“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.” ―Stephen Covey

It’s amazing when one wakes up to the desire for a change. A strong push towards your goals and achievements as well as wanting to be really successful.

Taking a look at many entrepreneurs and businessmen, it is seen that they have a way they go about their success. It’s a thing of awakening. A driving force that pulls you so strong out of your comfort zone and makes you want to do anything and everything possible to become the best version of you.

Success doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve heard of little drops of water making the mighty ocean and little grains of sand making the pleasant land.

Being successful is a collection of conscious and deliberate actions that is repeated over time. It is not about doing something once and expecting a magic wand to perform wonders overnight. Nothing good is created easily. You have to do your part, put in efforts and see the universe spin around you.

Personally, for years, I struggled with balancing my life and career equation. It was an internal and external struggle trying to fit the puzzles of my life together.

The more I struggled, the more it seemed like it was falling apart. However, I started a conscious analysis of almost every activity that was wearing me out. I started with my academics to my career, to financial decisions, to home maintenance and even the use of my phone. It was quite difficult at first but gradually, I adjusted and fitted the whole piece together. The truth is that I don’t feel up to it sometimes but somehow, I find myself doing right by myself and that makes me feel really good.

On the surface level, these are some of the things I did to actually improve my life and I am sure will work for you too.

1. Plan Your Day Ahead.

Do you just wake up and take on the day however it comes? You’re doing yourself a great disservice by doing that. Every night, take time out to plan our day ahead. It gives you clarity and focus and helps you know what you should be doing at a particular time.

This simply means you should have an active to-do list. Not a to-do list that is filled with activities that are practically impossible to achieve. Set realistic goals for the day and stick by them. This is one sure way to be successful as you know the right thing to do at every moment.

There are different planners you can use to achieve this. And such planners are synced across devices so you wont have any cause to miss out on any of your activities. Some of them are:

• Evernote
• Wunderlist
• Google Keep
• One Note
• Trello etc

2. Create A Morning Routine.

How getting up at 5a.m. helped my life tremendously cannot over priced. I wake up early to jump start my day and move towards achieving success as the day rolls by. Getting up early creates more time in the day and leaves more room for activities that can push one towards being successful.

Morning routines will definitely help you decide how great your day will go. Having a good morning routine can help you move from zero to zen and this will bring more success your path.

My morning routine follows this step:

• Wake at 5
• Drink a cup of water
• Morning devotion/meditation
• Yoga / Workout
• Shower
• Cup of black tea
• Check emails…

And that ends my first tasks for the morning which takes me till 8a.m This morning routine looks simple but it has helped me stay organised a major part of my life, especially when i’m not in school.

Yours doesn’t have to take the same pattern. A little twitch here and there with what works for you will do he whole magic.

3. Have A Foresight.

To be successful, you need to have foresight. Nothing good is created suddenly and nothing is a surprise. When you plan your life and actually live by the plans, you will hardly be taken by surprise.

Plan your success by reading on topics related to your core interests. This will prepare you and give you adequate information on what to expect and what not to expect in any given field. Remember, everything is a process and you don’t just chance on good things. You work towards them to get the most of them.

4. Do The Important Work First.

In gunning for success, after creating a foundation and framework to go by, you must work by a scale of preference. Learn to put the important and pressing tasks first and work on them as soon as you get on the job.

Don’t leave the bulkiest of tasks last. You will have no time to actually implement them and you may end up doing a very tacky job. Move from complex to simple when dealing with your tasks. It gives you chance to ration the time left on other easier tasks.

5. Give Room For Slips.

Allow yourself some breathing space. When you are not able to conveniently finish up your tasks in a day don’t make it be a determinant of your happiness.

In fact, laugh at yourself for some of the mistakes made and move on.

Give yourself some breather. You cannot always be perfect. You cannot always do things right. Allow some slip ups and balance it out as you move on.

6. Move Your Body Each Day.

As cliche as this sounds, you need a daily dose of exercise to keep you on your toes. You can’t be gunning to be successful and then end up being physically unfit.

More so, exercising keeps the mind and body working efficiently. Your mental alertness is in a way tied to the physical activities you get yourself involved in.

You can’t be sedentary and expect to have a super healthy life of someone who takes out time to exercise.

You don’t have to start from the really intense exercises to get on this.

A little stretch, a 10 minute walk, jumping ropes and those little things will do.

7. Create Room For Quiet Time.

I deliberately put this point as the last one. The place of a quiet time can’t be overstated.

Create quality time for meditation and praying on a daily basis. The best time for this is before you start the day.

To highlight it’s importance, you can even put it on your to-do list.

A quiet time is your personal charging time. It helps you gravitate and channel your inner Zen towards your goal.

It helps you keep a clear head and also keep focus and track of your mission for each day. You cannot go wrong by starting on the right foot.

Take out time to make this a routine and see how everything will come out well.

Remember when you deliberately and consciously work towards success, you’ll definitely achieve it.

I’d like to connect with you on a deeper level. Kindly hit me up as we go on in the comments.

Also, do not forget to share this with your circle.