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There's no easy formula for living a life that is stable and successful. However, there are steps you can take that make that stability and success more likely.

Define Success

Success has very different meanings to different people. When you start to dig into how you define success, you may find that some of the meaning you attach to the word comes from family or friends but doesn't reflect your real feelings. For some, success will mean a high-profile job and a high salary. For others, it will mean a close-knit family. Some people want to travel or paint or spend as much time hiking as possible. Your definition of what success is may change over time. Just make sure that it's always your own definition.

Get an Education

A college education opens doors. Not only may you learn about a path you want to pursue in life while you're there, but having a bachelor's degree is a minimum qualification for many jobs. While you can borrow some money to pay for your tuition, as most people do, you don't want to graduate with too much student loan debt. One way to mitigate this is to try to get as many scholarships as you can. You can look online to find the ones that you are eligible for and to apply.

Prioritize

One reason you need to define success for yourself is because you will need to prioritize throughout your life. Those priorities will most likely shift throughout the years, so it's always a good idea to check in from time to time about what you are giving the most importance to and make sure that it still fits your needs. One way to find out if that is the case is to write down the things that you value the most and then create a rough schedule of how you spend your days. If your daily habits reflect the things you value most, then you are doing it right. If you want to jumpstart your career but you're putting in as few hours possible at the office, you might need to rethink. Alternately, if your family means everything to you and you are working 70-hour weeks, you may need a new job or a new profession.

Manage Your Finances

Managing your finances is key to leading a stable life. There are several different aspects to this, and it's a good idea to read, at minimum, a book or two on personal finance. Instead of jumping straight into ways to invest your money, first, you need some kind of budget that you can stick to. Get the basics covered before anything else. Your budget doesn't necessarily have to be strict, but you need to know where your money is going. Then you need a plan to get out and stay out of debt. The one potential exception to this is having a mortgage. Next, you need to have an emergency fund. This needs to be money you can get to quickly and easily, and depending on your personal circumstances, you need anywhere from three months to a year or more of expenses. You also need to regularly put money into a retirement account. Finally, you may want to consider investing.