Journal daily. Each week, review the week’s journal entries and review the previous weekly entry. Set your targets for the coming week. At the end of each month, compare each of the four end of week journal entries and also review the previous month entry. Set your targets for the coming month. At the end of each quarter, review the last three monthly entries and also the previous quarter entry. Set your targets for the coming quarter. At the end of each year, re-read through everything and set your targets for the coming year.

See if you can identify patterns in your thinking and behaviour. Make sure you know what your focus and targets are and ask yourself if what you are doing is bringing you closer or further away from those goals. If it is the latter, continue asking yourself questions to find out what you need to do to course correct.

Also, read widely. Something like Tim Ferris’s Tribe of Mentors will expose you to a wide variety of different high performing individuals and their thought processes and habits. Reading through you can see if anything resonates with you and you can decide if you want to incorporate it into your own life. If you do find someone who you resonate with, find out who their influences are and what books and podcasts they recommend.

Finally, try hard, challenging things at the edge of your ability. If you fail, you’ll have found something out about yourself and what you might need to work on. If you succeed, you’ll still have learned some valuable information and you also get the satisfaction of completing a difficult task.