Success: One Day At A Time by John Maxwell
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With all the recent books about building routines and habits (ie. Power of Habit, Miracle Morning, etc.), I thought I would go back to a book I read nearly 20 years ago.
”You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John Maxwell
John writes to be successful, you need to know:
- You are what you do daily
- You first form your habits, then your habits form you
- It’s just as easy to form successful habits as it is to form bad habits
I see some variation of the first bullet point every week. The second bullet point is from a quote by John Dryden all the way back to the 17th century. The importance of habit is not new!
John Maxwell lists Seven Steps To Success
- Make a commitment to grow daily. If you make it you personal goal to grow a little everyday, it won’t be long before you begin to see positive results in your life.
- Value the process more than events. Strive for continuous improvement.
- Do not wait for inspiration. Motivate yourself and do what’s needed, no matter how you feel today.
- Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity. This is powerful on many fronts. The FI/RE Movement saves 50% of their income so they have freedom in their 30’s and 40’s to do what they want. Instead of watching the latest Episode of Poldark or Walking Dead on Netflix and Prime, I choose to write. Exercise and eat right now to improve health later, and the list goes on.
- Dream Big. If you limit your dreams, you will not reach your full potential once you get to the self-imposed limit.
- Plan your priorities. I plan around my home life, exercise, side business and work, then I make sure to honor the commitments I set to myself and others. One thing I have never liked is idle time, so I plan every day, even down to the one hour of TV I allow myself to watch a show (mentioned above) with my wife.
- Give up to go up. You must give up something of value in order to gain something else. Make sure you are picking the better of the two opportunities more often than not. I give up 3 hours of time with my family a week to exercise in order to promote better health and longevity with my wife in the future. Make a list of what you spend time doing every week and see if there are alternatives that would help you grow.
This a great “small” book to keep handy to motivate you and remind you of what is important. I just gave information from the preface, but the book is 126 pages packed with quotes, stories and actions.
I will leave you with an often quoted saying from this book and elsewhere by Ralph Waldo Emerson –
“To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.”
