Top 8 Tips for a Successful Life

You might be thinking “what does this 25 year old know about living a successful life?”

And that’s a fair statement. Most of my readers have lived longer than me.

I simply urge you to read my advice with an open mind because these tips have allowed to me to lead a life with zero regrets.

If I were given the offer to “restart” my life so I could make different decisions, I would decline.

That is one of my proudest achievements in life.

Without further ado, here are my tips!

1. Have a bias for action.

99% of people have ideas for a million dollar business.

1% of people execute those ideas.

If you don’t take action, your idea means nothing. Go out and execute!

2. Prioritize high impact work.

Make decisions that have a large impact on your business. I’ll use my father’s business as an example:

He was spending significant amounts of time developing social media content to drive traffic to his hockey camps / clinics. Just a few months ago, he decided to shift focus to a new offering:

High-end private lessons.

Instead of spending hours on social media (which didn’t drive much revenue) he is not focusing on acquiring private lessons customers (which is driving tens of thousands in revenue). Focus on what moves the needle!

3. To be an entrepreneur, you must be comfortable with the unknown and without direction.

Half the battle of being your own boss is figuring out what you have to do each day. Traditional employees have a boss that tells them what to do. Entrepreneurs have no boss, so you just have to figure it out! Some love it, others hate it.

4. Don't listen to anyone who hasn't done what you're trying to accomplish.

Example 1: If you want a promotion at work, don't take advice from someone who has never been promoted.

Example 2: If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t take advice from an obese person.

Example 3: If you’re trying to scale your company to $5m, don’t take advice from someone who does $250k.

5. Don't mistake activity for achievement.

You can work 12 hours a day but none of your work matters if you weren't productive. This ties into number 2 on the list. Would you rather work 100 on a project that will drive $5,000 of revenue or 10 hours on something that drives $500,000 in revenue? Sure, you were “busier” for the $5,000 project, but who cares?

6. A healthy man wants a thousand things. A sick man only wants one.

What’s the most important thing in your life? For me, it’s my level of fitness. You’ve only got one body. Don’t harm it with lack of exercise or too much alcohol consumption. It’s simple, but not easy.

7. Real wealth is measured in time, not dollars.

The truly wealthy can wake up each morning and say, “I can do whatever the hell I want today.” If your business does $10m in revenue but you have to work 80 hours per week, in my opinion, you lack true wealth.

8. Travel as much as possible.

I love exploring. Going to new places, talking to new people, seeing different cultures is one of my passions. Traveling grants your perspective on life. Don’t pigeon-hole yourself to your hometown. Go out and see the world!

Cheers,

Collin Rutherford

PS. This kid has some guts!