What are the most common habits of highly successful people?
How can you become highly successful?
What are the most useful habits to help you improve your life and be your best self?
In this post, we will talk about 17 habits of highly successful people you might want to develop while giving up on your bad habits.
It’s well known that your daily routines and actions shape you as a person and define the course of your life.
If you want to move forward in life, the first thing you want to do is actually move – take action and do something different.
Therefore, I’ve collected 17 of the best daily habits of highly successful people and listed them below for you. Hopefully, they will inspire you.
Let’s define what does it mean to be a successful person.
Does it mean lots of money?
No.
Does it mean to be famous?
No.
Does it mean to be a company owner?
No.
Then what’s the reason every time we think of success we imagine a person who is either rich, owns a company or is well known among the people.
Because some of the highly successful people have these qualities, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
But success doesn’t mean you must be featured on the cover of a fancy magazine.
The simple definition of success is this: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
That’s it.
You will be considered a successful person if you fulfil your purpose, and you accomplish your goals.
I know, it sounds simpler than it is.
But here’s the deal.
Very often it’s harder to find your purpose than to follow it. But if you’re lucky enough to know what you should become, then all that’s left is to accomplish it.
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How to accomplish your aim or purpose?
In other words, how to become successful?
The straightforward answer to your question is: by developing a system of daily activities that will keep you moving toward your goal, aim, purpose.
Yes, by developing the right daily habits.
And here are 17 habits of highly successful people to give you a hint of what the path to success feels like.
Dare to try?
1. Highly successful people are responsible
Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
Responsibility!
So many people love to avoid it and pretend it doesn’t exist.
But if you want to be one of the highly successful people in this world, you might want to reconsider it.
Highly successful people are the most responsible people. They know that things don’t just happen to them, but they have attracted them. They know that everything that happens today is because they took a decision in the past that lead them to this moment.
Responsibility is a high-value habit very few people develop and that’s one of their secret to success. It might be hard to be accountable to yourself for everything that happens in your life, but if you decide to do it, there’s a great thing that happens. You become more powerful because you know that the actions, decisions, and ideas you put out in the world come back to you. And you did it all.
Do you take responsibility for everything that’s going on around you?
2. Highly successful people have values and act according to them
You wouldn’t be able to convince a highly successful person to act against his values and beliefs.
Successful people define their main values very early on their path to success. They stick to them, and if something doesn’t feel right, they just don’t go for it.
I’ve always admired people with strict values that don’t leave themselves to be persuaded into doing anything that’s against their beliefs.
And it truly doesn’t matter if it’s selling a company or eating a piece of cake after deciding to quit sugar. The power of their values is showing in every decision they make.
What are your values?
3. They eliminate distractions
One of the most valuable habits of highly successful people is their ability to eliminate distractions.
Simon Sinek talks about how his friends put their phones together in a hat when they go out, so they eliminate any distractions.
Your phone has the power to distract you over 63 times a day, and that’s just an average number. Every time you look at your messages or glimpse to see the notifications, it gets harder and harder to focus back on what’s important.
So, the first thing you want to do is to reconsider your relationship with your phone.
But successful people don’t just ignore their phones.
It’s about every little distraction that’s around them.
- They don’t answer emails until a certain time later in the day.
- They don’t schedule phone calls; they avoid early meetings unless it’s tightly related to their goals for the day.
- They keep their desks clean of papers they don’t need at the moment.
- They say No to three-day-long parties and spend the weekend de-stressing and preparing for another successful week.
- In fact, most of thee highly successful people have only one day off during the week and some – none (but I don’t recommend you do that).
Highly successful people just don’t allow anything to take their focus away from what’s important.
Are you?
4. They eliminate unnecessary decisions
Ok, I know you’ve heard of this one.
Many of the highly successful people have assistants to take care of their schedules and remind them of upcoming events and meetings. In this way, once they’re occupied with something, they don’t have to lose energy on trying to remember all other things they should do later.
And while most of us cannot afford assistants, we have smartphones that we could use for more than scrolling social media. There are countless apps and programs to help you schedule your busy days and set reminders before important appointments and meetings.
Successful people also try to eliminate other smaller decisions in their lives. We’ve all heard of CEOs wearing the same type of clothes every day, so they don’t waste time on picking what to wear.
You could adopt the same way of thinking and implement it into your life.
One great way to eliminate decisions is by developing morning and evening routines. In this way, you won’t have to think of what to eat for breakfast or what to do with your evenings. Setting routines helps you free your mind from taking unnecessary decisions and gives you time to think and focus on what matters.
5. Highly successful people don’t multitask
In fact, our brains aren’t able to multitask, and that’s scientifically proven. What we believe is multitasking, is switching our focus from one thing to another very fast. Do it a few times, and you’ll be fine. But if you keep doing it throughout the day, you will end up exhausted and irritated.
Successful people know how their brains work and adjust to that. They choose to focus on one thing at a time and move to another one only after they’ve finished with the first one.
Do you multitask?
6. Highly Successful People choose individuality
There’s one myth that I’d like to bust right here.
Many people believe that to be successful; they should copy what successful people do.
And while I agree to some extend, I’d also like to mention that all highly successful people have their own way of choosing to do the things that work for them.
They will wake up early only if they feel at their strongest in the early hours of the day.
For example, Wayne Dyer used to wake up a little bit after 3 a.m. every morning; Benjamin Franklin used to wake up at 5 a.m. and Winston Churchill – at 7:30 (and he’d usually work from his bed up until 11 a.m.).
Oprah Winfrey wakes up between 6:02 and 6:20 a.m. and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is already working out at 4 a.m.
Of course, you don’t have to chase the clock when waking up early, but you should choose a time that allows you to fit the most important things in the morning.
Highly successful people wake up at a time that gives them the ability to work on their goals, dreams and purpose.
What would that time be for you?
7. Highly successful people look after themselves
Now, here’s the thing that we like to ignore.
Physical health is as important as mental health. And highly successful people know that. They spend time walking, exercising, doing yoga, stretching, jogging, and so on. They spend time doing something for their body every day.
Robin Sharma starts his day with 20 minutes of highly intensive exercises so he could increase his heart rate. Jim Kwik starts his day with intensive movements for a few minutes, and Richard Branson plays tennis every morning at 6 a.m.
Do you exercise in the mornings?
8. Looking after their mental health
Yes, that’s important too.
Highly successful people are exposed to high levels of stress, and the only way to stay focused on what they do is by creating that focus and finding a way to de-stress.
Tony Robbins likes to spend three minutes of gratitude every morning and spends at least 10 minutes in meditation.
Bruce Lee, Leonardo Da Vinci and Thomas Edison were journaling almost every day.
What is your way of looking after your mental health?
9. They enjoy the process more than reaching the goal
If you’ve read my previous post on how to make habits stick, you will notice that I quote James Clear throughout the post. I recently started listening to the audio version of his book Atomic Habits, and I am blown away by its simplicity and profound truths.
In it, he talks about how twisted it is to restrain ourselves from happiness until we reach our goals.
- I need to lose more weight, and then I will be happy.
- I want to be promoted, and then I will be happy.
- I must first get married, and then I will be happy.
- And so on.
We believe that only by reaching certain goals, we will find happiness. But this type of thinking also makes the process of reaching the goals hard and unpleasant. Because our minds are set on goal-happiness, we also program ourselves that happiness is an impossible feeling unless we’ve achieved these goals.
We turn the process into an unpleasant path we hate walking on, but we must, so we could finally be happy.
Highly successful people enjoy that path. They love the process more than the result. They love what they do and reaching a specific end is just a result of doing what they love and not the purpose of doing it.
As James Clear says “When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.”
Get his book on Amazon or just like me, listen to it for free with Audible.
10. Highly successful people are learners
Reading is power. Learning is a never-ending process, and the only way to stay on top of things is if you know what you’re dealing with.
Warren Buffet spends five to six hours reading every day. Mark Cuban reads up to three hours a day, and Elon Musk used to read for 10 hours a day when he was younger.
In his book Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals Tomas Corley says that 67% of rich people watch TV less than an hour a day and only 6% of wealthy people watch reality shows.
Simply put, highly successful people don’ waste their time waiting to be entertained. Instead, they spend their time learning more about their business, their brain, their abilities, their competitors, their clients, and everything else.
If you believe reading isn’t your thing, try listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Audible gives you one free month of membership to listen to audiobooks of your choice. Sign up here to get the promotion.
11. They appreciate themselves and are self-aware
Highly successful people are incredibly self-aware. They know exactly where they stand in this world, and they know with perfect clarity where they want to go.
Practising self-love and self-care is on their list with priorities, and they don’t compromise it.
Jim Kwik starts his day by taking his supplements and says that your gut is your second brain.
Bill Gates and Tim Cook sleep at least 7 hours a day. John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, travels with his rice cooker to be sure he eats healthy.
Highly successful people look after themselves more than the rest of us. They know that only by self-appreciation and self-care they will be able to welcome the challenges of the new day.
What is your self-care routine?
12. They practice gratitude
Oprah Winfrey says that every morning after she wakes up, she expresses her gratitude that she is still alive.
John Paul DeJoria says “For the most part, I can’t tell you how important it is to take those first five minutes and be thankful for life.”
Denis Waitley says “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.”
Gratitude is the single habit that all highly successful people say that has changed their lives.
Gratitude is a powerful feeling that tells God (and the Universe) that we are happy because of everything we’ve received. We give a sign that what we have is enough and we appreciate it every day.
Do you practise gratitude? Here are ten gratitude journals to start with once you decide.
13. Highly successful people are adaptable people
When an average person faces a massive change in life, chances are he will try to avoid it, ignore it or ramble against it for as long as he could. At some point, once he realises that the change is unavoidable, he will accept it.
Highly successful people skip most of these parts and jump straight to recognising the change and responding to it.
They know that the only constant thing in this world is change itself. It will always be present, and it’s up to them to either adapt to it move on or waste valuable time and resources fighting against it.
Are you adaptable to changes?
14. They keep things simple
If you sit down and create a to-do list for tomorrow, it’s likely to end up with a long list of tasks. Probably, just by looking at that list, you already feel tired and overwhelmed.
Highly successful people like to keep things simple. As I mentioned, they don’t multitask, and they focus on one thing at a time.
But they also keep their schedules simple. It is rare for them to have more than a few important tasks for the day. In this way, they avoid burning out and keep their minds occupied with one thing at a time.
Jack Dorsey, CEO Square and Founder of Twitter, dedicates each weekday to a specific area of his business. For example, Monday he does Management and running the company, Tuesday – Product, Wednesday – Marketing and communications, growth, and so on.
15. They stay alert
Successful people have become successful because of their unique ability to see opportunities and go for them. They always stay alert and focus on searching for opportunities that fit them and answer their needs at the moment.
They read reports (like Warren Buffet), they listen to podcasts and watch the news, they spend time researching and talking to people about what they do. Throughout all that, they are alert and in search for that one thing that will help them achieve their new goal.
16. Highly successful people and fear
We all have fears, and we all try to fight them, accept them or overcome them every day.
What do successful people say about fear?
They say that fear is always there, but it’s not in any way a reason to stop doing what they love.
Actually, the biggest fights they have are the ones with themselves and their fears, just like you and me. But successful people have learned that fears exist not to stop us from doing what we want and love, but instead, to help us understand that we’re out of our comfort zone. It’s just a fact, and it doesn’t mean fear is a good or a bad thing. It’s just there to challenge you to do things anyway.
17. They know how to relax
The last one of these habits of highly successful people is that they know how to relax and de-stress.
They know that finding a way to distance themselves from stressful everyday life is as crucial as getting out of bed in the morning. They exercise, meditate, dine with friends, gaze at the sunset, walk the dog, read, and so on.
Successful people prioritise me-time because they know that it will power them to be their best at what they do.
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Gia Foretia
Tuesday 14th of September 2021
I absolutely love this post. It lets me know I’m definitely on the right track. Especially when I’ve grown up in a family that equates degrees and falling in line with what appears to be successful.😀