This is a collaborative guest post.
No matter how old you are or what phase of life you are in, you deserve to be successful. Here’s some great news: there are a number of tangible steps you can take starting today to help ensure the next five to 10 years are successful, productive and happy as possible.
Here are three tips that people of all ages can try to set themselves up for success.
Learn When You Are at Your Best
If you find yourself nodding off at your computer trying to answer e-mails after dinner or you need a huge quantity of coffee to get going in the morning, it is probably time to realize and respect when you are most productive. As Inc. notes, early birds should embrace their productivity and creativity at 7 a.m. and give themselves permission to unwind by 5 p.m. On the flip side, night owls whose creative juices are flowing at 2 a.m. can honor their inner clock and do as much work as they can in the late-night hours. By not forcing yourself to fit into a schedule your body doesn’t like, you should find that you are more successful with your work, projects and everything else you have going on in your life.
Be Sure You Have Needed Policies in Place
There is nothing like having a medical emergency or fender bender and discovering you do not have adequate health or car insurance in place to send your stress level into outer space. To ensure that you have the proper amount of insurance, spend a morning going through your policies and ask your agent to make any necessary changes. Also, if you have not signed up for life insurance yet, this is another important policy to pursue. USAA offers term and permanent life insurance choices that will give you peace of mind knowing your family will be taken care of and protected. Granted, thinking about life insurance can be a heavy subject, but by using the USAA site as a resource you can get your questions answered and purchase a policy to help your family when the time comes.
Set Reasonable Goals
Another effective way to be successful in life is to set — and then work on — manageable goals. As I Will Teach You to Be Rich notes, the problem with most goal setting is that it is too broad. Vowing to “be more healthy” or “lose some weight” are examples of goals that are likely to go nowhere, in part because you have no idea where to start or how to maintain it. To attain your goals, strive to be more specific, with actionable steps. For instance, in the first example, set a goal of going to the gym three times a week for the month, and working out for 30 minutes each time. Or to shed some pounds, vow to eat smaller portions at mealtime, eliminate bedtime snacks for two weeks and work towards losing 5 pounds. By using this specific approach to goal setting in both your work and personal life, you should find that you are achieving a lot more success.
Success Can Be Yours
Success does not have to be some vague concept that you hope you will attain someday. By giving these tips a try, you will be well on your way to a more successful life that will serve you well both today and years into the future.
