How to Succeed at Life Without Really Trying

Work smarter, not harder. Sometimes it's easy to get too caught up in thinking that the more and harder you work, the better your results will be. This then snowballs. Any signs of failure or not getting wanted results means you feel the urge to just work harder toward success. Rather than working more hours, try to work more efficiently. Taking time away from problems can rejuvenate yourself and make you more likely to be primed for success.

Take time to rejuvenate and recuperate. If you have a problem that's limiting your success, take some time away from it. Read widely to use other parts of your brain and gain new perspectives that may help with problem-solving. Taking time to embrace new perspectives can open new avenues for success.

• This also includes knowing yourself. Gauge your own stress level to tell you when its

Prioritize what's important. It's easy to spend too much of our time and energies bogged down in things that aren't ultimately helping us succeed. Whether it's taking on too many projects, or obsessing over details that aren't particularly important, spend less time sweating the small stuff. This will help create a sense of clarity and succeed without over-working.

• Write out the absolute essentials of what you need to do to be successful in your given situation. If you find yourself devoting considerable amounts of time to things that veer from this list, you may be trying too hard.

Stay flexible if things don't go as expected. Life can throw unexpected hurdles at us. If we are too stuck in our plans and ideas and unwilling to stay flexible, you may end up pushing too hard and spinning your wheels in place. If you have an unforeseen obstacle, use it as an opportunity to let it push you in directions you didn't think of before. Staying flexible ensures you're more likely to be successful, without having to constantly fight between expectations and realities.

Celebrate small successes. If you're always working toward a far off goal to feel successful, you may always have your head down working without realizing all of the great accomplishments you're making along the way. This will also let you change how you view success and stop thinking it requires a spartan like dedication to a cause.

• Make lists of the various milestones you need to reach your goal. Each time you hit one, take some time away from work and celebrate. Success isn't an objective place as much as a feeling of satisfaction. Be satisfied with your accomplishments!

Stop believing in a culture of busy. Many times modern workers are prodded to believe being busy is the same thing as being successful and goodness. Rather than worry about how many hours you can stay busy, realize that life is short and there are other things to make you feel happy and successful.

• Take time for hobbies. You'll feel like more of a success if you spend less time doing things you don't enjoy and make more time for yourself.

Invest in your future. Living smart and frugally now can help so you have to work less later. Invest in a retirement plan through work and accumulate savings so later in life you'll spend less time working and more time doing things you enjoy.

• This also applies to things like education. It may seem difficult to finish that degree, or even to pursue an advanced degree, but working hard for qualifications early in life may mean you can pursue a career that involves less work later in life. There's also truth to doing something you love feeling a lot less like work than a job you dread every day.

Value your time overconsumption. One reason we feel successful when we work so much is that we are able to have material fruits; be it a fancy title at work, a new car, or just more money. Value things like relationships and personal health over things money can get you. This will help you feel more like success without needing to spend all your time working. Success is what you make it!

• Put value on goals not work-related. These can be relationship goals, or even seeing a new movie or reading a new book.

Set limits. If you are someone who constantly finds yourself staying after hours, answering late-night e-mails and racing out of the door to prepare for a meeting, set limits. Set times each night when you have to stop all work-related activities and force yourself to sit and back breakfast in the morning. You will spend less time trying to force success and less time working as a result.

• Make plans outside of work that you can't break. This can be meeting friends who will hold you accountable for not showing, to a weekend trip where you'll be fully disconnected from work.

Stop multitasking so much. A sure-fire way to hurt your success rate and increase your workload is to try and take on too many tasks at the same time. Focus on one assignment or task at a time. Take one task at a time, focus on it, finish it, and move on. If you let your brain be torn in a lot of directions at once, you're likely trying too hard and probably not doing your best work.

Reduce secondhand stress. Sometimes we can get so caught up in other people's problems that they exasperate our own. You can't fix everyone's problems. If a neighbor, family member, friend, or co-worker are burdening you with their life stresses constantly, don't take it upon yourself to try and solve them.

• Let go of the stress that can't be controlled. Whether it's something someone around you is experiencing, or something completely out of your control in your own life, set stresses that can't be controlled aside.

Focus on progress, not perfection. Sometimes we can find ourselves trying too hard for perfection, only to come up short, leaving us with feelings of disappointment and stress. This standard can create an unneeded burden of stress. Rather than worry about being perfect, worry about learning from each mistake.

Keep routines. Much of the stress we feel every day comes from making decisions. Rather than spending your entire day trying to decide between variables and possibilities, simplify where you can. Create simple routines such as certain times you answer e-mails, certain times you go to the gym, or even planning out lunches in advance. Don't bog yourself down in what to wear or eat when life has so many other looming stresses.

• This may require some planning on the weekend, but spending some time on a Sunday preparing for your week can go a long way toward simplifying your life. Plan out your meals, outfits, and write out a schedule. Create a to-do list that keeps you on track with other tasks.

Rejoice in little victories. It's great to focus on the big picture, but if you're always striving toward a far off goal, you'll always feel like you're grinding. When you accomplish something small, such as a lifestyle change for a week, give yourself credit. You can take the joy out of small successes and be thankful for small opportunities.