Change Your Thinking With 5 Reliable Ways to Find Success in the Year Ahead

When a new year hits, we are super gung-ho about evaluating our resolutions and outlining personal [...]

By Tania Hussain

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(Photo: iStock)

When a new year hits, we are super gung-ho about evaluating our resolutions and outlining personal plans for an improved and healthier lifestyle. Of course, most of our desires revolve around achieving success, which stems from hard work. But if you've been doing the same thing for years but not seeing much improvement, how is it possible to truly set yourself up for a more promising result?

We've heard the common adage that you need to work really hard and take risks if you want to achieve success. Yet if we look at our own life and the nuggets of wisdom shared over the years from movers and shakers, hard work is not enough in the formula of success. It takes passion, ambition and a steadfast motivation with modified habits that promote a more positive awareness.

The University of Illinois discovered successful people share specific personality traits based off our own "conscientiousness." To add to this discovery, the University of Oregon found conscientiousness as one of the "Big 5" personality dimensions identified as an accurate indicator of positive workplace outcomes.

If you're looking to create a successful and happy new year whether in your personal life or career, start by modifying your thinking and create actions to help you get back on the road to success.

Always hunting for new experiences
Life sparkles so much brighter when you shake things up and try something outside the norm. If you want success, push yourself by trying new things. Not only will it break the stagnancy of routine and foster a growth in personality, but the jolt of challenges will also alter your perspective allowing you to see new things and stimulate you intellectually, emotionally and physically. Moreover, it improves the way things work, while provoking a steady productivity that never settles for less.

Thoroughly organized
We've learned about the value of organization from a very young age, but over the years and as we get older, it's an incredibly important function in reducing stress and strain. To help you become more successful in the new year, steer towards a more organized lifestyle that will motivate you to make changes. It might require a large investment of time, but it is definitely worth the effort as it leads to higher productivity and utilizes your time efficiently.

Not afraid of feedback
Whether it's positive or negative, feedback is a vital part of success and a key in making important decisions. In addition to benefitting the giver and receiver, feedback is helpful in highlighting weaknesses as well as strengths for a better experience built off conscientiousness. As a way to enhance and improve our actions and behavior for a continued learning experience, if you want to be successful, don't fear criticism. Use it as a method of motivation and a tool in self-improvement.

Create a balance
From our relationships to our careers, maintaining a balance is an important aspect of our lives. But when it comes to finding success and achieving our goals, is it possible to have equalized stability? While it seems the most successful people are working round the clock, they are actually juggling tasks and goals in a very organized method, while finding ways to incorporate the things they love to make their day more interesting. By setting out clear, structured objectives, they know what they want and they don't overthink too much about how to get it.

Understand success at its core
True success is never about the goal, it's about the journey we make to get there and those "near wins" that push us further than we thought possible. The only reason we ever actually set goals is to lure our subconscious into becoming the person it takes to achieve such objectives. It's not about compromise either — it's about chasing a dream we know we can accomplish, banishing self-doubt and reveling in the fruitful motivation of our actions. By maintaining integrity and respect throughout the process, we build a workable foundation for ambition and passion, and allow goals to become our driving force in whatever we want.

Related:

How to Overcome Procrastination and be Productive
5 Things Successful Women Never Do in the Morning
8 Ways to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions
25 Empowering Quotes from Brilliantly Inspiring Women

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