7 Ways To Live A Better Life

I’ve got a lot of work to do to become the person I want to be. I want to weigh less, earn more, and bring my business(es) to a level where I can consider myself “successful.” I was fortunate enough to be raised in a household where both of my parents and my brother are entrepreneurs and run thriving businesses – but while the desire for these accomplishments can be embedded in you, sometimes the skill-sets required, are not.

So, what are some tools and habits that I have found to help along this journey? Here are a few to start with.

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Read more books.

Books are a fantastic way to learn from the experience of others. Someone may have decades of education and experience on a topic, and have written a book on it. This means in a few hundred pages you can absorb the important pieces of knowledge that this person has spent much of their life acquiring.

One of my personal favorites is Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, who discusses all areas of life in the book.

Many people (myself included some days) would rather watch a movie or play around on Facebook instead of taking the time to read a book, but two of the things in that sentence won’t help you live a better life…

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Listen to more seminars.

If you think seminars are boring, then you simply haven’t discovered a topic or speaker that you enjoy listening to. I’m going to sound like an Anthony Robbins advertisement here, but a simple YouTube search of his name will pull up endless hours of empowering material to help you live a better life. Here is one of my absolute favorites.

The great thing about seminars is that they require less of your undivided attention than books and can help provide similar value. If you ride the train or bus you can play it through your headphones, or on your lunch break at work. I go to sleep listening to one literally every single night.

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Find a mentor.

This might be one of the most important ones. Some of my most profound enlightenment has come from just sitting around with friends who have already created the level of success that I strive for. The thing that I’ve found about successful people is that they are often willing to help others become successful, as well. Especially those who have made it by starting a business or taking a chance in life.

I have actually considered starting a group in the Boston area where people can all get together once a week, hang out, have a drink, and just talk about life. I think we get so caught up in our routines and making it from day to day, that we lose sight of how to really bring value to ourselves and those around us. Having a mentor (or mentors) can help keep your focus and give you someone whom with every conversation will be a gift.

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Be kind to others.

A great way to reveal the kindness in others is to be kind to them, first. You might be asking yourself why you have to put in the effort to be kind first. Why do you have to smile first? Why do you have to extend your hand first? Well, because you are a beautiful person looking to live a beautiful life and to bring that light to others, that’s why.

By contributing, by spreading kindness and joy, people of the same character will gravitate towards you, and you will be able to build great friendships (or even an intimate relationship).

Nobody makes eye contact anymore – smile at a stranger today, you’ll be surprised how many smile back.

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Learn to love yourself.

Loving yourself is not about gazing into your own eyes in the mirror, taking a million selfies, or complimenting yourself on Facebook. Self-love is about developing and recognizing your own value. It’s about working to improve and understanding that you are worthy of love and happiness because of who you are.

Your self-worth comes from within, that’s why it’s called *self* worth, and nobody can take it away from you. We have to start teaching this to our youth and stop instilling the idea that single means alone and miserable, while in a relationship means happy and complete. You are a whole, complete person all by yourself, and your happiness is in nobody else’s hands.

When you learn what you deserve, only then will you stop settling for less.

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Set goals for yourself.

Very simple, but often overlooked. Without goals, we are like a ship at sea without a destination. Where are you going? What are you working towards? What do you want, and when do you want it?

Having steadfast goals in your life will keep you ambitious and always working to become the person it takes to actually achieve your goals – which is a greater reward than reaching your destination.

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Be willing to be wrong.

Wait, how does being wrong help you live a better life? Because being wrong is the first step to learning something new. If you are always right (or think you are), then you won’t think there is anything new to learn. This would be it, right now. This would be the best you’ll ever be. The most you’ll ever know.

The willingness to be wrong is the willingness to grow. To learn. To improve. Let go of your ego for the sake of your future.

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There are, of course, countless ways to grow and improve – but when small steps such as these are taken daily, we feel both a sense of short-term accomplishment for starting on a new path, and give ourselves the opportunity to find gems of wisdom right off the bat from people we wish to learn from.

What are some daily routines or practices you implement in order to become a better person, and live a better life?

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