10 Reminders to Success

Here we are, ankle deep into 2016—just like that. Many of us have set guidelines and deadlines for the year and if we don’t evaluate regularly, we’ll be waist deep and soon, blowing bubbles into next year.

Before the bubbles, consider these 10 reminders to personal success:

1. Don’t live your life to please others. Of course, so many artists and creatives have been told and have heard this since forever, but it is always work being reminded. Be you, everyone else is taken.

2. Don’t depend on forces outside of yourself to get ahead. So many of us are waiting for our big break to come through the hands of someone else. This may very well be true, but your hands count too.

3. Be nice. This is another one that is so easily forgotten. So often the society tells us in this dog-eat-dog world, we must fight, kick, and cuss our way to the top, but more often than not decency is in order.

4. If money is your motivation, forget it. I’m about the paper, the coin, the cheddar, the bread, and everything else, but at the end of the day, you gotta have something driving you further.

5. Never hand over your power to someone else. Whether it be a partner, a boss, or even a parent, remember your life is yours.

6. Life is a journey. Every day experiences will teach you who you really are. Whether it be the dragging cashier, the traffic jam, or that yearn for something greater, life will give you all sorts of lessons—learn from them.

7. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. Now this is something to live by. We all have given and been given second, third, forty-fifth chances, but sometimes, oh sometimes, we get what we need the very first time—believe that.

8. Turn your wounds into wisdom. Everyone makes mistakes. They are just God’s way of telling you you’re moving in the wrong direction.

9. Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life because you become what you believe. Be it through daydreaming, creating a vision board, or sharing with a loved one, create a big, beautiful plan for you life and be prepared to walk into it!

10. Be grateful. Say it aloud. And say it again. And say it again. Gratitude is the key. Some may keep a daily journal. Some designate a time to meditate, but whatever you decide, stay focused on the abundance in your life.