🌼Why You’re Not Successful.(AMAZING LESSONS)

🌼Why You’re Not Successful.(AMAZING LESSONS)

If you asked me a year ago how my morning began I would tell you it started with an alarm rattling me to my core followed by a deep existential crisis and a desire to never, ever leave bed.

I’ve woken up this way, every day for as long as I could remember — tired, unmotivated and sleep deprived. I’ve got a collection of books that I’ve been hoarding detailing the importance of sleep and the detriments of the lack of it. But in all honesty, I’ve been consciously avoiding them as I know they’re just going to solidify what I can assume to be true.

Read also: The 5 real reasons you are not wealthy

Lack of sleep = not good.

Ignorance really is bliss.

I had two conflicting mindsets; the first one being a strong desire to grow and improve physically and emotionally. The second being an equal if not stronger desire to take the easy way out and follow the path of least resistance.

Eventually I bit the bullet and began to dive head first into what I was avoiding — a strong, brutal reality check ensued.

It hit me like a freight train. I learnt I was not only on a one way street heading in the opposite direction of anything I found worthwhile. I was doing so in an uber at 2.5x surcharge paying for the ride with my health and freedom, not money.

I was so caught up in my day to day routines that I was oblivious to the fact that in most aspects of my life, the negatives outweigh the positives. This didn’t sit well with me. Something had to change.

I started by breaking down my life into miniscule detail to find out exactly where I was going wrong.

This analysis allowed me to look at my life from a different perspective. I came up with a simple game plan. If an activity I was doing provided me with physical or mental fulfilment, it could stay. If it made me feel tired, lethargic or unsatisfied, it had to go.

I found this process to be life-changing. With each positive habit I was reinforcing, the bad habits would be weaned out leaving me feeling that tiny bit better which would then compound with each day and eventually create a new baseline of positivity and optimism.

With a goal to make small improvements every day, all I had to do was stay consistent and I was destined for success.

I came to understand that the foundation for every day is laid the night before. What you do in the late afternoon/evening will dictate your success the following day.

For example, consuming too much caffeine or drinking alcohol too often will directly affect the quality of your sleep. If you wake up feeling disgusting each and every day how will you find the strength to get up and pursue your goals? You won’t. You will stay in bed, pick up your phone and browse social media.

You’ve already lost.

What stands between you and your goals is how you behave.

Your actions the evening before directly affect the success of the following day. If you have a goal to wake up early, exercise and eat clean, do not end your previous day with a cheeseburger and 3 glasses of wine.

The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

Luckily my lifestyle is no longer like that and in hindsight I can see the flaws in my routine. Waking up every morning with a hangover, or a feeling like you have one will definitely set you up for failure and trap you in a negative feedback loop.

We all know the saying “your body is a temple” and “you are what you eat”. There is a good reason why it’s so well known. It’s true. What you put into your body will have a direct result on your output.

It’s hard to control the mind with the mind. We can’t simply think our way out of a rut. But if we are mindful of what we consume on a daily basis we can start to use our bodies to change the way we see and feel.

If you consume negative news all day, that will affect your overall outlook on life.

If you consume excessive amounts of unhealthy food, that will affect your energy levels and mental acuity.

If you associate with people that have values that don’t align with you, you will become like them.

That’s just to name a few examples.

Our environment determines our trajectory in life. Success is found through hard work and discipline. There are no tricks involved.

The hard work is to do the work.

You exercise when you don’t want to.

You create when you don’t feel inspired.

You eat healthy when it’s cheaper and easier to not do so.

It is not supposed to be easy. Life is a game and it’s supposed to be hard. Success is found through discomfort and that’s what you should seek.

That’s where discipline comes in.

Discipline means you embrace the suck, all day every day. You push through and complete what you set out to do consistently. You don’t give yourself an easy way out. You don’t come up with excuses to skip a day. Your mind will always create all sorts of reasons and excuses on why it’s okay to stop. It’s up to you to push through the pain and not give up.

It’s not easy and it never will be. Those who accept that reality and continue on regardless will succeed. That is what separates successful people from those who fail.

Here are some things I do to set myself up for success.

1. No caffeine within 90 minutes of waking

I like to allow my cortisol levels to naturally rise. If I drink caffeine first thing in the morning I have found that it has a minimal effect in terms of actually waking me up and I also encounter an afternoon crash. If you’re interest in what a caffeine crash crash is and why we encounter it check out my post on what is a caffeine crash

2. No coffee past 12pm

It can take up to 10 hours to completely clear caffeine from your bloodstream. If caffeine is still in your bloodstream while sleeping it can hinder the ability to have a deep, restorative sleep.

3. Keep alcohol consumption minimal

This is self explanatory but excessive alcohol consumption will affect the quality of sleep. Sleep is crucial and shouldn’t be neglected.

4. No screens in first and last hour of the day

First thing after waking up, your body is in prime position to receive the neuroplasticity that took place during the night. If you immediately go to a rich sensory experience like social media and saturate your dopamine circuit you’re completely missing all the data that was proceed throughout the night

5. Physical exercise every day

Exercise helps improve physical health, mental health and provides a challenge to overcome each day. I struggle to start every workout, but by the end I never regret it.

6. Read at least 1 hour every day

Reading has changed my life exponentially. I’ve set myself a goal to read 52 books per year.

7. Journal daily entry reflecting on daily wins/losses

Reflect on what went well and ask yourself if there is anything you can do better. Doing this daily helps guide you towards positive actions and will eliminate bad habits

8. Walk outdoors every morning after waking

Walking and experiencing optic flow (objects passing by) has the ability to reduce the amount of neural activity in the amygdala thereby reducing anxiety and promotes a positive foundation to start your day.

Read also: How I stay productive 97% of every day (amazing wisdom)

9. Getting sunlight in my eyes ASAP

Studies have concluded that sunlight first thing in the morning is vital to mental and physical health. Direct sunlight stimulates the neurons in your eyes responsible for telling the brain to wake up. These are called melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs) and unfortunately, artificial light is not sufficient to stimulate them. So get outdoors.

Success is found internally. Ending every day knowing that you’re making progress towards your goals provides fulfilment and promotes a positive feedback loop that encourages you to keep going.

If I am 1% better today than I was yesterday I am successful.

CONTRIBUTED BY Brad Cuffe

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