Thanks to super-listener Amy for sending me this article with tips on success, based on Dr. Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

1. Be Consistent. A contant thread in Dr. Duckworth’s research is that successful people look at each loss or failure as an opportunity to learn how to do things differently next time. Persistence is a common theme, and I think it is the difference between success and failure. I found a great meme with a picture of actor Jason Stratham which said: “Get up earlier; Stay longer; Work harder; Fail; Fail again; Never quit.” You don’t want to be consistently bad, it’s not about doing the same thing all the time; you want integrity and staying power. Set that schedule and keep it, make it a habit, and just keep coming out to the trail, or going to the gym, or the pool, or wherever you exercise, no matter how you feel or what the weather’s like, or whatever circumstances might try to interfere. There will be a lot of days when you just don’t feel like doing it. Or when no matter how you try, you can’t do any better than the time before, or even worse. THOSE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS!

2. Define Success for Yourself. Don’t set your ceiling too low.

3. Celebrate Each Step. When we see super successful people, it is easy to think it came naturally to them, but it is usually the result of a lot of hard work over a long period of time. This involves doing the little things, as I’ve talked about with diet, like in Episode 123, “5 Easy Ways to Burn Calories”.

4. Challenge Yourself. Duckworth says to do something every day that stretches you. I noticed a dog running with its owner today. Dogs are very loyal, which is why they are called “man’s best friend”. If you speed up, your dog will speed up. No matter how fast you go, the dog will try to keep up with you. Your body is the same way. There are limits, of course. But if you continually challenge yourself physically, you will get stronger, faster, healthier.

Original Article:
https://www.mequilibrium.com/content-hub/the-4-habits-of-super-successful-people/

Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 206 (-68)
Workout time: 103 Minutes
Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 8.63 Miles (448.50)
Steps: 17,894
Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 150.13 (+7)
Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 27%
Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours
2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat