How Success Starts

The famous actress Goldie Hawn once said about her longtime life-partner Kurt Russell and father of one of her sons that he woke up happy every morning. Kurt is a lucky man in many ways, and maybe he doesn't need a brownie for breakfast. Still, some mornings it couldn't hurt.

Doing something special for yourself soon after waking, getting that happy mojo started, specially if you didn't wake up happy, is very important for a successful day. Getting off to the right start and cultivating a happy, purposeful outlook is vital.

Some mornings a brownie for breakfast does it for me, but for many some quiet time, a hot shower, coffee and the newspaper, stretching and/or a run through the neighborhood, any of those could work. Getting the mood right is the first step to planning a successful day, one that keeps the joy of living working for you.

Success involves a plan and the right attitude. So, an inventory is important to catalog reasons why your self-confidence will help you make the day succeed. Some call it counting blessings, but I want to suggest counting recent successes, recent demonstrations of self-confidence to help you build more success today.

If that sounds too easy and glib, put it on your "to do list" every day and see if the discipline of getting your mood happy, maybe even ebullient, and congratulating yourself out loud for recent successes, promising to add more today, doesn't make a big difference. Why not?

People buy from people they like (whether you're selling yourself, a product or your ideas), and someone who shows up happy and self-confident is eminently likeable. Try it and see how good it makes you feel.