10 unusual tips for success 

In this blog, I’ll share with you 10 tips for success that you may not have heard 1000x before.

Before I dive straight into it, let me share something with you. I usually write my blogs and record accompanying videos on the weekend. But, I spent last Saturday running a whole-day workshop and the last thing I wanted to do after that was speaking to a camera. And on Sunday I had a 3-hour run for my London Marathon training. After runs like this, I’m generally just happy to be alive, so recording was out of the question.

But I didn’t want to fall behind, so I grabbed my GoPro and decided to record my Vlog while running. So if you’d like to see me sharing these tips while running 35km, check out the video above.

If not, you can find the 10 tips described below.

1) MIND YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Expectations are a funny thing. They usually happen without us being too aware of them. But expectations have a significant influence on how you feel, whether you persevere in pursuing your goals or quit.

If you expect things to be easy, you may feel encouraged at first, but you’ll soon be disappointed because nothing worth achieving comes easy.

You don’t have to expect things to be painfully difficult, but having a realistic idea of what it will take will help you along the way.

2) FIND YOUR OWN PACE

When you start working on yourself, on your business or improving some aspect of your life, you’ll notice others who are on a similar path as you are or pursue similar goals.

It can be really tempting to start comparing yourself to them. You may feel bad because you’re not progressing as fast as they are or because they are ahead of you.

That’s not fair towards yourself.

Yes, some people may progress faster, but maybe your discipline and commitment are much higher than theirs. Just because they are ahead of you right now may not mean anything in the long run.

Find your perfect pace and be ok with it. It’s often the slow and steady that wins the race. Be in it for the long benefits, not quick wins.

3) Keep reminding yourself why you’ve started

Whether your goals will take months or years to accomplish, (personal development is a lifetime goal), you can rest assured that there will be challenging times.

During these times your mind will be telling you:

“Stop”
“Why are you doing this?”
“This is crazy!”
“This is not worth it!”
“What’s the point?”

In moments like these, it’s so important to remember why you’ve started in the first place because we sometimes forget what the dream, the idea, the passion that led you to embark on this journey was.

So it’s essential to regularly (and by that I mean at least weekly) remind yourself what’s your WHY, why you have started this.

Every time you do that, it gives you a bit of a kick and push that you need to stay focus and keep going.

4) Don’t be afraid to ask for help

There will be times on your journey when you get stuck or at lest slow down and you’ll need help. If you let your ego get in the way and become too proud or too shy to ask for help, you’ll either stay stuck, or you’ll waste time reinventing the wheel.

And even if you come up with a solution, chances are that it won’t be as good as the one you’d come up with if you had someone more experienced helping you out.

It’s usually our ego that get’s in the way of us asking for help as if it was something to be embarrassed about or something shameful. Leave your ego behind, it’s usually just a complication on your way to success.

So leave your ego behind and find someone who understands what you’re going through and who’s willing to help. It may take a short conversation for you to get what you’ve been looking for to get unstuck and progress faster than before.

5) Find a mentor or a role model

This is somewhat related to the previous tip but provides more of a long term solution.

If you want to progress as fast as you possibly can, find yourself a coach or a mentor who can regularly help you correct your course, overcome problems and find better ways of doing things.

If you cannot find or afford a coach or a mentor, at least find yourself a role model, someone who has been what you’re going through and came out on the other side of it better, stronger, and more accomplished.

It will give you motivation and inspiration when you need it.

It can be someone you know, influencer, historical figure or a character from a movie or a book.

By the way, you can have more than just one role model. You can learn different qualities from different people.

When you get in a tough situation, think; What would your role model do?

6) Give your mind something to think about

When you let your mind wander and do its own thing it will find something negative to think or worry about. Throughout evolution, our brain has evolved to be by default slightly negative and pessimistic because it’s a great survival strategy. It prevents you from doing risky things and makes you play it safe.

But the days when this strategy was broadly applicable are long gone.

Nonetheless, the “program” is still running and if left unchecked our mind will wander nitpicking on things and find a lot of reasons to be worried, unhappy, and will keep you living in fear and scarcity.

The good thing is that you have 100% control over your mind and it will do what you’ll ask it to do. So give it something positive and productive to think about; How to improve things, to find reasons why you should be brave and daring, why you should risk.

If you don’t, it will do its thing and keep you stuck in your comfort zone.

7) Read, read, and read some more

Over the last 12 years of studying personal development, I’ve read way over 100 books. I would not be where I am today without it.

People often tell me; But Tomas, when I read a book, I don’t really remember much of what I’ve read. If it makes you feel better, most people don’t.

But if you want to make the information stick better, here are a few strategies.

1) Highlight it in the book and review the highlights at the end of your reading sessions.
2) Talk about what you’ve read. Share the information with someone, write a blog, record a video.
3) That’s the best way to make some information stick is to start applying it. Don’t be just a passive reader. Use what you’ve learned.

We are so fortunate to have such easy access to books. Think about it. A book may be decades of someone’s research and experience concentrated to a couple of hundred pages, right there, ready for you. When you are reading a book, you’re saving yourself decades of study.

Take advantage of this privilege.

Get into the habit of reading 30-60 minutes a day. A few pages a day. A bit in the morning and a bit in the evening works really well.

If you read 10 pages a day, that’s 300 pages a month. That’s 12 books a year. Your life will be massively impacted by reading 12 books a year.

8) Be kind

In other words, don’t be an asshole.

Because whatever you put out there will come back to you. When you’re kind, generous, and overall a good person, that’s how you’re training the world to treat you back. Be kind, but firm.

I’ve seen situations where people achieved a bit of success, and it got into their head. They started feeling like they are better than others and started looking down on people and became arrogant.

The interesting thing is that others may not say anything. But sooner or later it sure comes back to them and bites them.

So, be kind, it will pay off.

9) Continuously explore who you are

The better you understand yourself, the more authentic and certain decisions you’ll be able to make.

Strangely enough, we don’t get a manual to who we are when we are born. To figure out who we are takes time, patience, curiosity and honesty. It’s a never-ending quest, and personally, I believe that’s the real beauty of it. It will never get boring.

Spend time regularly asking yourself some deep questions like:- Who am I? – What do I like, love, dislike, and hate? – What do I believe in? – What’s really important to me? – What would it mean if …….., and why? – Why did I react the way I did? – Why do I fear this and that?

You get the idea. You will be astonished by some of the insights you’ll find.But you’ll never find them if you don’t look for them.

10) Stop underestimating yourself

The majority of people around us underestimate themselves and play it safe. What we do is that we watch and learn as with most things. It’s natural. Everyone is doing it. I do it too sometimes.

Stop taking on other people’s limitations.

Instead, try to challenge your own (perceived) limitations. When you think you cannot do something, give it a try. Sometimes you’ll fail, other times you’ll succeed.

Every time you succeed you’ll realise that your perceived limitations were wrong. If you do this often enough, little by little your confidence will grow along with scepticism about your own limitations.

Soon, you’ll be braver you ever thought you could be.

Ponder these 10 tips and how you could apply them in your life.

Thanks for reading.

If you need the support of a life coach to help you with making a great first impression or with any other areas of your personal development, you’re always welcome to contact me and let’s find out if we’d be the right match.