How to win in our life

Winning in life encompasses a lot of different things; being in a strong financial position, enjoying good relationships with others, having a sense of personal fulfillment, having the control over your time to be able to do the things you really enjoy, and having good health and fitness, physically, mentally and spiritually are some of these things.

Is there one thing that you can do that will help you succeed in all these different areas of your life? Yes there is.

The one thing is to develop the habit of adding value to everything that you are involved in and to every interaction that you have with others.

If you think from the perspective of adding value then not only will you help improve the lives of those around you but you will also start reaping the benefits of that habit in your own life.

Adding value has to be done in two ways. First you add real value and then you ensure that you are adding perceived value as well.

What's the difference?

Real value actually makes a difference in people's lives and perceived value is them being aware that you have made a difference for them.

If all your value adding is done secretly and anonymously then you may become a saint but you won't reap the benefits in this world. It makes more sense to do both.

When you are assessing whether or not you are adding value it is important to assess from the perspective of the other person. Many do-gooders believe that they are adding value when in fact they are disrupting the lives of others.

When and where should you add value?

Everyday in every thing you do.

Take for example the many different relationships that you are in; romantic, family, friends, business, professional and so on.

Are you approaching those relationships from the perspective of what you can get out of them or from what you can put into them? And if you are putting in, are you putting in something that the other person would feel is valuable to them?

Another area to think about adding value is in the work or business that you are doing.

Are you working for what you can get out of it; money, knowledge, experience and contacts or are you thinking about what value you can add for your clients, co-workers, boss, business partners and so on?

What about this world you are living in?

Do you see the world as something that should give, give, give to you or are you in the habit of asking what value you can add to the world to make it a better place?

If a significant number of people had not been value adders to this world then we would still be living in the caves without any of the luxuries that we take for granted today.

Here's a little exercise for you to try.

Take a pad and pen and write down ways that you could add value into each or your relationships, then in your work for your clients, co-workers, boss or business partners and then how you could add value to the world we all live in.

Step one is to think about adding value, step two is to actually do it and step three is to keep doing it often enough, for long enough that it becomes an automatic habit.

Try it and you may be surprised just how many rewards come back to you as a result of this simple mindset.