 American author and entrepreneur Jack Canfield once said successful people don't just drift off the top, getting there requires focus action, personal discipline and lots of energy every day to make things happen. If you want a better life then you must discipline yourself to build better life practices. In this video I will show you 9 habits to change within 9 months if you want a better life. 1. Comparing yourself with others. Would they ever grow in presence of social media, everyone knows everyone else's business. If it's not a long lost friend buying a new sports car or an ex-colleague getting that next big promotion, there's always something to reign on your parade. While the internet helps you to keep in touch with friends and family that are far away, people tend to get carried away by what they see, to the extent that they let other people success belittle their achievements. If you are always of the habit of comparing yourself with other people, mainly because of social media, then you have to stop doing that. Think of it this way, our Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn feeds only feature our friends highlight reel. You don't get to see all the failures, hard work and toil in between. With this in mind, take what you see with a pinch of salt and focus on your journey. If you don't change this habit of comparing yourself as soon as you can, it will eat deep into you and kill your enthusiasm. 2. Being unrealistic. Sometimes we think the world owes us a favor. Regardless of our circumstances, many individuals tend to be so hard on themselves. They set unrealistic goals, hoping that somehow, things will always go according to their plans. Although goal setting is essential for success in life, setting unrealistic goals can cause you to fail, as well as completely lose interest in that course. Two men were asked to make ladders and climb them to the top of the wall. While one of the men was almost at the peak, the other had not even done the first climb. Why was this? The first man constructed his ladder in a way that the steps were close enough for him to advance. While the other man had fewer steps, but they were far from each other. The lesson from this analogy is to break your seemingly impossible goals into smaller realistic steps, sub-goals. While we can't change our past and the choices that we have made, we all have the power in our world to change our future. You may not be able to wipe out the consequences of your previous unrealistic choices, but you can make a decision that will make your future better. Start by setting realistic goals. 3. Controlling every situation Most times, we forget that we are humans and try to act like a superhuman, wanting to control every situation. Life doesn't go to plan. The sooner you understand that, the better your life would be. Understand that despite your best intentions, you can't always account for the hiccups down the line. There may have been an expected outcome you wished for. For example, for your well-laid-out plans to crumble before your eyes. The idea here is grounded in the knowledge that you have the final say in life-unfolding events. Well, you don't. When events happen that you do not plan for, acknowledge the fact that things do not always have to go your way. The future remains uncertain, no matter the plans you put in place. In his book, The Five Things We Cannot Change by David Rico, that suggests that we refrain from the notion of assuming control by adopting an alternative view. In his words, we do not let go of control, we let go of the belief we have control. 4. Jumping into every online class Mexican director, producer and screenwriter Alejandro Gonzales Enarito once remarked, Too much knowledge and analysis can be paralysis. Surprised? Well, even though taking online courses can be necessary for your personal development, they can also be a distraction to you. Be open to learning, but don't just jump into a course only because it interests you. It is not just about getting knowledge, you should be able to apply it. In the next 9 months, stop taking every course you see online. Draw out a monthly or quarterly plan for yourself and for each month or quarter. Choose a particular aspect of your life to develop. Focus on that alone until you are done. By so doing, you will be able to measure your growth accurately. 5. Doing the urgent things Do you feel like you are carrying out so many tasks, yet the result of your actions are minimal? Well, the reason is that you are doing things that are not important. If you don't prioritize, everything seems urgent and essential. Often, it's just a matter of letting little bad things happen. Return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc. To get the big important things done, trying to fix things as they arise only makes you busy, not productive. This is because it is not every activity you exert strength on that is meaningful to your life. In an article on Medium.com, Tim Ferriss remarked, the answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates or doing more. It is defining the few things that can fundamentally change your business and life. Your life will be better than it is now if you learn to prioritize your activities. Sort the important tasks first. 6. Negative thinking How do you view life? Is it half full or half empty? In every situation, there are two ways you can react. Zoom down to the problem areas and lament about how things are in the way you want or celebrate the places that are going well and work on making everything better. Many of us see the importance of doing the latter, but in practice, we do the former. Why, though? The truth is that criticizing and focusing on the negatives is easy. But it doesn't empower nor inspire us to do better. If you have the habit of seeing situations in a negative light, then you cannot get the best out of life. Make a change for every negative encounter you run into. First, identify the things that are good about it. Practice doing this for one week and by the end of the week, you'll find that your first instinct is to think positive, not negative. 7. Emailing first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening According to Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, one of the most important tricks for maximizing your productivity involves matching your mental state to the task. In fact, matching skills to the time of the day is one of the most significant changes you can make to improve your working habits and better your life. Do you want to get out of the reactive loop? Well, here's a trick for you. If you move creative thinking and work to the start of the day when you are at your peak, you'll have the rest of the day to be reactive. The window for peak performance is 2.5 to 4 hours after walking. 8. Building your fears Dil Carnegie once said, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. Take this as a rule of thumb. If it's challenging and scares you, try it. Whether it's asking someone to mentor you, starting your blog, quitting that job that makes you feel miserable, building your business, do it, to grow, you have to stretch a little. Although stretching is quite painful, you may decide to stay comfortable, pushing takes you further than comfort will ever be. For the next 9 months, do this. Say yes to new experiences, make the move to start up your brand, publish that book and face that fear. You'll be shocked at how much growth you will experience because life gets better and exciting when you do the things that scare you. When you put this into practice, you will realize that many of the things you fear do not exist. They are just there to stop you from attaining the height you desire to get to. 9. Being late Every one of those individuals who have been dubbed latecomer by friends and colleagues, that nickname may have been a pride to you when you were younger, but as you advance in age and grow in your career, it is of dire importance that you change that attitude. Not only is being late being rude to others, but it also means that you are always rushing from one place to another, playing catch up in your schedules and having to apologize to every person you meet. Stop being late and not being punctual, but practice being early instead. For instance, if you have scheduled an appointment, make it a point of target to arrive 15 minutes more, first before any meeting. If you presume that you will be bored during your wait, then take along something to do when you're waiting. If you do not pay attention and change your latecomin character, you will end up missing juicy opportunities. As much as you have decided to be a part of that meeting, it is better to be earlier than to be late. The difference between the successful and the miserable is not based on the resources at hand. It is a function of habits formed and broken.