5 Effective Habits of Highly Successful People

We all want to be successful in our lives. Right? No matter what success means to each one of us.

Did you know? 40% of our brain functions on auto pilot mode(i.e. according to our daily habits). That is why you need to build successful habits in your daily routine.

In this post, I’m going to share 5 habits that are found common in most of the successful people, that you should include in your daily routine to transform your life.

“The secret to your success can be found in your Daily Routine”

– JOHN MAXWELL

So, let’s dive in:

1) Wake Up Earlier

Most of the successful entrepreneurs wake up early, so that they can have a powerful morning routine and make themselves a priority first thing in the morning. Examples of some of the successful people who wake up early are : Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter) wakes up at 5 am, Tim Cook(CEO of Apple) wakes up at 4:30 am, Harvard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks) wakes up at 4:30 am, Steve Jobs used to wake up at 6 am. And they usually do some sorts of exercise as soon as they wake up.

You need to get your body moving after waking up. And I get it, this is a tough one for a lot of us because we don’t consider ourselves as a “Morning person”. But if all the millionaires are doing this, there might be some benefits of this. Studies also show that waking up early reduces anxiety and increases your productivity for the day. Try to get up at least an hour earlier and exercise, meditate, plan your day or just sit in solitude and have a cup of coffee with yourself.

What you can do?

It’s not that you should start waking up at 5 or 6 from tomorrow onwards (Of course you should if you can) but if you can’t you should at least try to wake up one hour earlier than usual. And then have a nice morning routine and give time to yourself. This helps in approaching the day proactively instead of approaching the day reactively (i.e. when you wake up 15 mins before you have to, head out of the house and deal with the things as they come). Trust me it would make your days a lot better.

2) Write Down Your Goals/ Plan Your Life

There was a study done in Harvard in 1970s with their MBA grads, if they had planned their goals and how. They found out that only 3% of the graduates wrote their goals, 13% had goals but they weren’t in writing, and 84% had no goals at all. 10 years later, the same group was interviewed again. The 13% of the class who had goals but did not write them down was earning twice the amount of the 84% who had no goals. The 3% who had written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% of the class combined! 10 TIMES! 

So, you can definitely conclude from this that writing down your goals on paper is very powerful. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. It gives you a proper vision of what end results you want and then helps you draw a better plan to achieve them. It gives them a physical existence.

What you can do?

Try to write down all your end goals, long term goals and short term goals. Have a weekly and daily to do list. Make 3 tasks your absolute priority for the day, that these are the 3 most important things I need to accomplish today. This also helps in building confidence as you are able to see yourself taking actions towards your goals daily. 

3) Read Often

A study done in 2015 states that the average American reads about 1 book per year. Whereas, the average CEO reads 60 books per year. That’s more than 1 book per week. Now, CEO’s are obviously busy people( right? ) and they still find out time to learn because they know that growth is an ongoing process. It also shows that they don’t consider themselves a know-it-all and know that there’s always scope of doing things better.

Here’s the thing, anything that you want to achieve in the world has already been done before. All of the wisdom in this world is already written. So why not learn about it from the experiences of people who’ve already cracked it before, whether it is from the books or from mentors. Another interesting fact shows that average millionaire have had 7 different mentors throughout their journey.

What you can do?

You can start with reading at least 1 book per month, right? That’s pretty achievable. Also, about having coaches. Now, you don’t really have to start with coaching necessarily but just find people you look up to. Someone who has achieved success in the fields that you want to. Maybe a friend , maybe a family member or just someone you met online. Try to connect with them, have meetings and learn from them. This will help you shorten your learning curve.

4) Proper Nutrition and Sleep

What you put inside your body directly influences the way your brain works. Examples like coffee that blocks adenosine, making your brain more alert or oily food that makes you more sleepy. Do you know? Digestion is the most energy consuming process that our body does. Hence, try to eat food that is easily digestible and leave enough energy for your body to focus on your tasks for the day.

A healthy life is directly proportional to a healthy mind. The better food you eat throughout the day the more energy you have to accomplish your tasks. Another very important thing is sleep. Average millionaires sleep for about 8-9 hrs daily. It also depends from person to person. Too little of sleep can make you lazy , unfocused in your job, cause headache and spoil the entire day next day. 

What you can do?

Try to eat more high quality food that contains fatty acids, vitamins & minerals and proteins, nourishes and protects our brain from oxidative stress( that causes our brain cells to damage). Also, notice your sleeping patterns and figure out the amount of sleep you need in order to function better the next day. Develop a pattern according to that.

5) Positive Attitude

What you focus on, magnifies.

– Joel Osteen

It’s as simple as that. Always focus on your dreams and how you can achieve them and you’ll attract it. Focus on your blessings now and more blessings would come to you. Practice gratitude everyday for the things that you have in your life. Wake up everyday and thank the universe for another day that you get to live. Practice positive self talk. This is the one thing that we all know we need to improve. “Talk to yourself the way you’d talk to your favourite person” , that’s the key to be more positive.

Remember, you can’t control your first thought but you can always control your second one. I heard this in Rob Dial’s Podcast : “You cannot plant negative thoughts and expect positive outcome”. Successful people visualize their goals. They always have a positive outlook that helps them to see the opportunity even in the darkest of hours. Successful people believe in themselves and in the universe. They have enough confidence in themselves. And they also have a company that motivates them and pushes them to do better.

What you can do?

Search for the things that you’re grateful for and write them down. Practice positive self talk. Praise yourself on your achievements and forgive yourself on your shortcomings. Visualize your goals. Surround yourself with people who hold you accountable for your goals and push you to do better. I will discuss it further in the upcoming blogs. For now, I’d have to conclude by asking you to always have a positive outlook on things, especially when it gets tough. I know it’s easier to say than to practice. But believe me, the more you practice it, the better you’ll get at it.

Conclusion

So, to conclude the 5 habits of most successful people are: Waking up earlier, Writing down their goals, Reading more, Having proper nutrition & Sleeping schedule and Positive attitude.

Now, you do not have to change a lot altogether. Instead, start with including one of these habits in your daily routine and then moving to another. So, which habit would you include in your daily routine first?

Let me know in the comments below, which habit would you begin with?