Personal Development

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1. Most others are not awake yet

The first significant advantage of waking up early is the peacefulness. Most other people are not awake at, let’s say 5 o’clock. This gives you the chance to start the day the way you want to.

You not only have silence to focus better on whatever you want to do but you also do not have to deal with other peoples demands yet.

Nobody is bombarding you with questions or is asking for favors. You can take some time for yourself. Do what makes you happy. Get yourself in a prime mood so you can start the day with the right foot.

We all know how easy it is to be grumpy all day if only a few things in the morning go wrong. You stub your toe, the milk is empty and then you run late and voila, it gets 200 times harder for you to have a happy day.

But if you can already start enjoyably, the day is yours to conquer!

2. You can work on your personal goals

Let me ask you something. When are you more likely to read a self-development book or do an online course. After you’ve come home from a draining day in a job, you are not all too passionate about, or after you’ve had an uplifting morning routine without people around you to annoy you?

For most people, the answer will be the latter. And I can understand that. After a day of lectures, I want to relax the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Unsurprisingly, it will be less enjoyable for you to work on your personal goals if you want to do it after all your other obligations. Why not make it a priority and start your day with it?

That way, you not only get it done and out of the way, but you also start into the rest of the day feeling inspired and empowered. That certainly sounds like a formula for a great day.

One of the best ways to improve yourself is by reading personal development books. To help you with that I have compiled a whole list of amazing and inspiring non-fiction books that will make you grow beyond your wildest dreams! Check out my Reading List for Personal Growth to expand your knowledge! I always keep it updated on my new favorite books.

3. You will have time for breakfast

Honestly, I almost didn’t mention this one, because for me it has never been an option not to eat breakfast. For me, it’s like brushing your teeth or putting on fresh clothes. Of course, you do it!

But many people do not eat breakfast, and, they do so because they don’t take the time for it in the morning.

I know I wouldn’t be very excited to eat breakfast either if I’d give myself only 10 minutes or less for it. No, breakfast is something that should be enjoyed, and if you wake up early, you can indulge in it properly!

4. There are health benefits

Waking up early can benefit your health on many levels.

It can …

• reduce the chances of you developing sleeping disorders
• reduce high blood pressure
• help you burn more calories if you workout earlier

5. You are more productive

Despite the studies that suggest that our productivity is at its highest in the mornings, it is also very logical that waking up early raises your productivity.

For many of us, 12 o’clock marks the half of the day, simply because it is the middle of the day. Now, if you’ve already accomplished most of your tasks by then, you will feel good and like you have your stuff together. However, if you have most of it still left in the open … well, it will be harder to motivate yourself to get that done.

Waking up early gives you more time before that halftime of the day.

Furthermore, most socializing happens after and not before work. Even if you should not work in a 9 to 5, most other people do. Meaning, they get off work around 4 or 5 pm.

And once your friends and family are having free time and are enjoying themselves, do you think you will be motivated to hustle anymore?

I don’t think so. So wake up early!

6. The early bird gets the worm

We all know this saying, but most of us never consider how relevant it is to waking up early.

For example, having the earliest appointments possible gives you the advantage that not much has had the chance to interfere with it.

If you take the last flight of the day, chances are high it will be delayed. Not so much with the first one.

Same goes for doctors appointments. If you have the first appointment, you don’t have to worry that the other patients were late or emergency appointments delayed all of the other ones, etc.

You also might be able to drive to work before rush hour starts and therefore save time, which you might be able to use to get off the job earlier.

Which brings us to our next point.

7. You can relax earlier

The thing I love most about starting early with anything is that you finish before most others do.

I know that not only for me but also for many of my friends, it is frustrating to know that others can already relax, but we still have some work to do.

However, if I start working before others do, I am always highly motivated by the prospect of being able to finish earlier.

Therefore if you are waking up early, you can start working on your tasks earlier and relax sooner.

8. You will impress people

This one definitely shouldn’t be a priority, but it is a fun thing to consider.

Most people are impressed by others that have the discipline to wake up early regularly. So if you are looking for something to casually brag about, mention that you wake up early. ;D

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I hope this short list convinces you to wake up early. This habit can help you achieve the extraordinary life of your dreams in no time!

So wake up early and keep creating that financial freedom and success you dream about!

I know you can do it!

Sophie

Our connected world has given us the possibility to hear about highly successful people from all walks of life. Their deeds fascinate and inspire us and especially Felicity Seekers like us wish we could be as successful as they are.

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1. Wake up early

There is magic in waking up early. Trust me, I know. I’ve been waking up at 5 am pretty much every day for years.

Now, I don’t want to lie to you. Of course, there have been a lot of days where I would lie back down and sleep a bit more.

However, on those days where I wake up at 5 am and stay awake to jumpstart my day, I have the most productive and happiest days ever!

I regularly surprise myself by how much I can get done in the mornings. By the time lunch rolls around, I have sometimes already moved mountains and don’t have to feel guilty for tackling the afternoon in a more relaxed manner.

Now I know that some people are more like night owls. And that’s alright. Still, you should ask yourself why so many successful people recommend waking up early.

They cannot possibly all be morning persons, right?

2. Have a morning routine

Waking up early is essential. But if you waste the first few precious hours of your day scrolling through social media, you might as well sleep a few hours more.

The most successful people have a morning routine. This is a sequence of actions that set them up for a productive and happy day.

My morning routine for example currently looks something like this: I wake up, have breakfast, get ready, write three gratifications and three affirmations, read about half an hour a non-fiction book and study 10 to 15 minutes French with Rosetta Stone.

The gratitude and affirmation exercise helps me tune my mindset for happiness and success right in the first hour of the day, in which the mind is most susceptible to such stimuli.

By reading half an hour, I already completed my daily goal to read something that will improve myself, which is a huge relief since in the busyness of the day that task often gets lost.

If you are interested in what self-development books I am reading, check out my Reading List for Personal Growth.

And by taking a few minutes to study French every day, I almost effortlessly get closer to my goal of being able to have a conversation in French at the end of the year.

Oh and I incorporated stretching into my French Sessions. That way, I also get more flexible without having to cut out some time for stretching separately.

As you can see, with this routine, I take care of my mind, my body, my emotions, and my intellect within the first 1 1/2 to 2 hours of the day.

And since it has become a habit for me, it is effortless to do. Can you imagine the progress I will have made after doing this for a year?

No wonder the most successful people have a morning routine, right?

3. Create to-do lists

This is the 21st century. I don’t think we need to talk much about the importance of to-do lists anymore.

Successful people always have a lot on their plate. And to make sure that they can handle so many different tasks, they create to-do lists. Long-term lists as well as short-term ones.

Now you want to create a to-do list for the whole year. Like a new year’s resolutions list but with goals you actually commit to accomplishing.

You might also want to create a five-year plan or a three-year plan if you have huge goals you are working towards.

The short-term to-do lists you want to create should be monthly, weekly, and daily to-do lists. The daily ones are the most important.

Now optimally you want to create this daily to-do list at least the night before so that in the morning you can take a quick look at it and start working on your tasks.

But remember always to make sure that you do not stuff your to-do lists with too many tasks. That will overwhelm you and will make you less productive. Especially little tasks and habits do not need to appear on those lists. For example, you should not write “Brushing my teeth” on your list (except of course for whatever reason you tend to forget that).

And you should also create a system for your to-do lists so that you have them all in the same, easily accessible place.

As I have done before, I recommend you to use Trello. This program has seriously been a lifesaver, and I’ve been using it daily for over a year now. And the best is: it is free!

4. Stay away from entertainment

One big habit that separates the 1% from the other 99% is the time they spend on entertainment.

We live in a world of entertainment. You have endless options on series, movies, music, videos, social media apps, etc. to entertain you. And your phone enables you to take advantage of that wherever you are.

Of course, you can indulge in some entertainment. We wouldn’t be very human if we would be serious all day long. And quite frankly series and movies and music can bring you a lot of joy and inspiration, why miss out on that?

However, you should carefully consider how much time you want to spend on entertainment each day.

Every hour you spend on Netflix could have brought you one step closer to that extraordinary life of your dreams if you had invested it in one of the 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

Jack Ma and Mark Zuckerberg have the same 24 hours a day as everyone else. Yet they get a lot more done than most ordinary people. Why do you think that is?

5. Read for personal development

First of all, I strongly recommend you to read regularly. Many people nowadays do not read books anymore. The most they read are Instagram captions and tweets.

If you do read books, however, chances are very high that you read fictional books. Now I know, they can be very thrilling and emotional, and yes very often there is some more profound lesson hidden within them.

Still, you would benefit so much more if you’d start to read with the focus on learning something instead of entertaining yourself.

As I mentioned above, entertainment is all fun, but it won’t get you very far in life.

6. Move your body

Another thing I preach over and over again is that you need to take care of your body.

Your body and your mind are the two things that enable you to live this incredible experience called life.

Have you ever imagined what life would be like for you without hands, feet, eyes, a mouth, legs, etc.?

Really think about that for a moment and now look in the mirror. If you don’t love your body, you have not yet truly realized the blessing it is.

Even if you were the ugliest human on earth (which statistically speaking you are not, especially since beauty lies in the eye of the beholder) and even if your body is not entirely healthy, aren’t there still so many things about it that you should be grateful for?

And if this beautiful and strong body enables you to live your life, shouldn’t you take care of it?

The most successful people have realized this, and they spend A TON of money on fitness and health. Did you know there actually is a whole industry dedicated to biohacking?

If that’s something you’re interested in, check out 9 Reasons You Should Want To Be Rich. I talk a bit more about it in there.

Even though you can spend a fortune on your health, you really don’t need to. Just reduce unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking and increase healthy habits like working out.

If your body is healthy, you will feel more energized and therefore will be able to achieve so much more each day!

7. Fuel your body

In addition to the previous point, you of course also need to eat healthily and drink a lot of water.

Make it a daily habit, and it will become second nature to you.

8. Do the inner work

As mentioned above, not only your body but also your mind enables you to live this life.

Therefore you should also dedicate some effort into keeping your mind sharp and healthy.

Meditate, journal, work on your confidence, rewrite limiting beliefs, do therapy, to sum it up, do whatever it takes to have a healthy and happy mind.

And do it regularly! You will not be able to succeed at much if you suffer from burn out or such.

9. Strategically work toward your goals

Having goals is important. If you don’t know where you want to go, you will not arrive there or way later than necessary.

However, setting goals, you never work on as most people do with their new year’s resolutions is only going to frustrate you at the end of the year.

Successful people set S.M.A.R.T. goals, meaning specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

This makes it possible for them to add tasks to their to-do lists that will get them closer to the realization of their goal.

You need to break your goal down into little tasks. You need to create at least some sort of plan for the achievement of it. Otherwise, your so-called goal is just a dream you are hoping to come true.

10. Unplug, Disconnect & Take care of yourself

The most successful people know that straight hustling all day every day will not work forever. There will come the point at which your productivity rate suddenly drastically drops because your body and your mind simply can’t take it anymore.

If you are lucky, that point comes pretty soon. If you are not so fortunate, that point will come after you have not only destroyed your health but also lost a lot of your most precious relationships because you neglected them for too long.

Striving for Felicity is all about living life to the fullest in EVERY area of life. What use is money to you if have no one you can share it with? What purpose is any success if you paid for it by wrecking your body and shortening your lifespan?

Take time to unplug, disconnect from all your responsibilities, and take care of yourself. That’s not something selfish. It not only shows that you have self-worth, but it will also make you come back stronger so that you can help more people and succeed even bigger.

11. Be grateful

Yes, I probably sound like a broken record, but the key to happiness is GRATITUDE!

The most successful people have realized that, and because they are grateful for what they already have, they attract more enjoyable opportunities in their life.

Because they are grateful, they are happy, and everybody likes to be around happy people. Therefore the grateful are quite good at networking, which gives them immeasurable advantages in life.

Gratitude will also motivate you to achieve even more to be grateful for. And being happy gives you the energy to work harder.

Gratefulness has many positive side effects, and you are missing out if you are not using it!

12. Remember your why

Your “why” has power. The most successful people know that and carefully consider their why before approaching any new project.

Remembering your why can get you through those frustrating times, in which you want to quit. It will give you back that fire, that made you start in the first place.

On the other hand, if your why doesn’t excite you anymore, or you can’t even remember why you started in the first place, maybe it’s time to abandon your task and focus on something more worthwhile.

After all, time is our most valuable asset. You shouldn’t waste it without a good reason.

I go into more detail into this topic in my 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

13. Get outside your comfort zone

Courage is a muscle. You have to use it regularly to keep it strong.

Living an extraordinary life can be scary, especially in the beginning. You are afraid to take risks, afraid to leave your comfort zone and embark into the unknown.

Will it get easier? No, you will always need to take certain risks and take that leap of faith if you genuinely want to live an extraordinary life.

But it will feel easier because every time you leave that comfort behind, you strengthen your courage a bit more.

So try to reach for something a bit uncomfortable regularly.

14. Dedicate time to your friends & family

As mentioned multiple times already, the 1% understand that a truly fulfilled life consists out of mastery of every area of your life. And your social life plays a huge part in that.

Your family and friends are of immeasurable value to your happiness in life. Yes, they can be frustrating at times. But these are the people you can share your good as well as your bad moments with, your successes as well as the failures.

They are there for you whenever you experience hardships. They keep your love tank full, as the 5 Love Languages explain.

I don’t think I need to go into any more detail to explain to you why you should make a habit out of dedicating time to your friends and family.

15. Create multiple streams of income

This is something you always need to focus on. You can’t just take one week to create an income stream and then forget about it.

Make it a habit to not only create multiple streams of income but also to maintain them. If you have taken the effort to get the stone moving might as well keep it in motion.

The more streams of income you have, the more secure you will be from outer influences.

16. Live below your means

Have you ever noticed Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Gary Vee walk around in expensive designer clothes?

Sure there are wealthy people like Kylie Jenner, who invest a fortune into their designer items but very often they make money through doing that.

People love that about them, and they probably wouldn’t be as successful without this image.

However if you spend your money on all that expensive stuff and it isn’t part of your income agenda, you will slowly but surely see your money running out as Johnny Depp did for example.

The 1% live below their means, and that has caused their wealth to increase steadily. That way, below your means, will one day mean having multiple homes and driving a Ferrari.

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Puh, that was a long one. Did you read all of it? Which of these habits do you need to adopt to reach that extraordinary life of your dreams? Comment down below!

Also, feel free to ask for any content that will help you on your journey. I’d genuinely love to be the catalyst on your way to a life in Felicity!

Looking forward to reading your comments ^^

Sophie

Sooner or later we all encounter failure in life. It can be a small failure that makes our day less perfect or a bigger one that makes us doubt whatever we are doing.

In situations like the latter one, many people give up. What they don´t know is that giving up is the ultimate failure.

You have never truly failed until you have given up. Everything else you consider a failure is just a minor roadblock that will make you stronger and will lead you on a better path.

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“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

– Winston S. Churchill

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“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.”

– Robert T. Kiyosaki

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“Just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.”

– Marilyn Monroe

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“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”

– Henry Ford

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“Failure is a bend in the road, not the end of the road. Learn from failure and keep moving forward.”

– Roy T. Bennett

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“Failures are the stairs we climb to reach success.”

– Roy T. Bennett

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“You can fail many times, but you’re not a failure until you begin to blame somebody else.”

– John Burroughs

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“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald

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“It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.”

– Ellen DeGeneres

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“You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

– J. K. Rowling

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“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

– Samuel Beckett

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“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

– Denis Waitley

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“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”

– Stephen McCranie

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“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” 

– Janet Fitch

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“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

– Thomas A. Edison

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“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” 

– Robert F. Kennedy

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“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

– C. S. Lewis

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“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

– Napoleon Hill

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“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

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“I don’t take success and failure seriously. The only thing I do seriously is march forward. If I fall, I get up and march again.”

– Kareena Kapoor Khan

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“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I believe in never giving up, no matter what the odds. My mantra is, ‘Failure is temporary. Giving up is permanent.’

– Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

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“If you fall during your life, it doesn’t matter. You’re never a failure as long as you try to get up.”

– Evel Knievel

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“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.”

– John C. Maxwell

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“Success is measured by how high you bounce when you hit bottom”

– George S. Patton

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I hope these quotes help you overcome the failure you are currently facing and every failure you will encounter throughout your life.

Keep creating that extraordinary life of your dreams and don´t get discouraged by temporar setbacks!

Until next time,

Sophie