This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Million Dollar Habits" by Brian Tracy. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you want to be successful in your personal life? What’s the key to good health and positive relationships?
Brian Tracy has several recommended habits to help you achieve your desired level of personal success. From setting long-term goals to reaching peak physical health, you can become your best self in no time.
Check out how to become a successful person in life below.
1. Get the Most Out of Everything You Do
Tracy argues that to learn how to become a successful person in life, you should organize your life. Directing your efforts efficiently allows you to reap the greatest material benefits and personal satisfaction, so prioritize activities that yield high returns, and minimize the effort you spend on low-impact tasks.
Set Long-Term Goals to Focus Your Efforts
Having clear long-term goals enables your present actions to be focused and productive in moving you toward what you ultimately want to achieve. Spend time clarifying your biggest goals for what you want your life to look like, and revisit them regularly to stay connected to your vision.
Tracy suggests writing your goals down every day. The act of writing helps to clarify your thinking by activating multiple kinds of processing in your brain: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. This helps to embed the ideas you’re writing deeper into your subconscious. When your goals are deep in your subconscious, you begin to think and act in ways that attract opportunities and experiences that will bring you closer to your goals.
2. Maintain Optimal Physical Health
Keeping your body in optimal physical health is another aspect of personal success and well-being, and the sooner you start building healthy habits, the better off you’ll be. Let’s look at three of Tracy’s tips for living a healthy life:
Tip #1: Avoid Salt, Sugar, and White Flour
Tracy argues that you should eliminate salt, sugar, and white flour from your diet as much as possible.
- Excess salt causes water retention, bloating, and potentially high blood pressure.
- Sugar spikes your blood glucose and insulin levels, leading to energy crashes.
- White flour is difficult to digest and lacks nutrients.
Avoiding these ingredients stabilizes your energy, helps to prevent diseases, and promotes healthy digestion. Swap processed snacks for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains to get the nutrients your body needs without the drawbacks.
Tip #2: Get Enough Sleep
According to Tracy, you need seven to eight hours of sleep nightly for optimal cognitive and physical health. Adequate sleep makes you more productive and happier by keeping your mind clear and your body strong. When you go to sleep around 10 p.m. and wake up around 6 a.m., you also have time for relaxing morning habits like meditation and reading.
Tip #3: Exercise Regularly
Finally, Tracy states that no list of healthy habits is complete without regular exercise—ideally at least 200 minutes weekly.
Exercise keeps your muscles and joints healthy while reducing pain and improving balance and mobility. You’ll also feel more energetic in your daily life when you stick to an exercise practice. For optimal health benefits, focus in particular on aerobic activities that exercise your heart and lungs as well as your muscles.
3. Build Positive Relationships
According to Tracy, a major part of your happiness stems from your relationships with others, so developing strong relationship skills is crucial. Humans are social creatures who thrive on positive connections and a sense of belonging. When you have fulfilling relationships, you feel valued, supported, and happier overall. To apply this, nurture the important relationships in your life through caring behaviors that make others feel good.
Making others feel important and good about themselves is foundational for positive relationships because every person craves approval, respect, and encouragement. When you make people feel better about themselves, they associate those positive feelings with you and want to connect more.
Tracy offers several tips to help you accomplish this:
Tip #1: Express Gratitude
Tracy states that one way to build positive relationships is by showing gratitude for the people in your life. Expressing thankfulness makes others feel appreciated and boosts their self-esteem. Additionally, when you focus your thoughts on the things you appreciate in your life, you’ll draw more positive experiences to you (remember the Law of Attraction).
To apply this tip, the author suggests that you simply get in the habit of thanking people sincerely, and as often as possible.
Tip #2: Be a Good Listener
Tracy also suggests becoming an excellent listener to form strong bonds. Listening well shows people that you value what they have to say, and it makes them feel understood. To demonstrate that you’re really listening, you can focus intently without interrupting, ask questions to make sure that you’re understanding the other person correctly, and repeat back what you heard to demonstrate comprehension.
Tip #3: Offer Praise Frequently
Finally, Tracy suggests frequently offering praise for good behaviors and actions. In addition to boosting the recipient’s self-esteem, praise is a type of positive reinforcement, meaning the person receiving praise will be more likely to keep doing whatever they were praised for. Therefore, offering praise benefits both you and the other person: They feel good about themselves, and they keep doing things that you appreciate.
It’s best to praise people immediately after catching them doing something praiseworthy to maximize their positive emotional association with the good behavior. Additionally, be specific about what they did well, and continue to praise them every time they repeat the behavior to continue reinforcing it.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Million Dollar Habits summary:
- How to achieve financial independence and a rewarding career
- The power of positive thinking in your personal and professional lives
- How avoiding salt, sugar, and white flour promotes a successful life
