The people you admire who have it figured out aren’t smarter than you. Instead, they’ve cultivated practices that make success ‘inevitable’. You can do the same with the help of these ten, simple-to-apply habits. 1. Cultivate good habits “Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do.” ―Sean Covey First things, first! The more ‘helpful’ activities you’re able to do on autopilot, the more successful you’ll become. Here’s why… As creatures of habit, we do a lot of things without thinking. These well-worn patterns are just part of who we are. A habit takes minimal bandwidth or motivation because you do it automatically. That’s why habits are your secret weapon for stellar success. The trick is to get clear on the habits that will move the needle on your life. Work, personal, or relationships, figure out the daily [and weekly actions] that will make all the difference, then use a tool such as the Habit Roadmap to make these habits stick. Take the right actions consistently, and success becomes ‘inevitable’. 2. Gratitude “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” - Henry Ford Success is as much mindset as it is a skill. If you believe you can do it, there’s a strong chance you’ll inspire yourself to get results. If you doubt yourself, your Reticular Activating System [or RAS for short] will consistently look for evidence to prove you’re right. Successful people know how to cultivate positivity - and gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to do this. When you focus on what you do have, it’s harder for scarcity to creep in. When you feel abundant, it’s easier to go after the things you want. That’s why so many successful people practice gratitude. Simply make a note of three things you’re grateful for everyday, and overtime, see how this influences your positive thinking. 3. Mindfulness “Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” - Sonia Ricotti The road to success won’t ever be smooth. There will be ups and downs - the question is, can you ride the storms as comfortably as you ride the highs? MIndfulness is about finding your inner peace amongst the outer chaos. It’s about being fully present with what is - rather than resisting reality and wishing it were somehow different. Mindfulness is an important habit to cultivate because it helps you accept present circumstances - so you can more effectively manage stress and anxiety. In turn, mindful people are better equipped to keep an even keel when the going gets tough. Headspace has some incredible meditations to help you cultivate mindfulness - here’s a one-minute meditation to get you started. 4. Thrive in discomfort “You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both.” - Brene Brown. Success lies at the edge of your comfort zone. It exists in the space where you do the things you didn’t think you were capable of doing. It’s the result of considerate risk-taking and stretch goal setting. Successful people are willing to thrive in discomfort. They’re happy to put themselves into situations when they don’t have all the answers and all the skills. They’re willing to overcome fear so they can be their best. This takes courage and self-belief - something you can develop with practice. So make it a habit to put courage over comfort - and see how much further you can go. 5. Default to action “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”- Thomas Jefferson. Ideas are one thing, but results happen when you’re willing to take action. Successful people get stuff done. They step up to the plate. They don’t overthink to the point of confusion and overwhelm. Instead, they act on their plans to make the intangible a reality. Make daily action towards your goals a habit and success becomes inevitable. You can use the Self Journal to inspire this. 6. Budget time “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” - Stephen R. Covey. Lack of time is often touted as the reason we can’t do the things we want. But the truth is, we all have the same 1,440 minutes a day. It’s not a question of the amount of time, but how you use your time that counts. This is why successful people plan their day with the same scrutiny they budget money. Be more mindful of where your minutes go. Look to see where procrastination and distractions take your time and steal your success potential. Get into the habit of using a daily planner so you can leverage time to its max. Implement techniques and practices that help you get more done in less time, and success becomes easier to create. 7. Journaling "A personal journal is an ideal environment in which to become. It is a perfect place for you to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream." - Brad Wilcox. Daily journaling can create a gateway to your subconscious, your limiting beliefs, and your stretch goals. When you write to make your inner thoughts and feelings tangible, you can process your emotions, make sense of events, and create the clarity you need to move forward confidently. Journaling helps you to better know yourself - so you’re better equipped to succeed on your best self journey. Discover how to start journaling here. 8. Make better decisions. “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” - Tony Robbins Your life is a series of decisions - some conscious, some habitual, some fear-based. Every time you make a decision, you direct your life down a certain path. Even the decision to NOT make a decision is still a decision! Successful people are able to navigate the tough choices through life. This doesn’t mean they always get it right! Instead, they have the ability to be decisive - so they don’t stagnant or run around in circles. It’s not always easy choosing the path ahead, but ask yourself the right question, and you can choose your preferred option with more confidence. Tools such as the Decision Deck can help with this. 9. Accountability “At the end of the day we are accountable to ourselves - our success is a result of what we do.” - Catherine Pulsifer It’s easy to say you’re going to do something. But often a whole lot harder to actually do the thing! Fear, self-doubt, procrastination, distraction, second-guessing - so many factors can get in the way of making an idea a reality. This is why successful people practice the habit of accountability - to themselves and other people. When you know someone else is checking in on you, you’re more likely to get the work done. You can leverage the same tool yourself. The monthly Accountability Challenge in the BestSelf Alliance is a great place to start - and it’s free. 10. Reflection “You cannot have a meaningful life without having self-reflection.” —Oprah Winfrey Life has something to teach you every day. A new methodology, a different way of thinking, what works and what doesn’t - you name it. Reflection is the ultimate short-cut. When we’re able to learn from our own experiences, we can avoid making the same mistakes again and find success quicker. Daily reflection needn’t be complicated or time-consuming. Simply check in with yourself on a daily basis to see what you’ve learned that day. Also, collect your wins - so you can learn from those too. Take a conscious approach to your every day life, and success will be easier to come by. Success is different for everyone While the principles of success are universal, success itself looks different for everyone. So make sure you’re chasing your own version. Don’t get distracted and side-tracked by what other people say you should have, do, or be. Instead, focus on what YOU want to create for your life. Then leverage the habits outlined in this article to get there. And if you need a hand with success tools or principles, we’ve got you.

Getting attention from your boss can be hard. Getting positive attention from your boss can be even harder. At BestSelf, we’d like to offer some tips and tricks for how to be a better employee so your boss can’t help but notice. 1. Be Resourceful You’ve heard the old saying, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” While that’s true, there is such a thing as too many questions. If a manager gives an employee a task, the last thing he wants is to be interrupted frequently with follow-up questions. Take notes while you’re being given the task. If you’re like me, you can’t just keep everything your boss says in your head but you don’t want to approach them an hour later asking him or her to repeat it again. "It's not resources but resourcefulness that ultimately makes the difference." - Tony Robbins The best case scenario is to figure out what you need to know in order to complete the tasks and ask when you are given the assignment. If that’s not possible, ask shortly afterwards. Don’t feel like you are banned from asking anything about it ever again, just make sure it’s not constant and it’s not something you could have answered yourself with a bit of research. Want to look stylish while you’re taking down those notes? Check out our Sidekick Pocket notebook here. Perfect for those moments when you need to jot down assignments in a jiff. 2. Don’t Let Micromanagement Stop You No one likes to be micromanaged, and you’ll know it’s happening to you if your boss hangs over your shoulder for every little task and assignment. Luckily, there are easy things you can do so that it doesn’t happen to you. First, you should stay on task. Everyone needs to take a quick break from their computer screens but make sure you stand up and walk away so that everyone knows you’re taking a step back. Take advantage of your few minutes to take a lap around the office, go get a drink or do some stretches in the break room. That way, it’s clear to everyone you’re taking a much-needed breather. Second, if you’re struggling with completing your assignments, talk to your boss when you’re initially given the assignment. Your boss would much rather help you become more efficient than have to stand over your shoulder 24/7. Approach them with the problem but also present a solution. Finally, when you come across a problem, whether it’s with an angry customer or a situation with spreadsheets, don’t immediately go to management asking them to fix it. Instead, approach them with the problem and a couple solutions that you’ve come up with. That way, they don’t feel like they have to solve everything. Even if your solution isn’t chosen to address the problem, your manager will take notice of your problem-solving mindset. 3. Strive for Harmony at Home Studies show that those with harmonious personal lives are more likely to excel in the workforce. In his article “Why Happy Employees Are 12% More Productive,” Jonha Revesencio says, “We find that human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity. Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings.” BestSelf is all about helping you gain peace and harmony not only in the workforce, but also at home. One key to ensuring harmony at home is to pay attention to work-life balance. It's easy to say you'll spend "just one extra hour" at the office to finish up a project. This is fine if it happens every once in a while, but it's easy for these occasional extra hours to turn into a regular occurrence until, before you know it, you're working 60-hour weeks and only seeing your family on the weekends. To avoid this, remember that in the big picture, having a successful career doesn't mean much if it comes at the expense of the relationships with your loved ones. There's nothing wrong with being driven, but make sure you keep a sense of perspective about the means you're using to accomplish your goals. 4. Embrace Criticism No one likes receiving criticism, but positive criticism is a great tool to up your game at work. Think of it this way: If your boss takes the time to sit you down and let you know what you can improve, then it means they care about you and your career success. Therefore, we suggest that you have a positive attitude towards criticism. Indeed, you can even go a step further and ask your boss to suggest ways you can improve. Work with them to set goals for your performance and professional growth. Ask them for career advice and take the lead during performance reviews. Not only will this help you grow as an employee, but it will also give you the evidence you need to make a case for a raise. If nothing else, embracing criticism is a valueable skill if you're planning to start your own business. As co-founder and CMO of HotelQuickly Christian Mischler said, “There are always critics and pessimists, at any stage of business. … As an entrepreneur in a competitive industry, you have to have a thick skin. It’s important to listen to constructive feedback.” 5. Never Stop Learning New Things The final step in learning how to be a better employee is to keep perfecting your craft. You should always be on the lookout to learn more about your profession, even if it means learning from a junior employee or staying late at work. Technology is constantly changing and, chances are, your work will be affected by it. For example, Adobe Creative Cloud is continuously improving their functionality by adding new software for designing. If there’s a chance to learn a new skill, then go for it. You will never regret gaining more knowledge in your field. This applies whether your end goal is to move up at your current company, find a new job elsewhere or even start your own business. Make your boss or coworkers aware that you’re willing to learn more if they’re in a position you’d like to see yourself in some day. Chances are someone would be willing to lend you a helping hand, and your boss will most likely appreciate you going the extra mile to learn something beyond your job description. Be Your Best Self at Work When looking to stand out at work, the main thing is be humble and willing to constantly better yourself. Just remember to take it one step at a time. If you’re looking for even more ways to be your best self, check out our article on ways to be more productive.

When you take your first leap into entrepreneurship, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement. You’re finally free (or on the path to being free) from the constraints of an employer, a 9-to-5 job, and climbing the corporate ladder. You’re in charge of your fate now, and the freedom is exhilarating. But, eventually, the excitement wears off, and you find yourself without a clear idea of where you want to take your entrepreneurial pursuits. You were so caught up in getting to the point of being self-employed, that you didn’t have a chance to think about what you’d do next. You find yourself wondering, Now what? Once you’ve reached this moment, it’s time to define your entrepreneurial career goals. Although your career goals as an entrepreneur differ from those as a salaried employee, the importance of having clear goals is just as significant, if not more important. This article will explore how to define entrepreneurial career goals, including how they differ from traditional career goals, and how to set them in a way that will help you find the success and direction you desire. How Entrepreneurial Career Goals Are Different Most of the advice about setting career goals is aimed at corporate employees, advice which isn’t much help to you as an entrepreneur. You’re not interested in how to talk about your career goals in a job interview with potential employers. Explanations of the career path to a management position are irrelevant. And discussions of the role of career goals in directing your job search seem out of touch with the reality of your job, the job you’ve created for yourself. We won’t rehash any of this advice; we know it’s not what you’re looking for. Instead, here are the five things you should keep in mind when setting your entrepreneurial career goals. 1. Set Realistic Goals Entrepreneurship, in one sense, is an act of ego. You have to be willing to have enough faith in your idea, in yourself, and in your business in the face of naysayers and struggles. You should be bold; you have to be bold. But there’s also the danger of being so bold that you set unrealistic goals for yourself. Goals are a powerful tool when you apply them correctly, but if you set goals that are too lofty (especially on too short a time scale), you’ll only set yourself up for frustration. We’re not saying you should fear failure; you must be prepared to fail, as all successful entrepreneurs fail and learn from their failures continuously. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t set goals that you cannot achieve with your current resources or abilities. For example, we now know Elon Musk for companies like SpaceX and Tesla, but we forget that he only undertook those ventures after he was already a multi-millionaire as the result of his success with PayPal. He didn’t build either of those companies from nothing, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to do the same either. Set goals that stretch you beyond where you currently are, of course, but that are still achievable with what you have available. 2. Set SMART Goals To set career goals you can accomplish, we recommend the SMART goal setting framework. We won’t go into the full details of the framework here, as we have a full article on the topic. But in brief, SMART goals are ones that meet the following criteria: Specific - The goals isn’t vague, but concretely defined. Measurable - You have an objective, quantitative way to determine if you’ve achieved the goal. Achievable - The goal is something you can accomplish with the resources, skills, and time you have. Relevant - The goal will contribute to your larger vision of success. Time-sensitive - The goal has a time frame that ensures you know when you have (or haven’t) accomplished it; it isn’t open-ended. 3. Define Your Long-Term Career Goals Once you have your goal-setting framework in place, it’s time to set the goals themselves. We recommend you start with your long-term goals. These are the ultimate goals that you’d like to achieve within the time frames of 1, 5, and 10 years. You can think even longer-term if you want, but beyond that it’s so hard to say how changes in the economy or your life situation might present new opportunities or necessitate shifts in your career trajectory that setting goals so far away isn’t productive; such is the territory of dreams. Long-term goals can be fairly general. They’re goals such as “Make enough money to replace my employee income” or “Build a passive income business that requires a few hours a week of work” or “Create a business that disrupts my industry”. These are the big goals that will guide the short-term ones, always in the background to serve as reference for your overall path. 4. Define Your Short-Term Career Goals Once you have set your long-term goals to guide you, you can work on the shorter-term goals. Where do you see your business in 1, 3, or 6 months, and what do you need to do to get it there? Are there networking events you should attend to find investors? Leadership skills you should develop to help direct your team as your company grows? Training you want to attend or books you should read? These may not seem like entrepreneurial career goals, but they’ll get you on your way to the bigger, more exciting goals; short-term goals are crucial. 5. Record Your Goals In order to define your goals and make them useful, you need to get them out of your head and onto the page. Writing is a powerful tool of self-reflection, one that allows you take the many plans and competing ideas in your head and put them down on the page. Once you have this material out of your head, you can work to organize it and put it in a form that allows you to act on it. The bonus of writing down your goals is that you memorialize your goals in a format that lets you refer to them, post them on your wall, and keep yourself accountable. Write down your goals; you won’t regret it. Start Crushing Your Goals Today You should know have an understanding of how to start setting goals for your entrepreneurial career. Whether you’re still trying to make the transition to working for yourself, or have an established business, setting goals for your career remains crucial. We wish you the best on your journey.

If you want to succeed in your entrepreneurial goals, you need to educate yourself. Reading remains the most efficient way to do this. Books condense the best knowledge out there into packages that you can digest in a matter of days, providing an affordable, high-value way to engage with the greatest minds in any category. Self improvement is a crucial component of entrepreneurial success; in order to grow as a manager and a business owner, you must cultivate personal growth constantly, taking at least one small step each day to make yourself happier, healthier, or more productive than the day before. Consider starting with these seven must-read self improvement books to kick off your personal development journey. 1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Through his personal observations of successful people, Napoleon Hill created this business and self-improvement classic, first published in 1937. The book outlines 13 principles that form Hill’s “Philosophy of Achievement”. The key takeaway: The most powerful lesson of Think and Grow Rich is this: positive thinking is the key to success. Don’t let the title give you the impression that this book is only about building financial wealth. While that is part of the book, Hill’s principles are meant to help you succeed in any endeavor, whether that’s building a business or advancing your career. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey First published in 1989, Covey’s classic best-seller (which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide) takes an approach to self-improvement that seemed revolutionary at the time. As the title implies, the book outlines seven habits that enable the reader to lead a more “effective” life. What does it mean to be a “highly effective” person? Covey defines it as getting the results you desire while also caring about how you get those results. The key takeaway: We won’t give away the seven habits here, but we will tell you that Covey places them in a deliberate order that focuses on helping you move from dependence to independence to interdependence. That is, first you focus on improving yourself, and only with that solid foundation can you shift to helping and working with others. 3. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie If you read no other book on improving your social skills, it should be this one. Despite being first published in 1936, Carnegie's book remains one of the most relevant and effective books for helping you to cultivate relationships in life and business. Don’t let the title put you off, either. The foundations of the book are not about how to manipulate people or force them to be your friends; rather, the principles Carnegie outlines are based on how to be a genuinely friendly, likeable person. The key takeaway: The book has too many valuable lessons than we have space to cover here, so we’ll give you our favorite lesson. If you want to make friends, Carnegie explains, the key is to become interested in other people, rather than focusing on being interesting. People love to talk about themselves, so let them, and watch just how helpful this technique is for building relationships. 4. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg It’s no coincidence that habits are a uniting theme among several of these books. Taking control of your habits is one of the keys to lasting self-improvement, as it allows you to put the best activities on autopilot. Like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Charles Duhigg's book also has its basis in habit formation. But instead of outlining specific habits that readers should build, Duhigg digs into what behavioral psychology can tell us about habits. After exploring what habits are and how we form them, Duhigg moves on to give a practical guide to how to change them in your daily life. Whether you want to break a bad habit or build a new good habit, Duhigg's book will show you how. The key takeaway: Duhigg proposes a concept he calls the “habit loop”. The habit loop explains that all habits consist of a cue, a routine, and a reward. To use an example familiar to many entrepreneurs, your morning coffee is a habit that consists of getting up (the cue), making and drinking a cup of coffee (the routine), and feeling energized from the dose of caffeine (the reward). If you want to change an existing habit (or build a new one), then all you have to do is design or manipulate these three parts of the loop. 5. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson Many of the books on this list (and in the self-help industry in general) focus on the power of positive thinking in helping you get the life you want. Manson’s book presents an opposing view, arguing that focusing on being positive all the time can do more harm than good. Instead, Manson argues, you should learn to be more indifferent to the things in life that do not matter and embrace life’s adversity. The key takeaway: The book’s message hinges on what you do and do not pay attention to, on what does and does not matter to you. To not give a f*ck about most things, Manson argues, frees up your energy to focus on the things that really do matter to you. Manson is not proposing that you become apathetic, but rather that you don’t waste your energy on anxiety about things that do not, in the grand scheme of things, matter. 6. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown In one of the more recent books on this list, social work professor Brené Brown works to redefine vulnerability as a powerful tool for self-improvement. While "vulnerability" has traditionally been asspcoated with weakness, of something you should avoid, Brown presents an alternative definition as you can see below. The key takeaway: “I define vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. With that definition in mind, let’s think about love. Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow — that’s vulnerability.” (via TED) 7. The Self Journal by BestSelf Co While not a self improvement book in the same sense as the other books on this list, this daily planner will help you structure your day, enjoy life, and reach your goals quicker than you thought possible. Based on science-backed principles of goal-setting and habit formation, our journal helps you align your tactical daily goals with your larger life goals. The key takeaway: To achieve big things, you need a plan. This journal helps you create one, setting and reviewing goals on a 13-week timeline that strikes the perfect balance between the short-term and long-term, between the achievement you can see and stretching yourself to do something you never thought possible. Learn more here.

To be a successful entrepreneur, you need the right role models. You need people you can look up to in the hope of learning from their successes, but also (more importantly) from their failures. Choosing a role model is a topic for another time, but suffice it to say that you want someone with experience. You want some of this experience to be with success, but you want just as much, if not more, to be from failure. This is why there are no better role models than a serial entrepreneur. Serial entrepreneurs are individuals who have overcome the hurdle of starting one company (a hurdle most never overcome) and have gone on to found a variety of others. Some of these companies may have succeeded, many may have failed, but in the end these serial entrepreneurs have come out on top. In this article, we'll explore what a serial entrepreneur is, as well as what four famous (or not so famous) serial entrepreneurs can teach you about how to reach business success. What Is a Serial Entrepreneur? A serial entrepreneur is someone who starts multiple new businesses over the course of their career. They tend to be curious, driven, and uninterested in resting on their laurels. But, not  all the businesses that serial entrepreneurs start are huge successes. Indeed, many of the businesses they found may be failures that fade into obscurity. But what sets these founders apart is their tenacity. Serial entrepreneurs keep trying, iterating, and doing what it takes to find an idea that does work (and execute it to financial success). What Four Serial Entrepreneurs Can Teach You About Building a Successful Business Now that you understand what a serial entrepreneur is, we can move on to an examination of what you can learn about business from the careers of four serial entrepreneurs. Some of these entrepreneurs are famous, household names. Others, however, are more obscure. All, however, have experienced immense financial and professional success in their entrepreneurial efforts and present examples worth learning from. 1. The Samwer Brothers Alexander, Marc, and Oliver Samwer are among the less well-known entrepreneurs on this list, though you've likely heard of the companies on which they've built their success. The brothers are the founders of Rocket Internet SE. Based in Germany, this company has an unconventional business model. Instead of creating businesses founded on new ideas, the Samwer brothers create clones of existing businesses in markets where they don't have a presence. For example, in 2008 Rocket Internet founded Zalando, a European online clothing, shoe, and apparel retailer based on the business model of U.S. company Zappo's. The brothers are also known for CityDeal, a clone of Groupon that they founded in 2010 sold to Groupon for $170 million just five months later. Lessons: The Samwer brothers' success (Forbes estimates each brother to have a net worth around $1.2 billion) is evidence that you don't need a unique idea to create a successful business. Ideas are cheap; what separates dreamers from entrepreneurs is the execution. 2. Elon Musk Elon Musk is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; and co-founder and CEO of Neuralink. You may also have heard of another company he founded: PayPal, for which Musk received $165 million after it was acquired by Ebay in 2002. Lessons: What sets Musk apart is his relentless curiosity. He's currently CEO of space travel, electric vehicle, and neuro-technology companies. As though that’s not enough,  he is dabbling in plans to revolutionize public transportation and infrastructure. While most of us may not aspire to make humans an interplanetary species through Mars colonization, Musk has a lesson for all of us about being interested in a lot of different things and letting those interests lead your entrepreneurial pursuits. 3. Wayne Huizenga Wayne Huizenga just might be the ultimate billionaire serial entrepreneur you've never heard of (though we bet you've heard of some of his companies). Companies he's founded include Waste Management, Blockbuster Video, and AutoNation. Forbes reports his current net worth as $2.3 billion, and even at age 73 he continues his entrepreneurial pursuits. Lessons: Huizenga's success shows that there is money to be made in markets that aren't sexy. Tech companies get all the press, but Huizenga made his first billion dollars collecting trash. So if you're searching for a business idea, take a page from Huizenga's book and consider the opportunities that exist in less glamorous industries. 4. Omar Hamoui Omar Hamoui's entrepreneur story is one of experimentation and perseverance. He founded a variety of mobile internet companies, none of which saw any success. But then, while pursuing an MBA at The Wharton School in 2005, Hamoui created Admob, one of the first mobile advertising platforms. Though started as a side project, the company gained enough traction that Hamoui dropped out of Wharton to pursue Admob full-time. After receiving offers from the likes of Steve Jobs, Hamoui eventually sold Admob to Google in 2009 for $750 million. He is currently a partner at the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Lessons: Hamoui's story shows that you never know which projects will succeed. What began as a side project while pursuing a more conventional business path turned into the company that would guarantee Hamoui's financial success. So, if there's a side project you've been wanting to pursue, go for it! It's unlikely it will turn into a $750 million company, but it could still lead to exciting opportunities. Start Your Entrepreneurial Journey We hope the stories in this article have given you some inspiration for your own entrepreneurial pursuits. Remember: all serial entrepreneurs had to start somewhere, no matter how successful they may be today. So what are you waiting for? Take the first step! 

What is Build A BIGGER Business by Shopify? Put simply it’s a showdown of the most promising businesses out there today. It’s sponsored and mentored by some of the most incredible business minds in the world, and it’s an opportunity for BestSelf.co to learn and grow into an even bigger and better company!     "Anything can be achieved with a strong enough why."- Tony Robbins Today, we had the incredible honor of ringing the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) opening bell for the second time! This week we will also have the privilege of joining TONY ROBBINS in FIJI for 5 days of mentoring from:   2016 Shopify Build A Business To Now In 2016 we won the Shopify Build A Business Competition! It was a big moment for us and the opportunity helped BestSelf.co be a step above. The lessons we learned in the 5 days spent with our mentors set us on the path we travel today. Since then so much has happened!  Through close community interaction and feedback, we created the Graduate Edition of the Self Journal, for those who wanted less direction and more space for notes. Similarly, we updated the standard Self Journal with tweaks to the layout and the inclusion of three ribbons instead of one for better organization. Be assured, our efforts to improve on our flagship product will never end! At the same time, we will always strive to keep it the simple and effective tool we all know and love! During our 2016 Holiday Team Building Trip, the idea of the Self Scholar was born! This new journal focused on the college experience, bringing all the things we love about the Self journal, and adding a few things to support building a more healthy, happy, and balanced college experience. We also launched SmartMarks, a clutter-free way to take notes, and that’s just the year so far! This incredible win opens up new doors for BestSelf Co, so stay tuned and tell your friends. There are big things coming!     What’s Next? We are working on big things and this win will serve to help us do more. Becoming your best self starts when you turn inward, and decide what actions to take. But it doesn’t end there, we want to support and propel you forward at every step of the way. That's why we are focused on creating meaningful tools to help you in every moment of every day!     We wouldn’t be here without YOU! We want to thank everyone who has supported us through the start of this journey. Those who took a chance on the Self Journal, and who have used it to craft more fulfilled lives. You brought us to where we are today! We also want to send a special thank you to those who have joined and take part in the uniquely positive, supportive, and helpful Facebook group, The BestSelf Alliance! It’s such a privilege to see your daily posts and be there with you as we all grow into the best versions of ourselves! Your shares and trust mean the world to us. This win is in no small part because of your support and love of what we do. We want to make you a promise that we will use this opportunity build an even better version of the company you love!  Here’s to you each one of you! Thank you, and talk soon!

Most of us have heard the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses,” which for the most part, implies keeping up with your fellow man (or at least the neighbors) in terms of money, job status, your type of lifestyle, etc. But can you have too much success? Should you put limits on how much you try to achieve when your own happiness and the happiness of your family is at stake? When can you even consider yourself successful? Here’s what we came up with: What is success? Generally, success is considered reaching your goal whether it’s a professional, financial, or personnel, and can be a great achievement. Often times though, once your success has plateaued, you’re left looking back in the wake of your journey, and the casualties from your determination can be alarming. Indeed, Forbes points out these four things to consider: “How one makes it, how obsessive one is, what one does with it, and what else counts” (implying relationships, family life, and personal life). So how do you achieve your goals while keeping happiness intact? We at BestSelf decided to offer up a few ideas. Keeping your success in check A few things to consider when you start your road to success is where you want to have a balance. With family, with the community, and with how much you’re willing to sacrifice for what you want. In an article interviewing thousands of different executives regarding how to balance personal and professional life, Harvard Business Review says, “...by making deliberate choices about which opportunities they’ll pursue and which they’ll decline, rather than simply reacting to emergencies, leaders can and do engage meaningfully with work, family, and community.” So what can you do to comeback these possible side effects? One executive interviewed by HBR suggested setting aside a specific time each day to spend with family, and mentioned it helped to treat it as your most important appointment each day. Keeping track of those special times is easy with BestSelf’s productivity wall calendar, where it’s easy to remember what’s important. Also, be on the lookout for your drive for success coming from wanting to have as much or more than your friends and neighbors. Is the success you’re reaching for truly what you want? Or is it stemming from an unhealthy source? Mint Life describes such a desire as “the need to fill a void or the desire to simply impress, can drive people to irrationally overspend on material items.” Contemplate whether or not your drive for success stems primarily from the desire to have a material status upgrade. The final and possibly most important thing to consider is your mental and physical health. The figure of speech “working yourself like a dog” should be just that, a figure of speech, and not how you’re feeling on a daily basis.  There’s nothing wrong with putting in a hard day’s work so long as at the end of the day you’re not getting your ulcer measured for it’s monthly check up. Interestingly enough, Forbes points out that there are three things you need for financial success: emotional intelligence, or being able to read people’s emotions including your own and how to act upon those emotions, moral intelligence, think golden rule here (do unto others as you would have others do unto you), and finally body intelligence, or how you treat and listen to your physical needs. Forbes notes “If you can master the complexities of these unique and often under-rated forms of intelligence, research tells us you will achieve greater success and be regarded as more professionally competent and capable.” A good way to keep track of how you’re feeling at the end of each day is to keep a journal. It’s the perfect way to monitor your emotional health while on your amazing journey to better yourself and your life. BestSelf has one such perfect item. The Self Journal has everything you need when it comes to keeping track of goals, reminders, and feelings. So where does that leave us? Consider that everyone’s idea of success is different. Success isn’t always measured by how many abbreviations you have after your name on a business card, or how many speed boats you own by the time you’re forty. Don’t be afraid to set ambitions that will bring about success with your relationships, with your health ambitions, or even with lifestyle goals. For further ideas, try our articles on how to balance work life, tips on being productive, and even whether or not you should consider ditching your goals. At the end of the day, success should be measured by the love you have in your life, knowing that tomorrow is a brand new day, and that no matter what, all you can be is your BestSelf.

We’ve all had setbacks. From regretting how many kids you invited to your child’s birthday party, to volunteering for an assignment that you don’t think you can complete, they’re the type of experiences that are just a part of life. So how do you identify when your goal just isn’t working and what do you do when you realize it? From meditation tips to reconsidering your goals, BestSelf has the backup plan you’re looking for. Before you can decide whether to keep or ditch your current goals, you need to do a little reviewing. We’ve put together something we like to call the “Recipe for Re-Evaluation”. From these steps, you can glean the information you’ll need to make informed decisions for your next move. 1. Meditate Mentally flossing will put you in a calm mindset to think rationally about your situation and what you want to do about it. Even the simple technique of taking a moment to breathe in and out can help you find clarity. To remind yourself even in the most stressful circumstances, check out our handy reminder, that’s not only functional but comfortable. 2. Consider your end goal Write down what it is you’re trying to accomplish, whether it’s with a scrap piece of paper or one of BestSelf’s handy goal journals. You’ll be using it for reevaluation later. 3. Negatives outweighing Positives? All things in life will come with some downsides. If they didn’t we could never appreciate the positives. For a healthy attitude to move forward, you need to be willing to move past the negatives to focus on the potential of tomorrow. 4. Plan < Bigger Plan Consider whether or not accomplishing this plan will open the doors to potentially bigger plans. Improvement in life is one of the best ways to create harmony, happiness, achievement and self-esteem within yourself. Whether it’s mastering a skill, moving up in your career or building better relationships. Decide now if accomplishing your goal will pave the way to this type of well-being. The Re-Evaluation Plan Now it’s time to decide whether you need to change course and create a new plan or plow ahead towards your original goal. Remember that end goal you wrote down? Pull it back out and take a look at it. Now start drawing arrows away from it and write down reasons why you still want to reach that goal. Is it going to bring you happiness? Is it causing too many problems? Is it worth all the setbacks? If your end plan is riddled with more arrows than a target at an archery contest, chances are you’re still passionate about what you want. That’s great. If you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with reasons, then maybe you don’t want it as badly as you thought. Is that a problem? No way. If we had to stick with every initial decision we made I would have had Chinese take-out many more times than I’d care to count. Changing courses doesn’t label you as a failure, in fact, it means you’re intelligent. You’re showing yourself and everyone around you that you know what you want and you’re willing to break a few rules to get to where you’d like to be. So now that you’ve decided which way you’d like to go, move on to the next steps. The Stick with it Plan Congratulations, you’re moving forward. Now is the time to find the motivation you need to press forward in spite of adversity; the match to relight the fire you’re still nursing somewhere deep inside yourself. In 1987, Dr. Zbigniew Religa was a pioneering heart surgeon practicing in Poland. Against all odds, Dr. Religa performed a 23-hour heart transplant. The feat was immortalized in a photograph showing the doctor reading the vital signs of the patient while his colleague, overcome with exhaustion, slept in the corner. The success of the surgery revolutionized the practice of transplants for the entire world. Dr. Religa faced fear, stigma, the unknown and countless other setbacks but didn’t let that stop him from his goal. Most of you reading this will most likely not be world-renowned heart surgeons, but your goals are just as valuable. With a renewed desire to succeed and a possible change of work habits, it’s possible to get there in the end. Forbes has compiled a list of excellent ways to introduce successful habits that you’ll benefit from when determining a course of action. Additionally, Success.com discusses five ways to help you stick to your goal. The Ditch it Plan Not long ago, we wrote an article discussing the benefits of ditching a goal when it no longer serves its purpose. Whether your personal life is suffering, it’s no longer a goal you desire, or other priorities take precedence, taking a step back to realize you need to change course is a healthy thing to do. Entrepreneur agrees. “If you’re chasing after something because you’re looking for approval or status, or because it’s what’s expected of you, that goal may just not be worth it. You’ll get to the finish line and think, This is it? This is what I killed myself for? Talk about anticlimactic.” Passing go in Monopoly was always considered a restart for me. Collecting that $200 was the confidence I needed to get to Boardwalk before my opponents. In life sometimes we need to hit restart. At work, at home, in relationships...it happens everywhere and occasionally we get a do-over (if only it always came with an extra $200). When we reevaluate and change our goals, we’re telling ourselves it’s ok to begin again. That we can do something different. So, whether it’s modifying your end goal or changing it completely, just know that not only is it ok, but it’s encouraged. Sometimes in life, you’ll get those lemons that t-shirts like to warn us about. And whether you choose to make lemonade, or hand them back and say “no thanks I’d rather have oranges,” you’ll be on the pathway to success. Plans will fail, goals will change, and you’ll still be human, just like the rest of us. So don’t be afraid to face the possibility of change.

The most successful entrepreneurs always seem to be full of motivation. Even when something goes wrong, they're eager and ready to go. They don't just get back up after falling; it's like they never fell in the first place. How do they manage this great attitude? It turns out that they've learned how to turn failure into motivation. Here are some of the ways they do this: They Accept the Novice Phase of Their Endeavors No matter what someone tries to do, they're almost certain to not be too good at it when they first start. Imagine the sound of a child taking his or her first violin lesson. The instrument screeches and scrapes. It doesn't sound like music at all. Yet, by practicing over and over, that same child eventually learns how to produce beautiful sounds. It works the same in business. The first steps are fraught with errors and missteps. A caseload of inventory may end up collecting dust. Yet the successful person knows that, just like the child, practice is what is needed to fix these issues. He or she simply accepts the fact that missteps are part of the journey to victory. They Plan - But Not Too Much Many people aren't successful at business because they never really get going. They read hundreds of books and newsletters, and make all sorts of plans, but they never actually do anything. For these people, the problem is too much planning. They need to stop researching and planning, and instead, start doing. On the other end of the spectrum, there are people who never plan anything. As soon as they get an idea, they jump in with no idea where they'll land. Unfortunately, a complete lack of planning brings results that are just as bad as too much of it. Before diving in, take a few moments to make sure you won't land in a pool of sulfuric acid. They're Honest With Themselves This takes many forms. One of the most important is that they don't make excuses or try to shift the blame for their current situation or their mistakes. Instead, they learn from mistakes and use these lessons to improve themselves and their businesses. Another important form of this trait is that they do their best to make an accurate assessment of their knowledge. All too often, people think they know everything about a particular subject. Then, if that knowledge is wrong, they end up making the wrong choices and end up failing. It's better to remain curious about everything and make sure to find out about opposing viewpoints. While it may turn out that the other viewpoint is indeed incorrect, it may also be the case that some of it is right and should be incorporated. They Don't Believe in Impossibility Successful people simply do not believe in impossibility. Everything is possible, and if this doesn't seem to be the case, that just means that a new way of doing things needs to be discovered. This mindset was held by inventors like the Wright Brothers, who were thought to be insane by their contemporaries. Modern challenges are just as possible; it's just a matter of finding out how to do them. They Consider Failures to be Important Lessons This is one of the big keys to outright turning failures into motivations. Successful people never accept the notion that there is a time to just give up. Instead, they analyze each subpar result so as not to make the same mistake the next time they try - and then they try again. This process is repeated until success is reached. Follow these tips to keep yourself motivated!