Many people think that after a certain age, it is not possible to be successful. They also have the misconception that post 40, you cannot do much to help you lead a successful life. However, there is a lot more to this than what meets the eye. You cannot define your ability to do things just because of your age. Age is a number; however, if you have the will and the desire, you will still be able to achieve all your dreams even during your old age. So,

• What is the secret behind this? 
• How can you achieve what you want? 

Read on to find out. 

The secret behind how to help you lead a successful life

First of all, before we get into details, let us first understand the true meaning of success. The word success, as defined in the dictionary, is – the accomplishment of a purpose or aim in life. Another definition is – the bad or good outcome of any undertaking. While this is what a textbook may say, in reality, the meaning of success is very different. Success is not only an outcome or an accomplishment but also about the journey and the lessons learned. 

To be a successful person, you have to be open to failures, downfalls, and bad times. These failures, defeats, and bad times are the teachers that help you and shape you. A successful person always measures his accomplishments based on his achievements during the journey to reach a particular goal. Let us look at one real-life example – Warren Buffett.

How does Warren Buffett describe success?

We all know that Warren Buffett is one of the World’s most successful investors. His vision was not restricted to his short-term achievements. Buffett had the ability and guts to think long term. He never wasted time thinking about his securities and investments. Instead, he always thought about making his life and the people around live a better life. 

He always paid attention to all his employees. Moreover, Buffett would also lend out a helping hand to his employees. He was interested to know what their goals were; furthermore, Warren also wanted to see how he could help them achieve their goals. So, what did he do to help them understand their career goals? The secret was the 5/25 Rule.

The 5/25 rule

Technically, this was more of an exercise that he practiced with one of his employees. He made him write down 25 things that they wanted to achieve in the near future. The employee found that to be very easy and made his list. The real challenge came after making his list. He was asked to prioritize them. Somehow, the employee managed to prioritize all 25 goals and even circled his top 5 goals. This was when Buffett asked him- 

What do you plan to do with the remaining 20?

The employee’s reply was – The top five is what I want the most, the rest are there but do not hold that much of importance. Although they are essential, I will work on them whenever I can. 

On hearing this reply, Buffett told his employee that he got it all wrong. The goals that were not circled were the ones that didn’t matter. In the end, the person would only end up achieving the five goals that he considered as the top priority. Eventually, he would avoid the others until and unless he did not complete the top 5. Now, this was something that the employee did not expect. 

So what did we learn from this story? The answer is the Selective Focus.

What is Selective Focus?

In our lives, we are always surrounded by choices. Every single day, we have to make choices in every small and significant way. However, most people only choose the ones that help them advance in their careers for that particular moment. It is also one reason why many people do not live up to their full potential. 

Any choice made to get a reward is a loss. These are choices that take us away from our true potential as we only focus on things that excite us. Instead of doing that, we should solely focus on our primary goal and not get lured with our choices. 

Selective focus helps you look straight into your main goal. The odds of your improvement are a lot better instead of giving in to petty choices. 

Why is it important?

Moreover, when we start focusing on just one main thing, it gives us time to balance our lives the right way. The energy that we waste jumping from one pebble to another then turns into a jump from one stone to another to reach the primary goal. We learn to start paving our paths and take our journey in the right direction. The best part about Selective Focus is that you can even use it for your personal goals, relationships, health, etc. 

The key is to do things that matter to you.

To help you lead a successful life, you need to make sure that you overlook petty issues.  Doing things that you like will also give you a chance to straighten your thinking. Attention and time are finite resources, which is why you have to use them wisely. You will always get opportunities to gain worldly things in your life. However, what good is that journey when you have not lived your life. 

A final note on help you lead a successful life

When we look at real life examples like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, we can learn a lot from them. These are people who have accomplished whatever they wanted by working hard. Such people lead a very simple lifestyle and focus their energy on the right things. Using the selective focus technique, you will be in a position to lead a successful life even when you are 60. It is not your bank balance that matters; instead, you should consider your life balance to be successful and happy. Always remember that your age should not define the kind of success you should have. A successful life is one that is lived to the fullest.