is your fear of failure or your fear of success, you must let them go.
So don’t let the “what if’s” to stop you. If you want something, go out and act on it.
Stop thinking, “what if I fail”, what if I can’t cope with it”, “what if others laugh at me”, or “what if I succeeded but I can’t handle it”.
If you want to know the 10 biggest fears holding most people back from success, read this article from CNBC.
So what should you do to get rid of your fear? Well, read my previous article to learn how to do it:
10 Great Ways How to Stop Your Fear of Failure
9. Give up your need to compare with others
If you are always trying to compare yourself with others, it will be extremely difficult to achieve what you truly want in life.
Think about it. Steve Jobs did not try to compare Apple with other brands or companies. He focused on what he did best and created products that he believed were great.
One reason birds and horses are not feeling sad because they don’t compare themselves with others. They are not trying to impress others.
And if you try to impress others and compare yourself with others, there will be no end to it. You will only make yourself feel stressed and upset.
First, you want a Toyota, then you want an Audi. What’s next? Do you want a Porsche? Or maybe a yacht or a private plane then?
Unless it is a healthy and positive competition, quit comparing what you have with others.
You don’t need to have what others have to feel happy and successful. And you don’t need to impress others to show how good you really are.
When the comparison stops, you will have calm and peace. And when you are not affected by others, you can achieve much more.
10. Give up wasting time
Stop wasting your time. Now, I’m not saying that you have to work 24 hours or keep pursuing your goals that you ignore your family or loved ones.
You do need to work for the things that you want, but at the same time, choose not to waste time on unproductive things like watching excessive TV, spending too much time on social media or games.
How you spend your time will determine the results you get in your life.
When you choose to do one thing, it means you are giving up on the other. In other words, you can choose to do the productive or the unproductive things, but not both.
It is either you waste your time playing games or you use the time to grow your website. You can’t do both.
And because every day is a new beginning, we end up having the perception to believe that we have a lot of time.
Yes, the sun will rise again tomorrow. You can procrastinate and leave things until tomorrow. And you can always choose to start tomorrow.
The only problem is that you can’t get back the time that has gone. You can’t get back to yesterday and start over.
So stop believing that you have unlimited time. Don’t be trapped by the thinking that you still have time, because you really don’t.
More importantly, it is what you do at this moment that will determine your future, not later or tomorrow.
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”
Pablo Picasso
Therefore, stop putting things off until tomorrow. If you have a goal, take action and make it happen. Never let procrastination stop you from achieving your goals.
If you are someone who always procrastinates and you want to get rid of this destructive habit, get Procrastination Fix. Fit it once and for all.
Conclusion
Now that you know what are the things you should give up in order to be successful in life. The only question is whether you are willing to do so.
You don’t have to give up on all the things at once. You can do it step-by-step.
For instance, you can always start with giving up short-term thinking. Every day, write down your goals and visualize the future that you want. Make it your habit to think long-term.
And after a few days or weeks, choose to give up another unproductive habit or thinking of yours.