People always ask me how I cope with all the things I do (marketing role, mystery fiction author, gym rat, wife etc). The answer lies within these 10 points that rule my life. Would you be willing to follow them?
1. Surround yourself with brilliant people
Jim Roth says: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Stay with people you reckon are much better than you - you will always have something to learn and great benchmarks to follow.
2. Do not be afraid of people proving you wrong
Mistakes are part of our journey. The more you make mistakes, the better you'll be as a person. Don't be scared of facing those moments and thank the people who help you acknowledge that when you're wrong. (see also point No6)
3. Be ready to take risks
If you never try, you'll never know what's outside your comfort zone. I did it more than once in my life, sometimes it didn't work out as expected, but there's always something to learn out of failures.
4. Constantly improve your skills
This is possibly one of the most important thing that has driven my life. There is always room for improvement - always. I reckon that sometimes this can turn into a weakness of myself, as I'm never satisfied or pleased with what I do, and that sometimes prevents me from appreciating my efforts. Nevertheless, I honestly prefer being hungry than full.
5. Do not procrastinate
There's no such thing as procrastination. I hate procrastination, it's totally useless. If there's something to do, I do it now. I can schedule that, but I never push anything back. It's just not in my nature and avoiding procrastination has never let me down.
6. Learn from your own mistakes
Be ready to take the good out of the bad. Making things right is definitely a positive thing, but there's also a bright side in failures. It may sound banal, but I learnt more from my defeats than from my victories.
7. Do not be afraid of failure
If you fail, it means you tried. If you never try, you have no chance of succeeding. Failures mean you're playing the game and you're not sitting on the bench waiting for something that will never come to you. YOU have to chase success.
8. Be brave
The real world is not for people who fear.
9. Be strong
The more you will fall, the stronger you will become. There's nothing you can't do if you are brave and strong.
10. Always have confidence
There are times I thought I couldn't do it. But because of all those points that rule my life, I have the mindset to believe in myself and my skill set. I have people who support me and a range of experiences that have helped to forge me as a person Believing in ourselves can possibly be the toughest thing, but it's the most important. The rest will flow, and will come.