15 Cheat Codes for Life: Jump 7 Years Ahead of People

Every successful entrepreneur or person has been through a laundry list of failures. As much as we love to glamorize risk-takers, we can’t ignore how much they’ve failed on the road to success. One could even argue that the road to success is paved with failures and crushed dreams.

The good news is every rejection or failure brings you one step closer to a yes that could change your entire life. They say that when one door closes, another one opens. This may not seem like the case at the moment, but those rejections will help you become more tenacious so that you’re ready for whatever life throws at you.

How someone treats those who can’t do something for them accurately indicates character. You can learn plenty from how someone treats service people.

There’s one quote that summarizes this best, and we really can’t argue with the greatest of all time:

“I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position.” ―Muhammad Ali

Your comfort zone is the worst place you can spend any time if you want to see growth in your life. The comfort zone is where dreams go to die because nothing remarkable ever came from playing it safe.

How can you embrace adversity?

• Don’t be afraid to suck at something new.
• Challenge yourself constantly.
• Try a new sport regardless of your age.
• Seek feedback from people who aren’t afraid to hurt your feelings.
• If it scares you, then it means that you need to do it.
• If your goals aren’t intimidating, then they’re not bold enough.

So many of us want to know everything upfront before taking action . Taking action when you don’t know all of the answers is a true superpower. The stars will never align, and the universe won’t conspire to give you the perfect conditions for starting. You have to take action first and then watch how everything conspires in your favor once you start to build momentum on your own.

This Ryan Holiday quote from “The Obstacle is The Way’” summarizes this notion best:

“We often assume that the world moves at our leisure. We delay when we should initiate. We jog when we should be running or better yet, sprinting. And then we’re shocked –shocked!—when nothing big ever happens, when opportunities never show up, when new obstacles begin to pile up, or the enemies finally get their act together.” 

Instead of waiting for the perfect conditions to start, focus on progress over perfection. Your future self will thank you for the risks you take today when you don’t feel fully prepared.

They say that no road will take you there when you don’t know where you’re going. You must figure out what you want from life to start planning to make it happen. So many people walk through life aimlessly without a plan, and they wonder why they never seem to get lucky.

Knowing what you want out of life is the ultimate cheat code. Once you know what you’re after, you can craft a plan to go after it. The best part is that no matter what you want to accomplish, chances are that someone out there has already done it, so you can learn from them by buying a book, taking a course, or paying for coaching.

Making yourself a priority isn’t selfish; it’s actually the most important thing that you can do because you can’t pour from an empty glass. Every investment you make in yourself today will pay dividends for years.

How can you invest in yourself right now?

• Learn a new skill. The more that you learn, the more that you earn.
• Buy a book on a topic that fascinates you. Everything that you could want to learn about has been written about. You can spend $20 on a book to acquire a lifetime of knowledge.
• Spend money on your health. Always spend the money on eating better and the best physical training you can get. You want to ensure that you’re physically and mentally prepared for whatever life brings you.

• Take someone out for coffee or lunch. You can learn something from someone who’s a few steps ahead of you by offering to take them out for lunch.
• Attend an event or conference in your field. They say that your network is your net worth. You want to do what you can to get around those who are already where you want to be one day.

Multi-tasking is a recipe for doing a mediocre job on a bunch of random tasks. If you want to see remarkable results, you must focus on one thing at a time to give it your full attention. When you chase two rabbits, you end up catching none of them. While social media is filled with people bragging about how much they do, the reality is that we’re all better off focusing on one important task at a time.

You owe it to yourself to read “The One Thing” by Gary Keller if you struggle with focusing on one task at a time. Here’s a quote that simplifies the entire book into one sentence.

“It is not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do, it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have.”

Most of us don’t have an issue with time management. We struggle with figuring out the one thing that deserves our focus, so we try to complete multiple different tasks simultaneously.

You have to know yourself and be self-aware enough to accept your limitations . There’s no sense in lying to yourself because you’re only going to set yourself up for disappointment. As tempting as it is to make audacious statements about what you plan on doing, you’re better off setting small and attainable goals that will help you get to the finish line.

How many times have you seen a documentary about an athlete, musician, or celebrity who ended up losing everything they had? These people were always surrounded by an entourage, yet it seemed like they didn’t have any real friends. You don’t want this to happen to you.

A few quality friendships with deep connections are worth more than many acquaintances who don’t care about you. You want to surround yourself with people on a similar mission so that you don’t get sidetracked or brought down by anyone’s misery.

You won’t get anywhere in life if you avoid all suffering. There’s a reason why so few people end up building a successful business or can get into amazing physical shape. Most of us will give up on suffering because we’re not sure if the short-term discomfort is worth the long-term results.

Knowing that suffering today for a better tomorrow is worth it is a cheat code that very few will accept. Whatever you’re going through today will be worth it when you get to the other side. Nothing worth doing has ever been easy.

Life isn’t about what happens to you. It’s about how you react to what happens to you. Instead of blaming the world for your problems, you have to get into the habit of taking accountability for your situation.

You can’t choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you react to it. How you respond to conflict and challenges will say plenty about you.

Your life won’t change until you change. This means you have to decide to change your life because nobody else can do it for you.

You can hire coaches, pay for mentorship, and join a mastermind, but none of that will mean anything if you don’t decide that you’re going to change. The choices you make today will be reflected in the results you get tomorrow.

While it’s easy to admire successful people when you see what they’ve accomplished , you don’t know what they went through to get to where they are.

Many sacrifices are required if you want to get to the next level. The good news is that every sacrifice you make today will be evident in the rewards you receive in the future.

So many of us worry about the opinions of others when in reality, those people don’t even know what’s best for us. It would be best if you didn’t worry about the opinion of those who don’t know what you’re going through.

The truth is that most people will judge you because they’re jealous that you’re not afraid of taking risks. You’ll never be criticized by someone who’s doing better than you. Criticism tends to come from those who aren’t doing as well as you.

This quote about worrying about what others think always makes me think…

“When you’re 20, you care what everyone thinks. When you’re 40, you stop caring what everyone thinks; when you’re 60, you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.”

This quote was originally attributed to Winston Churchill, but the original author hasn’t been verified. Regardless of who said this, we spend far too much time worrying about what others think of us when their opinions don’t pay our bills.

Smiling may not seem like a big deal at the moment, but your energy will attract many opportunities. You may have heard how your vibe attracts your tribe, but you don’t realize how accurate this is until you try it. How you present yourself to the world will determine what kind of energy you attract into your life. It’s important to remember this when you step out into the world.

Those are 15 cheat codes that will help you get ahead in life. Save this list and refer to it when you’re looking for some inspiration or when you’re just feeling stuck.

Why cheat at video games? Because you want to win! Old-school gamers will remember the days of pressing Down Up, Right, Left, Left, A, B, B, A, B, Up, Down, and similar combinations to unlock unlimited health, wealth, and more. If you can find a cheat code for life, you’re better positioned to find yourself winning at your goals.