30 Ways To Live A Life Of Excellence

I’ve always been passionate about living a life of
excellence. Setting goals, overcoming challenges,
getting results, celebrating the victories - these make
living so rich and worthwhile.
When I was in college I was on the Dean’s List - an
honorary roll awarded only to top students - in every
academic year I was there. When I graduated I was
selected from over 1,000 applicants to enter a Fortune
100 company - one of the top 100 companies in the
world recognized by Fortune. Then when I quit to
pursue my passion a year and a half ago, I started
The Personal Excellence Blog to share my best advice
to achieve excellence in life.
In the last year and a half I also founded my training
school where I coach and train others to achieve
excellence. Life has never been more rewarding.
That being said, I have determined that excellence
itself is a way of life, not a destination. While I’ve
made some accomplishments, I’m nowhere near
where I envision myself to be in the future. There’s
always room for personal growth. Our potential is
limitless, and it’s up to us to tap into it.
Here are my top 30 ways to live a life of excellence:
1. Discover your purpose . – Our physical life started when
we were born. Our real life starts when we discover
our purpose. What is your purpose?  What is your
mission statement for your life? Mine is, “To touch
others’ lives, help them achieve their highest potential and live
their best lives.” This one statement gives me clarity
and focus on what to do, from my daily plans to my
long-term goals.
2. Follow your passion. – To do what you love is truly the
only way to live. Don’t just pursue as a hobby; turn
it into your career. I didn’t use to be a personal
development blogger or a coach. I was a marketing
major and I was working in brand management as a
career. However, it wasn’t my passion. So a year
and a half ago, I quit my regular job to pursue my
real passion.  Despite having no experience in the
personal development industry, I slowly carved my
niche in this area and established myself and my
expertise.  Today I’m pursuing my passion as a
career, and loving it.
3. Set your goals. – If you can have whatever you want,
what would you like? What are your biggest goals
and dreams? Set them. The life I’m living today is a
result of goals I set in the past. If you don’t set any
goals, it’s safe to say that you’ll be running in place
for the foreseeable future.  Is that what you want?
4. Create a life handbook. – A life handbook is a concept I
created where you have a book to write your life
purpose, goals, dreams, plans, values, mottos, and
other things that are important to you as you pursue
your best life. I started my life handbook in 2007 and
it has been my #1 tool to living my life to the fullest.
Learn more about my life handbook and how to
create yours .
5. Have the right mindset . – The quality of your life is
determined by the quality of your thoughts. If you
think life sucks, life will indeed suck.  On the other
hand, if you are set to live your best life, the paths
will open up in front of you. Maybe it’s all the ‘good
triumphing over evil’ RPGs I’ve played since young,
but I firmly believe that where there’s a will, there’s a
way. No one can stop you if you have the right
mindset.
6. Create your bucket list. – A bucket list is a list of things
to do before you die. All of us are going to die one
day. What are all the things you want to do/see/say/
experience before you die? It can be seeing the
world, living your dreams, going skydiving, falling in
love, among countless others. I created my bucket list
last year with over 100 things, and every day I
accomplish what’s on it and add new things I want to
do. Here’s a list of 101 Things To Do Before You Die
for ideas on what to put in your bucket list.
7. Get mentors. – You have dreams and big visions, and
there are people who have likely been there and done
that. Get them to mentor you. It’ll definitely cut
down the learning curve and ease your journey.
With a mentor, you can unlock your potential and
achieve so much more.
8. Stop worrying so much. – The majority of our fears
exist only in our head. Get rid of them and spend the
energy on something productive.
9. Get closer with your parents . – Many of us only have
functional relationships with our family. Some of us
might even have estranged family relationships. I
know I used to have that, then I realized it was
foolish. Our parents went through a lot of hardship
by bringing us up, and no one’s ever going to share a
connection to us the way they do.  Today I’m much
closer to my parents than I was in the past, and I’m
grateful for that.
10. Let go of negative friendships . – If you have friends
who discourage you and pull you down, it’s time to
get rid of them.  Getting rid might be too harsh for
some, so distancing is a good alternative.  I had
several negative friends in the past, then I just
reduced contact. Instead of wasting time and energy
resisting them, I was then able to focus my energy on
people and things that make me happy.
11. Surround yourself with positive people. – Do you know
you are the average of the 5 people you spend the
most time with ? Your attitudes, beliefs,
accomplishments and success are a function of the
people you spend time around. Think about the
people who inspire you and spend more time with
them. You’ll be amazed at the effects they’ll have on
you.
12. Release your limits . – They say the sky is the limit.  I
disagree. We are our own limits. It’s then about
releasing our limits so we can live our best lives.
What are you limiting yourself from doing? Stop
holding yourself back. Go out and get what you
want.
13. Believe in yourself . – The majority of the times I’ve
been able to achieve something is because I started
out believing I could do it, rather than acquiring that
belief after I achieved it.  If I didn’t think I could do
it, I probably would never have succeeded. My past
experiences have taught me that all you need to have
in order to succeed is to have a sense of self-belief - a
sense that you can control your own future. That’s
all.
14. Wake up early. – I used to wake up late every day, like
9-10am.  I never thought much about waking up
early until a couple of years ago. After I switched to
waking early at 5am, my days have been incredible. I
feel more productive, I get more done, I’m more
eager to work to keep the momentum going. It’s
something you have to try yourself to know the
difference.
15. Eat a healthy diet. – A healthy diet just-starts a life of
excellence. What’s in your daily diet? Junk? Fast
food? Fried food? Or healthy, nutritious food?
Fruits? Vegetables? I’ve been a vegan since 2008 and
have been loving it. While I tried it out as just a 30-
day trial, I immediately saw the benefits of being a
vegan and stayed the course ever since.  Also read: 9
Timeless Nutrition Tips for Any Age
16. Exercise regularly . – Aside from a regular gym routine,
try other sports to spice it up your workouts.
Frisbee, badminton and swimming are some of my
favorite sports. These make exercising a lot more
fun.
17. Plan your days. – Do you plan your days? Did you
wake up today knowing what you are supposed to do
today?  If not, maybe it’s time you do.  Planning
doesn’t have to be long and tedious, it can just be a
30 second process.  Every night, think about a few
small things that you want to accomplish tomorrow
and write them down. When you wake up the next
morning, review this list before you do anything else.
18. Nurture those whom you love . – The magical feeling of
love. The fluttering of your heart. The internal smile
you get when you think of those who you care for
most. It’s impossible to live a life of excellence
without sharing quality time with those whom you
love.
19. Try something new. – Routines stagnate us.  New
experiences help us grow and they make life
interesting.  Make an effort to try something new
every week. I get very invigorated whenever I’m
doing something new. It can be a whole new activity
or just a small experience, such as talking to a
stranger.
20. Stop watching TV . – Why stop watching TV? The bulk
of content on TV is consciousness lowering. TV has
been proven by research to be linked with lower life
satisfaction. TV ads motivate you spend more money
frivolously. TV wastes lots and lots of time. I could
go on forever. I quit regular TV watching almost 5
years ago and never looked back.  I recently wrote an
article on my blog called 10 Reasons To Stop
Watching TV and found out a good number of my
readers dropped TV in their lives as well.  Try it out
for 21-days and see how you feel.  Be sure to read:
Top 10 Reasons You Should Stop Watching TV and 40
Positive Effects of a TV Free Week .
21. Stop obsessing over the news . – A lot of news today
resonates with fear, guilt, shame and hate.
Depending on your news source, many are largely
sensationalized and biased as well. You don’t need to
watch the news every day for an hour to know that
there are car accidents, murders and wars out there.
Focus your energy on how you can address those
problems instead.
22. Don’t be trapped by dogma. – Don’t feel compelled to
follow others all the time. Pave your own path.
Follow your heart. Don’t fall into the trap of
operating on everyone’s whim. Listening is okay, but
doing what everyone wants is simply unhealthy.
Execute the good feedback and follow your vision.
23. Be compassionate . – Show love and kindness to all the
people around you. Respect everyone. They may not
react in a kind way immediately, but they will notice
and appreciate your kindness. To love is to be
human.
24. Smile more. – It takes more muscles to frown than to
smile. So let’s smile more often.
25. Criticize less, appreciate more . – Do you like overly
critical people? I’m sure you don’t. They are a dread
to be around. So let’s be less critical. Don’t stare so
hard at what’s missing. Learn to see and appreciate
what’s there instead.
26. Keep a journal to self-reflect . – I had a paper journal
for several years, but after I started The Personal
Excellence Blog I use the blog as my journal. By
having a place to freely let out our thoughts and
ponder over them, we get a lot more clarity about
ourselves. If you are not sure where to start with, try
50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind, 20 Questions
You Should Ask Yourself Every Sunday and check out
the new site Thought Questions .
27. Forgive those who hurt you. – To forgive is to let go of a
prisoner and to realize that the prisoner all along was
you. Don’t hold on to past hatred. Let it go. You’ll
find new, wonderful things entering your life once
you do.
28. Enrich your mind great books . – Books contain
concentrated volumes of wisdom.  It’s not surprising
then that most knowledgeable people are also very
well-read. Check out 40 Modern Nonfiction Books
Everyone Should Read and 30 Books Everyone Should
Read Before Their 30th Birthday .
29. Coach someone . – There’s no better way to learn than
to teach others. Is there someone who can benefit
from your help? Offer to coach them for free. It’ll be
an enlightening experience for both of you.
30. Meet new people. – Most humans have a habit of
stagnating in a small circle of friends. But it doesn’t
help us grow. Get out there and meet new people.
You’ll be surprised at the lessons they will teach you
and the new opportunities they will inject into your
life.