Ep59_ThingsSuccessfulPeopleDo
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Adam Gragg: [00:00:00] I work with a lot of very successful people professionally and a lot of successful people personally. A lot of people struggle with one area of their life and they don't necessarily have everything in balance. You know, I have had times, especially over the last few years, where I have felt like a failure.

I've not felt successful and I've looked and sometimes like I'll see like a [00:01:00] military sticker on the back of a car, you know, for the. For the Marines or something, and I'll tell myself, I should have been in the military, you know, I should have done this. I mean, I should have gone to West Point, which actually I had an opportunity in high school where they showed some interest in me playing football there, but I never pursued it.

But they had recruited me somewhat. Or I should have played college football at the University of Oregon, which had also recruited me, somewhat, asked me to walk on that kind of thing. I will tell you that I didn't do those things or pursue those things because of fear, because my own fear and insecurity got in the.

And I don't feel like a failure. I actually feel like a success most of the time now. And today I'm gonna talk to you that it's not actually the actions or the things that we achieve in our lives, which those would've been things you achieve, but it's the way we live our lives that makes us successful.

And we have to define our own version of success because you may not work or maybe a stay-at-home mom or whatever, and you have success. Metrics that you can look at and say, I'm successful because I'm engaging in these specific things, or I'm achieving these types of goals. So today I'm gonna talk to you about 10 [00:02:00] things that successful people do and unsuccessful people don't.

Regardless of your definition of success. These are 10 things that I've, as I've observed, very highly successful people, they engage in these types of activities. So welcome to the Decide Your Legacy podcast. This is the podcast that you do not just listen to. I'm your host, Adam Gragg. If you haven't already done so, please subscribe so you'll never miss another podcast episode.

Give it a like a rating and review on Apple or Spotify, wherever you get your podcast content. Take you about 15 seconds, pull out your phones, give us a rating and. I want this podcast to go organically, which it has significantly. You will help me do that. I wanna share one thing with you. Hit the link to shatterproof yourself.

These are seven simple steps to deciding your legacy. It's a video workbook I've put together that you can have for free, only if you subscribe, and it's gonna be extremely valuable information. This is something I share [00:03:00] every. I'd like to talk about a couple risks that I've taken recently. The reason I do that is because risks help you grow.

You're not gonna grow unless you're challenged to do something that's scary, to do something that's different out of the ordinary for you. So a couple risks I've taken recently is, well, one, I actually, this is may not seem scary to you, but I returned a couple things that I purchased at R EI and I did it right kind of back to back.

I bought a water bottle. I realized it was the wrong water bottle. I went and returned it. I bought a. Hoodie thing. And I realized I had the same color at home and I went and returned it. And to me, I used to not do those kinds of things cause I'd be embarrassed, you know, why am I doing like they would judge me or look at me funny.

But it's kind of a silly thing, but it's a fear that I had to face. And I did. I went to the doctor as well, and I'm. Not a guy. I do go to the doctor. I do take care of my health and everything, but there's certain parts of my health that maybe I don't wanna get checked out. And you probably can use your imagination if you know what I mean.

But anyway, I went and I got something checked out, I'm fine, and everything's good. I'm cool. [00:04:00] It's good to go. But I took the risk. I did it. I scheduled the appointment. I was procrastinating a lot of fear. Anyway. I'm Adam Gragg. I'm a legacy coach podcaster.

I'm a speaker. I've been a mental health professional for almost 25 years. My life purpose is helping people and organizations find transformational clarity to face their biggest fears, which are usually emotional things, so they can live and leave their desired legacy. And I talk about things that you can describe to your six-year-old and they're gonna be able to understand.

I challenge you to be listening today, not just as a learner, but as a teacher. So you're gonna think about something that resonates today that you can teach to somebody in the next 24. I'm also a fellow traveler. I talk about things that I struggle with myself, so I don't do all of these things really well that I'm gonna discuss with you today.

I struggle. I'm not always feeling successful and good about myself. I don't always have the best self-worth. I struggle greatly. Some days today, you're gonna get these [00:05:00] 10 tools, 10 things that successful people do. So I want you to start though. Writing down an action that you engage in that isn't helping you succeed.

Something you know that is self-sabotage, detrimental. Maybe it's procrastination, could be drinking, could be smoking, could be watch too much tv, too much worrying, pornography, what? Something you know in your gut like, this is not helping me succeed. Then I want you to write down. Or type in your phone or speak into your phone if you're driving.

I don't want you to get in an accident. Something that you do engage in that is helping you succeed. So you are working out, you are drinking a lot of water, you are cutting back on caffeine, you are achieving goals and setting goals. You are applying things that you've learned from this podcast or other good podcasts that have great content.

Write that down and I want you to think about that, having that in mind as we go through this. . So what do successful people do that unsuccessful people don't? So number one is they get enough sleep. Successful people. And I'm not saying like a hundred percent of successful people get tons of sleep, but [00:06:00] I'm talking, the majority that I talk to, they make sleep a priority, which that was kind of a badge of honor when I was younger.

I would say, oh, I get by on six hours of sleep. I get by on five hours of sleep. I remember in grad school I was like, I get by on four hours of sleep, you know, and I never, I don't need anymore sleep. And I was thinking now, Man, that was pretty damaging to my health. It wasn't a good thing. I probably did some permanent damage to my health by not getting enough sleep, letting my body and my mind rejuvenate, integrate.

So much happens. It's good while you sleep. It's a very important aspect of your health, and for me, it's leaving the phone outta my room. It's going to bed at nine 30 and setting my alarm at five 30. That's for me, eight hours in bed gives me the best chance of getting seven good hours of sleep. Hopefully seven and a half.

Good hours of sleep. If I keep my phone in my room, I'd be tempted to actually look at it. I know the other day I couldn't sleep. I woke up and I actually looked on my phone for about 30 minutes. Not the right thing to do, but I went and got my phone, and then I went and read a hard cover, or actually a paperback, but it was a real book, and [00:07:00] then I actually fell asleep.

And so we find that we have to put. Structure into our lives that provide the opportunity to get that seven good seven plus hours of sleep. So number two is they exercise, they do some things that are active, and what I would encourage you to do is do 30 minutes of exercise a day. You can mix it up. It can be yoga, weights, walking, running, swimming.

You know, for me it tends to be those rate weights, running, walking. I'm trying to mix in some swimming. But I will tell you, my dad's almost 84 years. And I look at him and he's in very good health, but he has been swimming every single day when he can. He did a hyp replace hip replacement surgery. Almost drove my mom crazy.

But he does, he swims every single day. Every single day. I mean, like there's not a day that goes by. He's so rigid about it. It's something he does like on Christmas, it's like, where's dad? We know exactly where dad is. He's working out somewhere and he recently had his knees replaced, so he is doing a little bit of running.

He does yoga twice a. Consistently, he knows all the instructors, they [00:08:00] know him. They celebrate his birthday. You know, it's kind of crazy. But he's made that a part of his life, and I've made that a part of my life. I've succeeded in that area. But other areas I've really struggled. The sleeping one I definitely have struggled with.

So number three is they wake up early. This is what I've seen, is that they get up two to three hours before their workday begins, and they engage in some activities that are self-reflective. So it could be that they're journaling, or they're praying, or they're meditating, they're reading content, they're working out.

They're actually making breakfast for their family. They're doing non-work related things productively early and getting up early enough so they're not just rushing to work, you know, and eating a power bar while they're rushing to work. If they even make power bars, well they're eating a whatever, a cliff bar.

There you go. So that is not the best. Way to start your day. The way you start your day is gonna have a big impact on the way the actual day goes. So when I wake up and I'm trying to really shift my workouts to the morning, which I've had some success this week, cuz normally it's like an after work thing, but I find that if it's already out of the way, it's a great way for me to [00:09:00] start my day and then I don't have to think about it after work is over and I can have more enjoyable activities in plan into my day in the afternoon.

So that tends to be what I do. So another thing that. successful people as they read, they read, you know, and I talk about my dad a lot cuz he's had a big impact. But I would guess my dad reads a hundred plus books a year and I would say he's been reading a hundred plus books a year for probably, and maybe I'm exaggerating.

I don't know. It just seems like he's always reading and consuming things. And I have heard that business owners, people that run businesses on average read an A, they read an average of 50 plus books. I believe it. From my experience, I mean, the CEOs that I work with, the business owners that I work with, I can't think of one that is not a serious reader and they're reading non-fiction primarily.

Not that they can't read classics. Cause I think that's really great for your mind. Read some old classics. You know, Charles Dickens, uh, doky. Tolstoy. I mean, I find those things fascinating. They're historical [00:10:00] fiction, so you would learn about history and things like that too. But they're engaging their mind and there's so much evidence now too that as we do these kinds of activities, we are preventing by mental stimulation, dementia, early onset dementia, late onset dementia.

We're preventing it because we're engaging our minds. There's a lot of benefits to reading that are beyond the knowledge you're actually gaining through the reading process. So read Good, primarily non-fiction content. Number four that I see successful people engaging in. Find time for self-reflection.

And so it may be that early time, but it may be later in the day after work. But they write, they journal, they reflect, they step back from their lives and they recognize where their fears are coming from, what part of them is really afraid or jealous or nervous or, and why? And they identify because they take enough time to get the space to say, gosh, this is why I'm really grieving the loss of my dad, because something really triggered me to think about him.

or that question that person asked me really triggered me to think about him. I know today I was really struggling with anxiety and I was sitting working with my [00:11:00] administrator, my legacy assistant, and we were working on a project and everything, and I'm thinking, why am I so jittery? You know what's going on inside of me right now?

And then I. Identified that today is really the first day that my daughter has driven to a church activity by herself. She just got her license on Monday and yesterday was her first day of driving to school, but she was actually getting ready to leave and she was actually on the road driving to church to go to this event and she was gonna text me when she got there.

And I was just waiting for that text, but that anxiety was coming over me. I didn't recognize it at first, but then as I talked to my buddy, it came to me. Yeah. Step back from my emotions and my thoughts and was able to say, you know, this is pretty natural that I'm just nervous about my daughter being on major roads at three o'clock in the afternoon, or was three 15 in the afternoon.

And that's pretty normal. I get it. So if you've ever found this podcast helpful again, hit the link to shatterproof yourself. These are seven simple steps that you can take to decide your legacy. [00:12:00] You don't wanna miss that. There's a workbook and a video you get to see. Talking and you get to see the content that I discuss here and you get it in a usable format, that's gonna be extremely helpful to you.

You don't wanna miss that. So the sixth thing that I see successful people doing and unsuccessful people not doing kinda halfway through here, is that they are choosing to have a positive perspective, and they're engaging in activities that are getting them into a positive state of mind. Call it self-talk, call it self-worth.

But they're doing these things consistently. Like my daily five and five, which I'll link in this episode to, that's you write down every. Five things that happened the day before and that were positive, and then five things you're looking forward to and excited about later in the day. And that's something I do when I start my morning, when I get up at the right time, which is two to three hours earlier than my day starts, which I don't always do.

In fact, I've probably been lacking in that area significantly over the last couple years more than I ever have in my adult life probably. and it's had an impact on my life. You know, rolling outta bed, taking a shower, going right to work. You [00:13:00] know, impact on my clients, impact on my own creativity, impact on my life in general.

But they do things to maintain a positive perspective. I think it's super important to identify and to address self-worth issues and how you're thinking about yourself in a negative view and what's a much more healthy perspective. So for example, like me saying, oh my gosh, I should have pursued West Point.

I should have done this. I should, I can have a new perspective. That's if I recognize it and say, well, you know what I did. Things, and I wouldn't have been able to do these other things if I had gone down that path. And so obviously it wasn't the plan for me. I didn't pursue it. I was fear. It was this anxiety and this self-worth issue that kept me from it.

But because I've had these things where I've chosen not to face my fears, I have content to help other people face theirs, I can look at it in that way, and it's encouraging at that point. They do things consistently to build their self-worth. Number seven. Number seven is they have written, and the key thing is written goals could be typed, could be handwritten, but they have written long-term goals.

So three to five year goals. Call it a vision if you like, but [00:14:00] it's something that they're moving towards that they have taken the time to step back and clarify. and they make a priority in their day. So they're looking at it and thinking about it, and they're setting deadlines to those goals so they know they're gonna achieve something by a specific date, or they have it in mind by a specific date.

And they're doing things, ways they have metrics to measure those goals. As well, which I find extremely helpful. So a lot of times what I'll do with clients is I'll have them look and think about if I put an hour of time in this task that I enjoy, what's the result gonna be? So I'll have 'em identify things in their job that they are really energized by, and generally they can list off a bunch of different things.

So they're energized by, for me it's be creating content. It is sitting with clients and helping them think about their future and creating a legacy plan. And for me it's actually. Doing some self-reflection is energizing for me. For me, reading is energizing for me, so I'm trying to structure my day on a good day with 70% of the stuff I do is gonna be energizing.[00:15:00]

So the goals that you have and think about when you set a goal, you're doing hopefully energizing type activities. They might feel draining at times, but think about how you're gonna feel when you achieve that goal. And that's the energy I want you to identify that I'm gonna be energized when I actually achieve that.

I set that boundary with people. I go and get that project done. I launched that podcast. I submit that article. For review. You know, I'd write that article to publish. I get this video series done, whatever it might be. But you're doing something where you're putting yourself and you're taking an emotional risk.

You could be rejected, but it's moving you towards your goals and you're keeping those on your mind. Successful people do that. Successful people move towards that. And then the eight thing is successful people have a bigger purpose. And so you, and you gotta have dealt with a lot of your own anxiety in order to know your purpose and to have clarity.

A lot of times people have to do is clean up their life so they can actually find that purpose and identify what they're really made for. So they get more organized or they start having boundaries, or they start having a budget and they live on it, or they start sitting. Goals, or they start actually saying [00:16:00] no to things and they take care of themselves and they put their own self-care.

They get enough sleep, they do all this, but they have a bigger purpose in mind. And that purpose is always gonna involve helping other people in some unique way that they're gifted in helping other people. So I feel like I'm gifted at helping people see their damaging mindsets and help them find a healthier perspective.

I feel like I'm gifted at asking the right questions to help people find clarity, and that purpose drives me. I mean, it helps me to do things. That are scary. Where I'm gonna risk rejection helps me to do things that I don't really want to do, but I know at the end I'm gonna be energized by it because it's worth it to me.

And that bigger purpose drives me. And so all these distractions that I have, they get much smaller because I have this bigger purpose in mind. Call it a life purpose state. That's what I call a life purpose statement. A life purpose, something I want to achieve. And it's gonna always be helping others.

The ninth thing and this one. Kind of get some pushback on a lot, but is the most successful people have a spiritual focus. And I'm not talking about religion here. I'm [00:17:00] not talking about religion here, but they have a focus where this, they're getting to know who they are, you know? And for me, you know, I've.

Believe as my faith tells me I'm made in God's image. Okay, so I'm made in God's image to do good works, to be a light, to shine brightly in dark places. I link about that quite often, but that spiritual focus for me is not something I get from going to church. It's not something I get from, from, you know, from some of the religious practice or anything.

For me personally, it's something I get when I'm able to step back and then connect with. Intuition in my gut because that's where I believe that the real truth in my life, that's my spiritual connection. That's how I connect. So knowing myself really, who God made me to be connecting with, that helps me to be that out in the world.

And it doesn't mean, you know, church is bad. Some people find those things very helpful. I go to church, you know, and my friends, they help me to see the real me. They helped me to see and challenge me to be the real me and to connect spiritually and to do the things they know are healthy for me. So I'm not saying you need, you do need [00:18:00] community.

You need support. But the most successful people are doing the stepping back part in knowing who they are and they are not, and really being who they are because they're able to step and know who they are. So really this comes from, I had a buddy who's kind of, I go to church with him quite often and he asked me the other day, you know, what does it mean to be spiritual?

It was about two weeks ago actually. He asked me, what does it mean to be spiritual? And I thought, huh, that's a good, interesting question. And cuz he had in his mind more religion, those practices and things. And I said, well, I feel like, you know, being spiritual is getting to know the me, getting to know God within me, like getting to know who I am and how God's made me.

And so it's really looking internally into myself and having, getting rid of the fear that's keeping me from all that in my mind and knowing this thing inside that is my soul. And getting to know. So I can live this life that's focused and deliberate and intentional and guided. And so the 10th thing here that successful people do that I see unsuccessful people not doing is they take care of their health seriously.

I mean, you know, [00:19:00] this is something that. It'll have a detrimental effect no matter what. If you don't maintain your health, I mean, you may be 25 listening to this podcast and you don't have to actually worry about some health things you might have to worry about or consider when you're 49. But I will tell you, I've seen 30 year olds who don't maintain their health that are in worse shape than 50 year olds.

And I've seen 84 year olds who are in better shape than 65 year olds. My dad would be an example of that. We have a lot of impact and influence over our health. So, Health, making it a priority, going to the doctor, getting physicals, going and doing what I did, you know, this morning, going to the doctor's appointments that I don't want to go to, which, gosh, you know, that appointment, I thought, man, women don't have it as easy as men.

Cuz they gotta go , they gotta do this kind of, these kind of doctor's appointments more. For men it's like a rare kind of thing, you know? I did it. I took care of my health, drinking enough water, eating healthy, you know, not eating a bunch of crap. For me, it's about eating and pretty much cutting out the food.

At seven o'clock I sleep better, and then I'm not as tempted if I kind of cut it off and say, no ice cream, no, Ben and Jerry's, you know, [00:20:00] Ben and Jerry kind of cries out. Jerry ge Garcia to me, and it's like, no, at seven o'clock I've already flossed my teeth. I'm going to bed. I'm not gonna. So making your health a priority is what I see successful people do.

So those are 10 things. I'm gonna review 'em real quick. Okay. You can write these down and what resonates with you? You tell me what's gonna challenge you and resonate with you the most from this podcast are these 10 things successful people do. So number one, they get seven plus hours of sleep. Number two, they exercise consistently.

I'm not saying perfection here, but I'm saying consistently, you know, 30 minutes a day, maybe it's five days a week, but that's a consistent exercise practice. Maybe it's four days a week, but it's a consistent. Practice that they've incorporated into their life. So many benefits to that. Number three is they wake up early two to three hours before their workday begins.

Number four, they read. They read. And you can start with just 15 minutes a day. You can be surprised in which progress you can make on a book if you read 15 minutes a day and then you get into that book and you're excited about it and you wanna get to the next chapter. I love when I go to bed and I'm just super excited about that book I'm reading, and it's not on a Kindle and it's not on my phone.

I mean, I read [00:21:00] paperback books or hardcover books these days. It does something to me. So I really like having. In that format these days. And Audible is great too. I mean, you can read and listen to books. I mean, it's okay. I would say the best format is a hard copy that you're gonna re, you're gonna retain more when you actually read a physical copy.

But listening is excellent. I love my favorite books I buy in Audible as well. Number four, self-reflection. They take time to step back through meditation, through journaling, through prayer, through walks, through nature. But they self-reflect number six, actually that's number five, is self-reflection. So I got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I got number six, as they have a positive perspective, so they're watching their self-talk. Number seven is they have written goals that they look at on a regular, consistent basis, work and personal. Number eight is they have a bigger purpose, a life purpose statement, something that's driving them that's bigger than themselves.

Number nine is they have a spiritual focus, and number 10 is they are maintaining their health. I want you, my audience to be successful. What is it from this [00:22:00] podcast today that you found most inspiring? What insight did you. , which one of those are you gonna apply? I recommend you apply it in the next 24 hours and even think what is the, which of those would make the biggest impact if you applied it today?

And do that, and then teach something that you learn today to somebody else so that they can learn what you have learned. It'll help you to retain the information when you share it with somebody else. Remember Adams rule, the 30 70 rule. 30% of transformational changes. Insight, it's gaining that insight that you're gaining from a podcast like this.

Today, 70% is action. You have to apply what you have actually learned today. So I'd love to have you out, be out and come to your company to speak. I can talk about a number of different topics. There's a link in the. Show notes of this podcast, actually, my workshop list that me and my team actually give over Zoom all over the country locally.

Love to talk to you about that. So I'm gonna sign off the way I always do. Make it your mission to live the life now that [00:23:00] you want to be remembered for 10 years after you're gone, you decide your legacy, no one else. I appreciate you greatly, and I'll see you next.