Not the ones Stephen Covey talked about. Those were good and these are good too.
Success in life is sort of art. Following things that work with repeated efforts and review and questioning yourself can push you further than you can imagine. Consider the seven suggestions and apply them to your life. Pick one and work on it until it’s natural, then another.
- Watch what you are thinking or not thinking. We all have a lot of thought racing through our heads. Take time each day, maybe just 10 minutes, to sit in a safe (from interruption) place and do nothing but focus on the quiet. Listen to the silence and you may be surprised at what your mind can do. Just let your thoughts breath with no outside influence. Maybe it’s a good time to mull over that thing you’ve been avoiding…
- Work backwards from the outcome (Covey said, “begin with the end in mind”) Top achievers plan the day around outcomes. Don’t be very productive on things which don’t really need to be done. Ask yourself what does success look like for this project? Ask, what’s the one thing that will move the needle on this?
- Systems beat goals. If you have a trusted system, then it will help during difficult times. Learning is crucial but also be sure to apply it. Build a “latticework of mental models” said Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s long time partner). A wide knowledge will help with insight on problems. When you learn something, ask yourself how can I use this? Focus on things that produce results. Systems should be built so that doing the right thing is the default. Build good habits so that working on things seems effortless.
- Arrange things that you need to do with the right enablers. Routines help automate the trivial things to save mental energy. Batch work when you can. Good systems can overcome lack of willpower. This is really important. Lots of videos on building systems on YouTube
- Review, ask why, and adjust accordingly. Make it deliberate each week to go over what worked, what didn’t and why. Don’t repeat mistakes. This builds better judgment over the years.
- Keep at it and don’t live for quick validations. Expecting quick results reduces what can be done over the long haul. It may not seem worth it at times, but stick with your plan. Don’t give up as you might not know how close your are to success. Slow steady progress, or kaizen in Japan, keeps you going. Just a little progress compounds to significantly better results over the course of a year.
- Practice ownership in what you do. Put your ego to the side. Blaming your boss, bad luck, your upbringing, or whatever means you gave up control. “It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react” said Epictetus. You don’t have to absorb the results for things beyond your control but look at your contribution and decide to accept your responsibility. If you don’t deflect things, people will notice. Don’t let life happen to you… you are happening to life. It’s a big mindset change.
From an article by Thomas Oppong, medium.com June 2026