Thanks to my mom and dad and other relatives, I enjoy reading.

When we were kids in elementary school, Mom would take us to the public library, for a few hours on a Saturday, and we would walk up and down the aisles checking out the titles.

After grabbing a few books that seemed interesting, I would sit on this comfy chair (in the shape of a giant baseball glove) and enjoy whatever story I was reading.

As nine years old, I enjoyed something with mystery and adventure, like Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Nowadays I may read a book on popular science, history, or even a biography about a successful person.

6 Ways to Be More Successful In Your Health

Over the past 25-plus years I've helped to deliver over 100,000 transformation programs to clients from around the globe.

Oftentimes folks ask me about the factors that influence my success with clients at work.

So I thought I’d pass them along here.

1. Do things you enjoy and are pretty good at

For sustained productivity and long-term success, I think most folks need to be doing things that energize you rather than drain you.

Maybe you want to call it playing to your strengths, using your unique ability, or playing your best role.

If you struggle with mindless eating yet "hate to cook," why not purchase prepared meals at your local grocery store and then portion everything out in single-serving containers.

Sure, even in building your ideal body (the leanest, strongest, happiest version of you) you’re probably going to spend a little bit of your time doing things that you don’t love.

For me, the ratio needs to be a minimum of 80% of my time doing things I enjoy and am good at, with a target of 90%.

Nobody starts at 80%; however, with focus and a plan, you can get there.

2. Work with people you enjoy

It helps to have a team you enjoy being around.

You know, family, friends, and co-workers.

You know the co-worker/workout buddy that always no-shows when you're supposed to meet at the gym?

Why not end the frustration and hire a professional coach that has a vested interest in your success.

For me, this also includes spending time with clients that energize me.

I also like masterminding with like-minded, motivated entrepreneurs.

If you’re going to spend at least a couple thousand hours per year in your business, your charity, or whatever it is you are passionate about, you need to be around people you enjoy.

3. Work in a way you enjoy

Along those same lines, you need to use a process you enjoy.

You must be in an environment that you enjoy being in.

That could be your home office or the office building you drive to for work, all the way down to the schedule you follow.

I’ve chosen to make my home office an environment I really enjoy being in and I use tools and processes that I like, from the software I use to the planner-and-calendar system I follow.

A worthwhile investment in your home office is a mobile stand-up desk and dual monitors.

4. Have a strong "why"

To get a bit philosophical, I think everyone needs to have a reason "why" you do what you do.

I know I have a few reasons for dedicating my life to helping over-40 men and women get lean, strong, and slow aging.

Of course I want to provide both security and opportunity for my family, while working in a way that allows for meaningful time with them.

I also want to be a good role model and lead by example, helping them understand that professional success doesn’t mean personal failure.

I want to have a meaningful impact on other people’s lives, not just reach but, more importantly, depth of impact.

My personal belief is that I was born to help folks fight obesity to create generational health.

While I could expand on that, it at least gives you an idea of my personal "why."

5. Keep things simple

For me to be successful, I need to simplify things.

Even when what I’m doing looks complicated to others, I’ve simplified it into a few core steps in my own mind.

I just can’t work efficiently in any other way.

I’ve been told that my superpower is leveraging asynchronous communication, especially with my remote teams, to optimize workflow for better speed and efficiency.

If you're still in the workforce, imagine eliminating 33% of your synchronous meetings (live videoconference or in person) without a loss in productivity.

Doing fewer things better and making those things easy to understand.

When the overwhelm of responsibility that comes with trying to be a good dad, spouse, coach, friend, and entrepreneur creeps up on me, simplifying is how I get refocused.

6. Use a deadline and goal-based approach that works for you

I’ve always been a person who writes out my goals, with a pen and an old-school composition notebook.

I also plan my day the evening prior.

If you want to lose unwanted fat, you should use this same approach.

As an example, you will be more successful if you say, "I want to lose 10 pounds of belly fat in 10 weeks."

Then you just reverse-engineer the plan.

There’s nothing magical about my goal-achievement approach or the way I plan, but it works for me.

And I guess that’s true for all six of these things.

They work for me and the "secret" to long-term success is finding what works for you.

Sure, you can borrow ideas and model things, but you need to adapt them to make them your own.

That’s one way to create your own "success system."

Feel free to use my six factors; but adapt them to fit you.

To your success,

Coach Joe

P.S. If you know someone who would appreciate this message, please feel free to share.

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best age-management online personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.