While there is no real magic formula that can guarantee you will become a success in life, what you can do is learn from the mistakes of others. Below are 7 simple but effective strategies that have been practiced by the world’s most successful people:

To Build A Better Career, You Must First Build A Better You

Research shows that people often prefer confidence over actual expertise. When you’re told you’re good by someone you respect, you believe it. If you believe you can do it, you work harder. And when others believe in you, they push you harder. It's sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Quality, Not Quantity

Contrary to what surveys report, hard work really is not the best predictor of success. Research shows number of hours actually does not predict success at work or at home, and that real success correlates with the quality of how you spend those hours.

Make Plans And Goals

Successful people spend an average of fifteen minutes every day to reflect, and think about their long term improvement every day. Having concrete goals has also been correlated with huge increases in confidence and feeling in control.

Focus On The Small Wins

Instead of spending all your time focusing on major wins and losses, it pays to focus on the small wins which impact your every day performance. This is the strategy followed by 70% of long-serving corporate leaders, since such typical scenarios are much more common than those extreme wins or losses.

Know What Motivates You

Nothing predicts career success better than motivation. Not even intelligence, ability, or salary.  But what motivates people can vary widely, so you need to really think about specific times when you were very motivated and what caused it. Research shows that this reward is responsible for three-quarters of why you do things, so it pays to align those rewards and goals appropriately.

Choose The Right Workplace & Role Model

It's hard to motivate yourself if you don't like your job. Psychologists have observed that bad habits is actually very contagious in an office environment since employees tend to mirror the bad behaviors of their co-workers. This can lead to low morale, poor working habits, and theft. However, it does pay to have a diverse set of co-workers, as people with differing personalities are 14 percent more productive than teams composed of more compatible individuals.

And while mentors and role models are valuable, these aspirational figures won't do you any favors if they don't "fit" in with your own career goals. Role models who aren’t relevant or whose achievements are unattainable can actually make you 22% less satisfied with your career.

Learn People Skills

At least 80% of CEOs feel that people skills are not only essential at work but also make them happy at home. You can also try being a little less defensive, as it not only makes you disliked but also makes it harder to learn anything.

[Bakadesuyo]