Us&Co Blog
10 habits of successful people
It’s been said before that success isn’t just a given, it’s something you need to work for. Here we look at ten habits adopted by the world’s most successful people, day in and day out.
1. Wake up early
The age old saying the early bird catches the worm is popular for a reason. Not only does waking up early give you more hours in the day, the hours after you wake up are the ones where you’re most productive. Behavioural scientist Dan Ariely claims that the two hours after we become fully awake are, potentially, our most productive. These two hours should be used to do our most important tasks rather than wasting them responding to emails etc. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing what you can achieve before your competition even wakes up.
Robert Iger, C.E.O of Disney says: “I get up at 4:30 every morning. I like the quiet time. It’s a time I can recharge my batteries a bit. I exercise and I clear my head and I catch up on the world.”
2. Eat breakfast
There’s a reason it’s the most important meal of the day. Having the right breakfast helps give you the energy you need to keep you alert throughout the day. By waking up early you will be able to find the time you need to fit in a proper breakfast before you start your working day. If time is still tight you can always prepare your breakfast the night before. Give it a go with these super simple make-ahead breakfast ideas.
Al Roker, American TV Personality says: “I usually make a protein smoothie, which consists of protein powder, fibre powder, 8 ounces almond milk, frozen berries, a little ginger, and a little agave.”[3]
3. Exercise
Not only does exercising daily help keep you fit and healthy, it can also help improve your productivity. Find time to fit some form of physical activity into your day; it doesn’t have to be a ten mile run, it can be as simple as five minutes of yoga or a quick walk around the block. Staying active and healthy will help ensure you’re able to work to your best ability. If the president of The United States can find 45 minutes a day to sweat it out, you can to![4] Try some of these easy ways to fit activity into your day.
4. Read
Instead of spending their free time scrolling through social media (we know it can be tempting) or being distracted by TV, use this time to read. Whether it is something fictional, as a way to de-stress, or a piece of non-fiction to improve your knowledge, reading is a great way to improve productivity levels. Reading stimulates the brain and gets the creative juices flowing.
Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft makes sure he reads the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Economist daily.[5]
5. Plan
We all know what Benjamin Franklin said “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail!!” You need to know what you’re doing, when you’re doing it and when it needs to be done by. Those most prepared will start their day jotting down the tasks they want to accomplish in those 24 hours. This makes it clear in their mind what it is that they want to achieve in their day. Knowing what you have to do and when you have to have it done by prevents mistakes happening and tasks being left incomplete.
Greg Mckeown, the author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, advocates conducting a quarterly personal review to define your most important objectives for the next three months.[6]
6. Prioritise
As with the previous point, successful people are able to prioritise their tasks, ensuring nothing slips by the wayside. Start by ordering your daily list from highest priority to lowest. By working on bigger priority tasks first thing, you’re using your brain whilst it’s in its most productive state. However, only you know the way your brain works, plan your tasks so that you’re working to your body’s own rhythm.
Stephen R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.
7. Set goals
Successful people have goals! No matter how big or small your goals seem, write them down. Take a look at them every now and again; have they changed? Try keeping visual reminders around you so that you’re always aware what it is you’re working towards.
Antony Robbins, a motivational speaker in America says: “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”[7]
8. Take action
No one got anywhere by resting on their laurels. So don’t sit around and wait for success to come to you, get up and take some action. Look at what you’re doing with your day; are you using your time effectively? Could you be doing more to achieve your goals? What steps could you take to be more proactive?
Abraham Lincoln said: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” [8]
9. Learn new things
As with our point about reading, take the time to learn about new things. It’s important to seek out information about innovation in your industry. What can you learn from all this information? Make changes to fine tune the services or product of your business. Use the information you read to decide weather you would benefit from upskilling yourself or your team. Make all the information which is readily available work for you!
Conrad Hilton said: “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving.”[9]
10.Take time out
Now we are giving you a reason to relax and take 5. It’s important recognise when you’re going to benefit from taking some time for yourself. If you’re working too hard you can cause yourself to burn out, which is not conducive to a successful environment. Take some time each day for yourself to re-focus and re-group and you’ll soon begin the see the benefits. If you need some help, try this.
That’s two minutes for you, from us. You can thank us later.
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03corner.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
[3] http://www.bonappetit.com/columns/my-morning-routine/article/what-al-roker-eats-for-breakfast
[4] http://uk.businessinsider.com/exercise-routines-of-successful-people-2015-6?r=US&IR=T
[6] http://www.lifehack.org/327177/8-ways-highly-successful-people-plan-their-time
[7] http://www.inwealthandhealth.com/inherit-7-habits-of-insanely-successful-people/
[8] http://www.success.com/article/1-on-1-how-to-set-a-goal-and-achieve-it
[9] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/conradhilt130635.html?src=t_successful_people
