What is the best way to live a happy and successful life?

1. Practice awareness. Aware of where you are, aware of the people and things around you, aware of the moment you’re living. Aware of your position (career, relationship, health, emotions). Aware of what truly matters for you, then, go grab it. Don’t just let life pass you by. But remember, awareness is not control. Control leads to anxiety, awareness makes you stronger.
2. Be authentic. Remove your masks and make-ups. Always speak with truth to yourself and to others. Authenticity is the way to communicate. Get rid of the fear, get rid of the shame, get rid of the greed, and get rid of the ego.
3. Do meaningful work. Own your work with responsibility and authority, challenge yourself with complex tasks, and always reward yourself (not necessarily with money) when the work is done. It’s not about the money that makes us happy. It’s whether our work matters to us.
4. Set high standards. Set a standard for the lifestyle you're living. Set a standard for the person you want to be. Set a standard for the art you're creating. A standard is not your best. A standard is the lowest measure that you'll tolerate. By that, you won’t produce anything less than that.
5. Manage expectations. It's easy for us to fall into the trap to have a higher expectation when our standard gets higher. When the novel you've written turns out becoming a bestseller, it's easy for you to have the expectation to write another bestseller. However, the result is never in our circle of control. Manage your expectation because that’s how happiness happens.