Have you ever wondered what kind of life you want to live 10 years from now? Here’s what you should know – 10 years from now will surely arrive, but where would you be? Are you going to be living the same life as you are right now? Or are you going to live a better and more successful life?
If you want to live better and become more successful, then you must learn to upgrade your life.
You see, most people don’t spend time thinking about their future, instead, they spend time thinking about their dinner and the weekend. This needs to change.
You can achieve all your goals, turn your dreams into reality, and live a successful life if you work on upgrading your life right now.
The key is NOT about making big changes to your current lifestyle. Instead, it is about doing 1% better.
We have been sold and believed that change is only possible if there are some large and visible outcomes associated with it.
Whether it is to lose weight, build a business, or travel the world, we often thought that we need to make some big decisions or bold improvements to change our lives.
And I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to make a drastic change to live better. You just need to commit to small improvements.
In short, you want to upgrade your life one step at a time so that over the long term, you will achieve amazing improvement and be able to turn your life around for the better.
Success is not going to happen overnight, but you can make it happen over time.
How? By using these 21 little ways to upgrade your life one step at a time…
1. Give yourself a meaningful goal to pursue
Your direction is more important than speed. That’s right. And this is why you want to give yourself a goal to pursue.
If you want to live a better and more successful life, you must get your intention right. And the only way to do so is by setting an empowering and meaningful goal. You want to have something to look forward to each day.
What wakes up you each morning should not be the alarm on your phone, it should be your dreams and goals.
Learn how to set and achieve your goals here.
2. Practice mindfulness
One of the most underrated keys to success is being mindful of what you want. If you want to upgrade your life and live better, you must constantly be conscious of your thoughts and intention.
Your thoughts will influence your mood and hence, they will determine how you decide and act. This is why being mindful is important. It helps you understand your feelings and why you feel that way. Plus, it can also help increase your focus and attention.
So, how do you practice mindfulness? One simple way to do it is to meditate.
3. Create a productive morning routine
Your morning will set the pace of your entire day. If you want to have a productive day, then start your morning right. I suggest you read this book – What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.
In the book, the author Laura Vanderkam shared what most successful do in the morning. And here’s a sneak peek – most successful people exercise in the morning before they get to work.
Once you have developed a productive morning routine, you will be able to better control your schedules. You can then focus better, prioritize and work on your high-impact tasks that will change your life.
4. Spend at least 30 minutes into reading every day
This is straightforward common sense. If you want to live a more successful life, you need to work on improving yourself. And reading is the easiest way to do so. Hence, schedule time for reading. Make it your habit to read every day.
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
If you are not sure what books to read, well, check out my recommended success books.
5. Take a day off each week
You charge your phone every day, right? So why don’t you do that to yourself? We are not machines. And as human beings, we need to take time off to recharge and replenish our energy.
According to a study done by the WHO, it was found that working 55 hours or more a week was associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease than a workweek of 35 to 40 hours.
Taking time off will not only improve your productivity, but also ensure you have better overall wellbeing.
Take a look at the calendar, Sunday is there for a reason. Yes, you want to work hard, but at the same time, you must also make sure you get enough rest so that you can continue to work hard.
6. Schedule quality with people you love
There is no point to have all the wealth in the world but having no one to share your happiness with. If you want to upgrade your life, you must never neglect your relationships.
Schedule and spend quality time with people you love and care about. We are not designed to be isolated and alone. And when you take care of your relationships, your relationships will take care of you.
7. Improve your attitude
You can change your attitude and therefore, change your life. To live better and become more successful, start by envisioning the life you want. And then take a moment to think about what kind of person you need to become in order to create that kind of life that you desire.
Success begins with your attitude. A positive and improved attitude will greatly increase your chances of success in life. The good news is that your attitudes are not fixed. You can always change them.
“A bad attitude is like a flat tire. If you don’t change it, you’ll never go anywhere.”
Read: Top 10 Positive Attitudes and Behaviors Your Need to Succeed
8. Learn to be grateful for everything in life
When you are grateful, you will feel wealthy and happy even if you have just $1 in your wallet. But when you are not grateful, you will feel poor and broke even if you have a million dollars.
This article from Harvard says…
“Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
The more grateful you are, the more you will appreciate what you have in life, and the more positive emotions you will feel. And you know what that means? The more you can attract success into your life.
9. Exercise and move your body every day
I know you know it is important to exercise. But are you doing it? Most people understand they should exercise more, but they are not doing it. They give lousy excuses such as…
- I don’t have the time or I’m too busy.
- I don’t want to go to the gym.
- It’s too difficult or I’m too old.
Here’s the thing – exercise doesn’t need to take hours, difficult, or happen only in the gym. You can practice a short 15-minute exercise at home if you want to. If this is too difficult for you, practice walking 10,000 steps every day.
Check out these 30 quick-and-easy exercises you can do at home from Healthline.com.
10. Go outdoors and get close to nature
As I mentioned above, if you want to upgrade your life, you need to stop and take time off. And in this modern world, we are obsessed with technology and have been living an unhealthy life of being indoors for way too long.
It is time to stop and take a walk in the park. Studies have discovered that getting close to nature soothes your body and mind. It makes you feel good, heals your body, and makes you calm. So, go outdoors and get close to nature
11. Get a mentor or a coach
The fastest way to get to your destination is to get someone who has been there to show you the way. If you study successful people, you will discover most of them have mentors and coaches. They didn’t do it all by themselves.
- Mark Zuckerberg was mentored by Steve Jobs.
- Oprah Winfrey was mentored by Maya Angelou.
- Yves Saint-Laurent was mentored by Christian Dior.
And the list goes on. This just shows how important it is to have someone to show you or guide you along your journey to success. If you want to upgrade your life, get a coach or a mentor. Do you realize that every successful athlete has a coach?
12. Eat healthy with nutritious foods
Again, this is common sense. If you don’t take care of your health, you will never live a good and fulfilling life. You don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard.
So, from now on, be conscious of what you put into your mouth. Eat more nutritious foods, take supplements, and drink more water.
13. Spend time organizing and decluttering
When was the last time you spend time organizing your workplace or decluttering your house? Most people don’t declutter and organize their workstations. And as things pile up, they get more irritated by the day. Eventually, they hate their workplace, and they may even hate their jobs.
Never let this happens to you. Schedule time to declutter and organize the important areas of your life. For instance, to build a productive workspace, you just need to spend 3 to 5 minutes to declutter and organize every day before you leave.
Read: 10 Tips How to Organize Your Life for Better Productivity and Success
14. Time block your high-impact activities and tasks
This is one of the most underlooked secrets to success. If you want to upgrade your life and live better, you must learn to time block and get your high-impact work done.
Most people procrastinate and they are too busy doing low-impact tasks that don’t get them the results they want. If you want to achieve extraordinary results in life, you must time block and make sure you work on your top priority.
Mark Twain nailed it with this quote:
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
And to make sure you get your most impactful task done, use the time-blocking strategy.
15. Constantly upgrade yourself and learn new skills
Yes, that’s what you should do to make sure you achieve greater success in life. You can achieve anything you want in life, as long as you are willing to learn and upgrade yourself.
For example, if you are a blogger, learn how to write better. If you are an internet marketer, learn to improve your copywriting skills. If you are a YouTuber, learn how to get comfortable in front of a camera. And if you want to play professional tennis, then spend more time and train yourself for that.
As you can see, you can get good any what you do if you are willing to upgrade your skills and improve yourself.
Read: 7 Most Valuable Skills for Success You Need to Master
16. Upgrade your finances
You cannot upgrade your life if you don’t upgrade your finances. Money may not be your top priority, but we have to accept the fact that money is important in our lives.
And this is why you want to work on improving your financial standing. Commit to saving and learn to invest. Most importantly, learn how to generate more and create multiple streams of income.
If you want to achieve greater financial success, here’s a must-read book: Secrets of The Millionaire Mind.
17. Challenge yourself to do something uncomfortable from time to time
That’s right, you want to challenge yourself to do something that is out of your comfort zone from time to time. You can only grow and improve when you venture out of your comfort zone.
If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always got. The key to making a positive change is to do something different, something uncomfortable, and something that will get you a better outcome.
I love this saying…
“You don’t get what you want in life. You get who you are.”
That means if you want to succeed, you must first upgrade yourself and become the right person who will attract the success you desire. And that’s why you want to constantly improve and challenge yourself to become the right person.
18. Network and talk to people who shared the same vision as you
I bet you have heard about this a gazillion times, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This is because thoughts are contagious.
If you mix around with people who drink every night, you will eventually join in the party and become a drinker. Similarly, if you spend most of your time with successful people, you will be influenced and become successful too.
Thus, network and surround yourself with people who shared similar visions as you. If you want to fly with the eagles, then you should stop swimming with the ducks.
19. Limit screen time
Do you know that too much screen time can negatively impact your health, relationships, social skills, and even work performance?
You are the one who is supposed to control the use of technology. But in today’s world, too many of us are being controlled by technology. Instead of using phones for convenience and connectivity, we use our phones as an escape.
Hence, learn to manage your screen time:
- Turn off your phone when necessary.
- Don’t bring your phone into the bedroom.
- Watch less television and YouTube.
- Eat your meals without a screen.
- Practice mindfulness and stop scrolling.
20. Pursue or work on a passion
If you want to upgrade your life and live better, one of the simplest ways is to pursue your passion or develop a passion for what you do. When you are passionate about what you do, you will experience more highs, better engagement, and it will make you more creative.
You are going to spend one-third of your life working. Imagine if you hate your job and you have to go to work every day. How will your life turn out? Steve Jobs once said…
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
That’s right, develop your passion for what you do. Or pursue a passion. Because if you don’t like what you do, you will never make it.
Read: 7 Clear Signs That You Have Discovered Your Passion in Life
21. Learn to say ‘no’ and don’t give up
Achieving your goals and living a successful life may not be easy, but it doesn’t it is impossible. And this is why you must learn to say ‘no’ to the naysayers. Choose to believe in yourself and keep working toward the future you want to create.
At the beginning of this guide, I said that success will not happen overnight, but it can happen over time. So, you must keep your faith and don’t give up.
Constantly work on improving yourself, upgrade your life, and give yourself enough time to turn your dreams into reality.
What you want to achieve is possible. But you must give yourself a chance to work on it. So, improve yourself and upgrade your life – one step at a time – and this is what it takes to get to your destination.
Do you think these 21 little ways can help you get what you want in life? And do I miss out on anything? Leave your comment below and let me know.