If I were to ask you, how do you define success? Is it about having the freedom to buy anything, travel anywhere, or ditch your 9-to-5 job?
Or perhaps it’s just being able to spend quality time with family. Some might even say that being successful is about being famous.
You must have heard of Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years behind bars for fighting against racial discrimination.
He didn’t have any personal wealth, but he went on to become the first black president of Africa. Would you call that success?
Malala Yousafzai survived a gunshot wound by the Taliban and faced multiple threats for advocating girls’ education in Pakistan. She had no riches, but she became a global symbol of courage and won the Nobel Peace Prize at just 17. Is that success?
Stephan Hawking, who was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease that left him severely paralyzed, had no happiness or contentment with his physical health but made groundbreaking contributions to the field of theoretical physics. Would you consider him successful?
These stories challenge our conventional notions of success. They force us to rethink the benchmarks we have set for being successful.
Although personal wealth, fame, and even physical well-being are quite significant, they do not singularly define success.
Being successful is more nuanced. It’s about making a lasting impact, strongly facing the challenges, and contributing to something greater than oneself.
Success can be measured in the lives touched, the barriers overcome, and the positive change brought to the world.
But again, it depends from person to person. For us, success would be to stop renting out our time and focus on the things that truly matter in our lives. And while doing so, contribute to making this world a better place and positively impact the lives of people around us.
Similarly, you would have your own version of success. One thing is for sure, each one of us wants to be successful in life but the million-dollar question is how to become successful.
If you read about the people you consider successful or watch their interviews, you will realize that they did not achieve overnight success. They worked hard for it. They have certain qualities that separate them from the rest of the world.
We can take inspiration from such people and develop habits that will take us on the path to success. There is no one way to achieve success, it can come in different ways.
But one thing most successful people recommend to be successful is to do what you love and be consistent. And consistency comes by following certain habits.
Welcome to our blog series on Habits for Success. This is part 1 where we’ll talk about the habits of successful people and how you can incorporate them into your daily lives to achieve success.
We got the inspiration for this blog through the book “Change Your Habits, Change Your Lives” by Tom Corley.
In this book, Tom shares the learning from his extensive research on the habits of self-made millionaires. He talks about the strategies that transformed 177 average people into self-made millionaires.
This blog is an amalgamation of our learnings from this book, our personal experiences, and whatever we have learned from watching the interviews and read about the most successful people in the world.
Let’s talk about the common habits that set these people up for success but first, let’s understand why are these habits for success important.
Why Are Habits for Success Important?
As you would very well know success is not an overnight affair. Nobody suddenly wakes up one day and becomes successful. Being successful is a result of continuous efforts consistently done over a period of time. And habits are what powers that consistency.
If success is a destination, habits are the roadmap that will take you to that destination. When you incorporate positive habits into your daily schedule, whether it’s daily learning, productive work routine, or healthy lifestyle choices, you’re setting yourself on the path to success.
Positive habits will keep you disciplined and protect you from being overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions you need to make in a day.
So, good habits are important because they lay the groundwork for success. Let’s now look at the habits that will propel you on the path to success.
Table of Contents
10 Habits of Successful People
1. Have A Mindful Morning Routine
Morning is the time when you’re most productive, and what you do in the morning sets the tone of the entire day. The very first habit that you need to develop is to become a morning person and have a mindful morning routine so that you make the most of your mornings.
We have written a detailed blog about the importance of having a mindful morning routine and how you can create one for yourself. Do check it out. But the key things that you need to do in the morning are:
Plan The Night Before
Although technically this is not a part of your morning routine, the planning for your morning should start the night before. Just before you go to bed, or while you are in bed, create a rough outline of your morning schedule in your head so you don’t waste your time figuring out where to start.
Wake Up Early
If you wake up at 10 AM and aspire to be successful, realistically speaking, the chances are very slim. The first thing you need to do as part of your mindful morning routine is wake up at least 3 hours before your workday starts.
It will give you enough time for your morning rituals and work on the things that matter.
Work on Your Passion
If you’re fortunate enough to be doing your dream job, great! If not, then use that highly productive morning time to work on your passion.
In our case, we use the morning hours to work on Sage and Sirius. Whether it’s writing blogs, doing research, or marketing, we make sure that we spend at least 2-3 hours on this dream project.
2. Be Proactive
There are two types of people in the world, reactive and proactive. Reactive people mostly focus on the things they can’t control. They keep complaining about things going wrong or not happening the way they planned.
On the other hand, there are proactive people who realize that not everything in the world can be controlled by them.
They understand that although their complaining about certain things is completely objective, it won’t do any good. Rather they focus on what they can control, and make continuous efforts towards making those things better.
So, the next habit you need to cultivate is to become a proactive person and have an active and purposeful approach. Shift your efforts towards the aspects of life that you can control.
For example, you can keep complaining about certain government policies, things becoming expensive day by day, or your exhausting and mundane job. Or, you can be practical about such things and work towards making them better for you.
Like being proactive in learning new skills and applying for a new job instead of complaining about the existing one.
3. Take responsibility
One of the most important habits in becoming successful is to take responsibility. When you do that, you shift from being a passive spectator to an active participant in shaping your own destiny.
Most of the time, what happens around us is a consequence or reflection of our own actions, or more importantly, our inactions.
If you’re not doing your dream job, perhaps you didn’t put in enough effort. If you think you’re underpaid, maybe because you didn’t take a stand and made a point about compensating you fairly.
If someone is bullying you, it’s maybe because you let them. You didn’t fight back and made a point that you’re not the one to take s**t from anyone.
When you acknowledge that the things happening around you are, to most extent, shaped by your own actions and inactions, a profound shift happens.
Taking responsibility is not about taking blame, but about realizing the power you hold to influence outcomes. It’s about realizing that your actions, or the lack of them, contribute to your surroundings.
With responsibility comes a sense of ownership and accountability. You become the architect of your life. If your current reality is not what you aspired for, it’s within your capacity to change that.
It’s about consciously choosing to do things differently, to actively participate in making your surroundings better.
So, taking responsibility for everything happening with you and around will give you a sense of empowerment. You’ll feel accountable and you’ll understand the role you play in shaping your own life, and you’ll take proactive steps to make things better.
Yes, you can’t control everything and not everything happening around you is your fault, but whatever you can control, take charge of them and take proactive actions to do better.
4. Learn Continuously
The other very important habit in setting yourself on the path to success is continuous learning. Successful people understand this and they know that knowledge has no limits or ends.
It should only stop when you die, till then spend some time each day to learn something new.
The world around us is continuously changing and to stay relevant in this fast-paced world, one must always embrace the path of continuous learning.
Even if you are successful, it is a humbling truth that you can never know everything. There is so much knowledge and wisdom around us in the world to be learned and acquired.
Most successful people read around 1-2 good books every week. You should also cultivate this habit of reading good books. They can either be related to something in your field or about life in general. If your profession demands it, read newspapers and reports regularly.
Stay informed about current affairs so that you are not just aware but also understand the dynamics that shaped our world.
New things are coming in every day in the world of technology and innovation, and it’s a necessity to continuously upgrade yourself to stay in the game.
So take courses, attend workshops, or talk to your mentors to learn new skills. There’s so much stuff available online, there is no shortage of resources if you have the will.
Being successful is a journey of continuous learning. It’s about being open to new ideas, embracing changes, and cultivating a mindset that is always hungry for growth.
5. Spend Some Time on Focused Thinking And Reflecting
This habit of spending some time on focused thinking and reflection is immensely powerful as it helps in manifesting your dreams and goals in life. It is as important as working hard for them.
How this works is, that you take purposeful actions, look back at what worked and what didn’t, learn from them, implement those learnings, and then visualize your success. All these are the secret ingredients for success.
One of the most effective ways to do this is through vision boards and journaling.
A vision board is a daily reminder of your dreams. When you look at it regularly, those images of your dreams are fed into your subconscious mind enabling you to see the opportunities, which you would have otherwise missed, that will take you closer to those dreams. It will enable you to take action and pursue those opportunities.
And when you journal your thoughts, you’re putting them on a piece of paper and seeing them from a distance. This allows you to see and analyze them objectively, and also improve your mental health.
Achieving success is a process of constantly learning from your actions and experiences and implementing those learnings back into your actions.
Journaling is the best tool to do so. To learn more about manifestation and the power of visualization through vision boards, we encourage you to read our blogs on these topics.
- How To Manifest Everything You’ve Always Wanted
- How To Make A Vision Board For Manifestation
- How To Become Successful in Life: Harnessing the Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Spend some time every day to quietly sit and think about your career, health, personal life, and your dreams. You’ll surprised to see how effective this habit will prove to be in the long term.
6. Manage Time Effectively
Successful people deeply realize that the most precious thing in the world is time, and it is slowly slipping away for all of us. It is the most valuable thing in the whole world.
So one of the most effective habits that successful people have is time management.
They focus on three main things: prioritizing their work, delegating tasks, and concentrating on important work during specific times. These are the three pillars of managing your time effectively and having maximum productivity.
We have talked all about this in our blog on the habits of highly productive people. Do give it a read to understand all this in detail.
The first important skill is prioritization. This means figuring out the most important tasks and doing them first. It ensures that your energy and effort go into things that really matter.
The second skill is delegation. Not every task needs your special skills, and successful people know this. Delegating means giving tasks to others, but the key thing is to pick the right person for the job so that you don’t have to redo the work after wasting so much time.
7. Surround Yourself With Inspiring and Positive People
Another important habit for success is to be around people who inspire and uplift you. People who are successful, inspiring, and positive.
As we’ve discussed several times in our blogs, we humans are social and emotional beings, and the people around us have a big impact on how we think and act.
When you’re surrounded by positive and inspiring people, you absorb their energy and ideas that will help you focus on growth and success.
On the other hand, it’s equally important to distance yourself from people who bring negativity and pull you down. They will make you feel underconfident and doubtful, and you don’t want these things to come in the way of success.
If you don’t have such people around you, you can join a professional group or mentorship program. You’ll find like-minded people there who share similar interests.
You can keep these connections alive by staying in touch. They can provide the support and encouragement you need and you can do the same for them.
8. Find Your Passion And Work Towards It
This is another thing we’ve talked about multiple times in our blogs. One of the most important things to lead a happy and fulfilling life is to find what you love and turn it into your job, so your work doesn’t feel like a burden.
We all have this one life and we spend a big part of our lives working.
Most of us end up in jobs we don’t really enjoy, mainly to make a living, but then we get used to it and forget about what we truly want.
You must figure out what is it that you are passionate about, something that you love, something that doesn’t feel like a job at all.
Once you know that, work towards making it a regular part of your life. Set short-term and long-term, make plans, set realistic deadlines, and work on them consistently.
Renting out your time and working for someone else might be needed for a while, the ultimate goal should be to create something of your own.
Make it a habit to move closer to your dream life. Your time is precious, and spending it on things you love can make a big difference.
So, whether it’s planning for your dream job or building something yourself, every step you take toward your passion is a step toward a happier and more fulfilling life.
9. Have Multiple Income Streams
It’s quite understandable to start your professional career with one income stream, through your regular job, but the smart thing to do afterward is to work towards creating multiple income streams.
Successful people have different income streams, they don’t put their eggs in one basket and rely on just one thing.
No matter where you are in life right now, try to have different sources of income. Invest some money in stocks or mutual funds. If you can afford it, think about investing in real estate.
If you have a skill that’s in demand, consider starting a small business on the side. The goal is to have more than one income stream.
Having a second or third income stream, however big or small it is, gives you the ability to take more risks. Sometimes, our jobs become tough but we can’t quit because we don’t have a fallback plan or any other means of survival.
Having multiple sources of income will give you a safety net and the freedom to take risks, maybe even find a new job or explore new opportunities.
10. Take Care of Your Health
The last habit we’re going to talk about is taking care of your health. Honestly, this should have been the first thing we discussed because nothing in life matters without good health. It should be the top priority for everyone, whether you’re successful or not.
Good health is not something you can buy or get with fame. Each of us has to consciously make it a priority and take care of ourselves. We’ve written a lot about health and well-being in our blogs, and we encourage you to check them out. A few that we recommend are:
- Understanding Wellness: The Importance and Benefits for a Better Life
- Finding Mental Wellness in a Stressful World
- How Does Physical Activity Improve Your Quality of Life
- How Does Food Impact Your Quality of Life
In a nutshell, make sure to exercise regularly, eat healthy and nutritious food, and get enough sleep. Take care of your mental health just as much as your physical health.
Practice self-care in every aspect of your well-being. Because at the end of the day, being successful means nothing if you’re not healthy and happy.
A few blogs on self-care:
- What Is Self-Care and Why Is It So Important for Your Well-Being
- What Is Mental Self-Care and Why It Is Important for Your Mental Health
- What Is Physical Self-Care and Why It Is Important for Your Overall Health
- What Is Emotional Self-Care and Why It Is Important for Your Overall Health
Wrapping Up – 10 Habits Of Highly Successful People
As we wrap up this blog on the 10 Habits of Highly Successful People, I want you to understand that success is about more than just reaching a goal, it’s a series of choices we make every day.
These habits, like taking time for reflection, taking care of yourself, learning new things, and building meaningful connections, are quite simple but play a big role in making our lives better.
Success is a journey where small and positive actions every day add up over time. The key to achieving success is through patience and sticking to these habits, even when they seem small.
While setting goals and staying motivated are important, it’s also important that you enjoy every step of the process and find happiness.
Success isn’t just about the destination, it’s about enjoying the journey. So, as you work on these habits, remember that finding joy in each step is just as important as reaching your big goals.
Keep going, embrace these habits, and enjoy the journey towards success. See you in the next blog. Namaste!
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