7 Things the Most Successful People In Life Have Learned to Give Up

7 Things the Most Successful People In Life Have Learned to Give Up Theres often a lot of focus placed on what we must do in buchen to achieve success, but it can be more difficult to determine what we must give up to achieve it. Seemingly innocuous actions can accumulate into full-on self-sabotage and keep us from accomplishing our most desired goals. Want to increase your chances of reaching success? Consider giving up the following1. Comparing yourself to othersThe only person you should compete with is your past self. Everyone enters the game at a different starting point, and everyones journey differs. You can be certain that at any given moment, some people are doing better than you are and others are doing worse. You can dwell on that and feel badly about yourself, or you can direct your energy into taking action that will let you achieve your goals. The choice is yours.2. RegretWhile you should absolutely learn from your past mistakes, you should also recognize that obsessing over them is futile. Very few (if any) among us havent been in a situation that we wish had played out differently, but unless you possess powers of time travel, playing the what-if game will cause more harm than good. Instead, concentrate on the good thats in your life now and assess why you wish things would have turned out differently so that you may make different choices in the future.3. Mindless scrollingThough it may feel like elend that big of a deal, spending time looking at your phone can steal away valuable time that you could devote to something productive or enriching. Instead of getting sucked into the digital world, designate specific times to check social media or set a timer so you realize exactly how much time youre dedicating to your feed.4. Toxic relationshipsWhether they constantly bring up your past mistakes, put you down, or goad you into making bad decisions, letting toxic people go can preserve energy that you didnt even realize you were wasting. If someone is doing more harm than good in your life and you often walk away from your interactions feeling drained or upset, consider scaling back the amount of time you spend with that person or breaking things off altogether.5. GrudgesThey do more harm than goodactually, they do no good at all. While understanding who you do and do not trust is extremely important, sweating the small stuff can create roadblocks to your own happiness. People mess upyou can share your feelings with them and give them an opportunity to attempt to correct their mistake, cut them lose, or if your grudge is against someone you didnt know well, you can chalk it up to a bad experience and move on. Work toward forgiving or letting go, but dont let hatred take up space in your head and poison your life.6. Waiting for a signIf youre waiting for a sign, this is it Truly going for something you want can feel intimidating, so you may want to just hang back until the stars align, but waiting for optimal conditions to mov e forward is a major waste of time. Keep working toward your goals because its what you want to do dont wait for permission to live your dream.7. PerfectionismIn the words of Elizabeth Gilbert, Perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat, pretending to be elegant when actually its just terrified. Sometimes done is better than good. Strive toward being the best that you can be, but dont fixate on your mistakes so hard that you stop moving forward.--Kayla Heisler is an essayist and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet. She is an MFA candidate at Columbia University, and her work appears in New Yorks Best Emerging Poets 2017 anthology.