Everyone defines success differently. To some, it’s landing the job of your dreams. To others, it’s making your first $100 from your very own business. I’m here today to share my best tips to be successful, however you define it. Start incorporating these tips into your life and get ready for some seriously awesome results.
1. Dress for success. Have you ever heard that you should dress for the job you want? Or that your outfit can greatly affect your mood? I know from experience that when I am wearing an outfit I love and feel confident in, I feel 100x more productive and I feel like I can conquer the world. Even if you work from home, it can be really beneficial to dress up and put makeup on a few days a week. Don’t do it for other people – do it to make yourself feel good. I love personalizing my outfits, and these pins from the Her Campus shop add so much to my plain jean jacket. I get so many compliments on them!
2. Write it down. Always have something near you to write in. I use two planners (one for life/work and one for my blog) and a notebook. My personal planner is by Day Designer and my blog planner is from the Brit + Co Target collection.
I thought it would be fun to share an easy DIY idea to make a “Girlboss-themed” notebook that you can carry around to write in whenever inspiration strikes. It’s super easy – simply buy a notebook of your choosing with a blank cover and put inspirational stickers all over it. I got my notebook HERE, and my stickers are all from the Her Campus Shop and can be found HERE. It’s a fun way to spruce up a plain old notebook and hopefully you feel inspired every time you look at it.
3. Take care of yourself. This is the most underrated tip in the world. If you run yourself into the ground and just go-go-go all the time, you will get burned out. If you want to stay productive and happy, the key is taking care of yourself. There are so many ways you can do this, like reading a book, taking a bath with a glass of wine (my favorite!), going shopping, or going to the spa. Whatever you decide to do, make time for it! You deserve to treat yourself. If you’re run down and unhappy, your work and your side hustle will suffer. I guarantee that the best girlbosses you know make time to take care of themselves!
4. Keep learning. It’s important to continually educate yourself, not only to grow your business, but to grow your mind. Some awesome ways to learn something new are reading books, listening to podcasts, reading blogs, taking classes, TED talks, or watching videos. Even though you have a super busy life, there are easy ways you can integrate some education into your day-to-day. One of my favorite ways to do this is to listen to podcasts or TED talks on my commute to and from work every day. That’s almost two hours of time I would be wasting listening to music, but instead I am learning something to help improve myself! Another way to do this is to schedule “learning time” into your day. Yep, I mean you should actually write it down in your planner or add it to whatever calendar you might use. It can be something as small as a half-hour chunk of time. A half-hour a day for 7 days a week for 52 weeks is 182 hours of learning a year! Taking small steps each day will help lead you to big results.
5. Celebrate your successes. Everyone defines success differently, but regardless, you need to celebrate your wins. Whether it is something as small as hitting 1,000 followers on Instagram or something as huge as landing a brand deal, make sure you take time to congratulate yourself. Maybe stop at Starbucks on your way to work one morning or treat yourself to a pedicure or a shopping spree. Do something that brings you happiness and helps you celebrate the successes you should be so proud of. You can’t count on other people to celebrate your successes for you. Take time to be proud of yourself and treat yourself accordingly. Doing this will help keep you motivated and pushing towards your goals.
6. Maximize your productivity. There never seem to be enough hours in the day. It’s so hard to work 9-5 and come home to do more work for your side hustle when you just want to lay on the couch. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder.” This is the perfect motto to live by. There are so many easy ways you can increase your productivity without actually doing more work. One of my favorites is time blocking. Setting aside an hour of uninterrupted time is usually much more productive than spending 4 hours of time working when you’re distracted and not fully focused. I work a full time job and spend 2 hours commuting every day, so that doesn’t leave much time to work on my photography business or my blog by the time I get home. I block off a few hours a week as well as 3 hours on the weekend to work on my businesses. Another thing that goes along with this is batch working. Do all “like” activities at once. For example, take all of your blog photos on one day, do all of the writing on one day, and all of the proofreading on one day instead of working one post from start to finish. By using these tips, you will be working less while being more productive. It’s a win-win!
Some days it feels like you are never going to get close to achieving your goals. As cheesy as it sounds, you can do anything you set your mind to. Implementing these tips in your life will help you on the fast track to success. Thank you so much to the Her Campus Shop for working with me on this post. I only feature brands that I authentically love, and they are one of those. Their products are very high quality and super reasonably priced. Plus, who doesn’t love products that empower women?! Go check out their website HERE and use my code jordanhebl for 10% off your order!
This post was sponsored by the Her Campus Shop. Thank you to the Her Campus Shop for providing me with the products pictured below in order to make this post possible. All opinions are my own.
Shop this post: SMART T-shirt // Enamel Pins // GRL PWR hat // Wine Glass // Notebook // Stickers
PIN IT:
great post. Thanks for including "Taking Care of Yourself". This gets overlooked too often!
– Michele
(Stitch & Hustle)
I used to dress up for class most days in college because it made me feel so much more productive and ready to conquer the day!! 🙂 Dressing to impress is a YES!
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
these are awesome tips! I love the point about celebrating successes! It's so important to slow down and do that, otherwise it's just burn and churn to the next milestone and I dk if it's possible to ever feel successful that way!
Such a great post! Thanks for sharing these tips!!!
Yes yes yes to all of this!! I 100% believe in dressing for success (if you look and feel confident you exude confidence!) and taking care of your physical/mental health can go a long way in your success as well. Great tips!
xo
Sami
The Classic Brunette
These are great tips! Celebrating my own success has been a challenge but totally worth it.
-xo, Azanique | https://www.lotsofsass.com
Excellent pieces of wisdom. There is something I can apply to my life included in each of your six tips. Thank you for such an encouraging and practical post!
xxx,
Mary
i totally agree with all of these!! especially the part about maximizing your productivity!!
I also have a Day Designer. I love mine.
Writing things down is so crucial for me!
-Nicholle
http://www.nichollesophia.com
Girl I feel you on your last tip. I also work full time and some days I just can't will myself to come home and sit in front of my laptop to work on my blog. I take all of my photos for my blog and Instagram on one day and it so helpful!
Honestly, selfcare is such an underrated but also such an important aspect of success, because if you're taking care of yourself it can be almost impossible to enjoy your successes! This is such a great list and totally on point!
Logan @ Signed, Logan
signedlogan.com
I'll be honest I didn't dress up everyday for university. Maybe, because it was the norm not to dress up or because I wasn't a morning person. Either way I wish I had.
Love all of these! Dressing for success makes all the difference – it puts you in the mindset! And love your tip about celebrating your successes no matter how small – it def keeps me motivated!
I love how you used all of these pieces! I bought my friend the stemless wine glass for her birthday!
Love this! I am horrible at maximizing my time- hello social media black holes. Adore the time block and batching. Great reminders and tips!
These are INCREDIBLE tips!!!! Thank you so so much for sharing them!!!! I'm the same way when it comes to what I wear for the day!!! And education and taking care of myself have also been huge game changers for me too!
These are great tips! I really needed the one about celebrating your success. I don't do it enough for the small things!