Sick of all the self-help articles telling you that the only way to be successful is to start every morning by making a complicated to-do list, doing a Crossfit workout, and eating steel cut oatmeal with flax seeds?

Me too. Here’s another take on what successful people do when they get up.

1. They get up and stay in their pajamas.
2. They cook pancakes for their family…
3. …Then eat a big stack themselves, smothered with butter and real maple syrup.
4. They sip coffee or tea out of their favorite mug.
5. They spend a few minutes mindlessly gazing out the window.
6. They start a tickle fight with their kids before helping them get dressed.
7. They casually walk their kids to school and chat with them about fairies and superheroes.
8. They focus on how they can make a positive impact in someone else’s life that day.
9. They reflect with gratitude on the contributions that others have made in their own lives.
10. And then they go out into the world and kick butt, content in knowing that they’ve already tackled the really important stuff for the day.

Don’t accept someone else’s definition of what success is. Create your own based on your values and the life you really want to live. That’s the true mark of a successful person.

Happy Thanksgiving! I want to express my deepest gratitude to you for joining me for a few moments every week as we explore ways to get better as people and professionals. I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing long weekend, and I look forward to catching up with you next week as we move (as hard as it may be to believe) into the last month of 2017.