7 Habits of a Successful Teenager
The activities that we do today are determined by our daily habits. All habits, thoughts and actions, are powered by our subconscious minds. Essentially, the habits that we do today are programmed to do the automatic- what we are most familiar with and what we have been doing. Most of our thoughts and actions are the repeats of yesterday, the day before that, and so on and so forth.
Imagine your regular morning. The situation may be that you woke up, snoozed on the alarm, slept for another 5-10 or so minutes, drank coffee, ate breakfast, went to work, and drove (in the same route, of course). The following day, the same ritual happens again until the week is over- when you can finally sleep in. Sounds exciting, right?
Our daily activities in life are pretty much down to the patterns that we established in our routines. These are the systems that are built upon the subconscious, and they determine what we do regularly because we don’t often think about it. Again, the entirety of it is just automatic.
Importance of Good Habits
The tragic part is that people can acquire bad habits that not only consume their time but also waste and deteriorate their life away. Take, for example, smoking. It is a bad habit in which not only lowers your lifespan, but it is a keystone habit in which takes over so many aspects of your life. This sort of lifestyle can have the power to ultimately ruin your relationships with your friends, family, spouse, and children.
Time of the essence is a valuable asset. Everyone gets the same amount of time in the day, 24 hours to be exact. Now, think about the factors of health and energy. You know the saying “you are what you eat”? Well, you are what you consume. This goes a long way toward habits. You are your thoughts and actions.
What does your day consist of? What are your priorities? They say that the main factor that differentiates the successful from the mediocre is the foundation that they built upon their habits. Prioritizing and investing in great habits are what sets these high-leveled individuals apart from everyone else.
Age is inconsiderable in terms of reaching and obtaining success. So, it does not matter if you are young, middle-aged, or old- the advice can prove useful regardless. Also, the definition of success varies from person to person. There is no certain path to reaching success. Life is but a journey and it is yours to change.
Without further ado, here are some habits that you can try to implement in your life to become more successful in your endeavors. These tips are examples of what highly successful people do.
1. Managing
When having proper systems in place, your productivity will manifest by almost tenfold because you set upon yourself a certain direction. Simply by adding structure in your routine, you add that stability factor of success.
Successful people track where their time is going. They know the value of time and they leverage the tool of management and planning as a way to save time from being wasted.
Some other examples of management can include eliminating distractions, setting goals, and organizing things like their workspaces. The more organized you are, the less likely you will fall out of place with your priorities.
I recommend the tip of looking at things in a minimalist’s point of view. It is important to remove clutter in the mind and make your life as simple as possible.
2. Possessing a “Start Now” Mentality
To be successful, you need to make progress. To make progress, you need to start. It is so easy to get hung up on the details and to overanalyze everything.
Eliminate those lingering thoughts and just start for goodness sake!
I like the quote: “Paralysis is the cause of over-analysis.”
While everyone else is overthinking the situation before even taking the leap of faith, action-takers are already on the move. In most situations, those action-takers are already winning.
For example, a lot of teens would just complain and talk about how much problems they have and how much stress it induces, but they never do much about it. Again, over-analysis causes paralysis.
As said by Tony Robbins, “Complexity is the enemy of execution.”
3. Reflecting on Your “Why”
What is your drive? What keeps you going? How do you know if your motives are strong enough?
Your “why” is your elixir for momentum. Some may say that money is their driving force. Others say power or happiness. All of these reasons are not necessarily wrong, for people have their own interests and values. Although, ask yourself if your “why” truly inspires you. If it doesn’t, change it and look for a deeper meaning.
Successful people are forces to be reckoned with and they have solid, strong why’s. They make it into a habit to always reflect on them.
4. Having a Positive Outlook
The way you see the world is what you get out of it. If you are the type to highlight the negatives, you will only stick to that narrow-minded scope of always being pushed around, always looking for who or what to blame.
In contradictory to that, if you look for the good things in life, you tend to attract those positive things. This is called the law of attraction. If you associate yourself with kind and inspiring people, you become like them. On the other hand, if you associate yourself with people who influence pessimism, your energy will bounce off exactly like theirs.
Also, not all “successful” people utilize the factor of positivity in their lives. Take for example the unhappy people of Hollywood who were very much successful in their careers but not in terms of having a fulfilling life.
You can be successful in terms of career, but it does not necessarily mean that you are successful in other aspects of life. You can be a millionaire and still have depression.
So in short, your views and associations do not necessarily mean that you guarantee success. Although having a positive outlook can and will increase good karma.
5. Utilizing EQ in Relationships
According to Debra Thompson, “On average, close to 90% of the success in leadership positions was attributable to EQ. Emotional intelligence is an essential ingredient for reaching and staying at the top of any field.”
Of course, we need to make connections in life. We need to network and build relationships. Successful people know their way around people. Having higher EQ equates to better relationships.
For example, in the world of business, I’ve noticed that leaders who have higher EQ tend to stay longer than those who lack it. I see it in how they communicate and delegate within their firms.
Lack of EQ means you lack effective leadership and the fewer people buy into what you are saying. Knowing how to manipulate your EQ is an essential part in being successful, not only in businesses or workplaces but as well as in your household or friend groups.
Having a higher EQ or EI (Emotional Intelligence), you are more cautious of what you say and how you react. You are more self-aware of yourself and those around you.
6. Sticking to Your Words
From what I see, successful people are blooming with confidence. Self-confidence according to Ed Mylett comes from the promises you keep to yourself. He says that if you do not keep your promises, you would feel inadequate, which in turn, shutting your confidence down and leading you to a spiral of lousy results.
In the long run, by keeping your promises to yourself and committing in them, you develop grit. Self-confidence goes up along with productivity and satisfaction.
Successful people are committed. They make it into a habit to commit 100% on the things that they do because fear is the limiting belief that stops the average individual. You must develop that discipline.
7. Choosing Healthy and Always Learning
Another common trait that successful people tend to do is that they continuously learn. They are always hungry, and they heavily invest their time in seeking knowledge. They don’t want their brains to die.
On the other hand, they also value investments in longevity or overall health. They know the importance of exercise and sleep. Successful people take the precaution of anything that can potentially kill or weaken them. They look into the long-term quality investments, especially for their body and mind.
In Conclusion
There are most definitely more habits out there that would complete this list. It also does not make an individual less successful if they do not possess all or any of these. Success is but in the eyes of the beholder. Here are just some of my tips in which I found to be helpful for me.
To sum up this article, here are the 7 habits I recommend if you want to be more successful in your endeavor:
1. Managing
2. Possessing a “Start Now” Mentality
3. Reflecting on Your “Why”
4. Having a Positive Outlook
5. Utilizing EQ in Relationships
6. Sticking to Your Words
7. Choosing Healthy and Always Learning
Check out more on this topic from the success category!
The Takeaway
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. This is my very first blog post, so feel free to critique and/or share your thoughts on these topics. I am more than happy for constructive criticism and comments.
For more information on this topic, I highly recommend reading: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
Before I go, I would like to thank Jacob and Joshua for this guest post opportunity. Thanks for the collab, guys!
If you want to connect, feel free to visit my blog MakeFinanceEasy.