Success means different things for different people and a clear definition may be debatable, but we can all agree that success doesn’t just require hard work, skill and luck, but also a certain mindset.
The most successful people in the world all adhere to certain habits in their daily routines that contribute to their success and generally speaking they are good habits to adopt for yourself if you are looking to create lasting happiness and success.
While success can seem like a great mystery that some people are destined to achieve and others aren’t, there are certain learnable habits and behaviors that make success more likely. These key habits of success don’t require a major life overhaul, instead they are all about making small tweaks to your daily routines that have a huge payoff.
Here are our TOP 10 most intriguing habits for success.
#1 Talk to Yourself
Many believe that talking to yourself is a sign of some sort of mental illness like split personality, however, research shows that high level professional athletes get to where they are by focusing on perfecting their internal dialogue. Talking to yourself can help you deal with stressful situations especially if you use the pronoun ‘you’. ‘You can do it, James.’ Give yourself a pep talk and believe in yourself and your abilities to achieve anything you set your mind to rather than going around in circles contemplating what could go wrong or why you won’t succeed. Positive self-talk is the foundation to success.
#2 Plan Your Day the Night Before
Research shows that every minute you spend on planning saves you 10 minutes in execution. Make it part of your evening routine to sit down with a piece of paper and write down everything you need to do the next day. If for some reason you can’t do it at night, make sure it’s the first thing you do in the morning. Planning and writing down your to-do list keeps you on track and clarifies your goals. It also forces you to think at a higher level and increases your productivity by 25%.
#3 Set Priorities Before You Start the Day
Don’t waste your time on things that are low in importance on your to-do list. If you have 10 tasks on your to-do list, two will be more important than the remaining eight put together. Ask yourself, if you had to go out of town for a month, what are the most important things you have to accomplish before you leave? Once you are clear on your priorities, start with your most important task immediately and stay focused on it until it’s completed. Remember, success comes from completing projects. If you can manage to single task your most important projects, you can increase your productivity by 50% and will be able to complete everything on your list effectively.
#4 Get Up Early
Research shows that nearly half of self-made millionaires get up at least three hours before their actual workday starts and use that time to plan their day, tackle personal projects, meditate and make time to work out. To gain control over your life, get up at 5am and complete the top two things on your to-do list. This way you get a sense of confidence that you indeed have the power to direct your life the way you want and achieve success.
#5 Read
Highly successful people make it a point to devote at least 30 minutes every single day to reading whether that’s for self-improvement or education. Warren Buffet even states that reading is the most crucial habit he has developed in reaching success. Most high achievers opt for self-help books, biographies, history or books that can help them advance their knowledge, however, a good novel can boost your career as well. But generally speaking, if you read biographies of people who reached success, you can learn important life lessons that help you get ahead.
#6 Spend 15 to 30 Minutes Every Single Day Thinking
If you are looking to become hugely successful, make time every single day to reflect and process everything that is going on in your life. Highly successful people tend to think in isolation in the mornings and reflect on career, health and personal relationships. Devoting some quiet time every single day to analyze your thoughts is associated with reducing stress and the ability to relax so you can calmly tackle everything that life throws at you.
#7 Avoid Time Wasters
In this fast-paced world, time is our most important commodity and whatever we invest our time in, this time is lost forever. So instead of spending hours scrolling through social media or getting lost in the caves of YouTube, be choosy about how you spend your time and make sure to invest it in something that helps you achieve your goals and dreams.
#8 Exercise
Studies show that working out on a regular basis clears your head and boosts your motivation. While a lot of people think that they don’t have time to exercise, consider the statistics that 76% of highly successful people carve out time every single day to devote to exercise. Richard Branson for example gets up every morning at 5am to bike or play tennis and believes that this has doubled his productivity. Research shows that you are much more productive, focused and capable to handle your workload when you take the time to work out before you start your workday.
#9 Stick to Morning Routines
Some people believe in order to be successful you have to work hard and while of course you have to put in the work because success doesn’t just magically fall into your lap, morning routines without work are essential to your success. Developing a morning routine gives you structure for the day ahead and most importantly, it gives you the energy to do everything that is important to you to achieve your goals. If you are looking for some ideas on how to start your day like a highly successful person, consider starting each day with a glass of lemon water, having a well-balanced, nutritious breakfast and dedicating a few minutes to meditation before working out.
#10 Get Enough Sleep
Did you know that Albert Einstein preferred to get at least 10 hours of sleep at night? Most of us function best when we are well rested and research shows that almost 90% of self-made millionaires make sleep a priority and get seven to eight hours of sleep every single night. Proper sleep is critical to being successful, because it has hugely positive effects on creative thinking and memory function.
You are the master of your destiny and you are the master of your habits. Keep in mind, as human beings we are creatures of habit and just because some of us have developed ‘bad’ habits, doesn’t mean that habits are bad. It’s all about how we use our habits to create opportunities and become highly successful. Adopt some of the above success habits into your life and see how much more you can accomplish.
SHAPE YOUR HABITS AND CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked