Experts studying the behavior of successful people in various fields such as business, investing and sports have found that most successful people share several similar habits. They say that these habits can not only be studied and observed, but could also help you in kick-starting your own successful career.
1. Set goals
Every successful person has their goals in life set, and you should to. You don’t always have to know how to achieve them, but it’s important to have the end product in mind and go for it. You can’t hope to start a bussiness or achieve your dreams, if you don’t have any in the first place.
These goals don’t have to be anything big or long-term. It can even be harmful to set unachievable goals, because then, you’re setting yourself up only for failure. It’s okay to start small, maybe having a short walk outside, or cleaning your room. In time, these small goals can help you build your vision and give you a head start in your business/sport career.
One great way to set your goals is to write them down. Written down goals can tell your subconscious what you want, even if you are oblivious to it on a conscious level. Your goals will influence your decisions to move you closer to what you really want. But only if you know what you want.
2. Take responsibility
Successful people take responsibility for their actions, behaviour and results. Successful people believe they are responsible for their destiny. They are proactive and make things happen. Now, this doesn’t mean that you should take credit for someone else’s work, but make sure you take responsibility for all of your actions, even your mistakes.
Sometimes it may be hard to admit your mistakes, but it is only through realizing your wrongs that you can improve yourself. If you do the same mistake over and over again without wanting to fix it, you will never be able to unlock your true potential.
Winners are not characterized by a victim mentality or fixed mindset. They do not believe that their destiny is predetermined, but rather that they determine where they go in life. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you, do it yourself.
3. Self-discipline
Winning types are characterized by the utmost self-discipline in at least one area where they excel, but it usually manifests itself in most areas of life. Self-discipline is the ability to control one’s own actions through internal willpower, no matter how one feels or how strong the external impulses are.
It is the skill of resisting the temptation to violate your inner principles and get off track in pursuit of your goals. Self-discipline allows you to go after your goals, follow your own strategy, and become the person you want to be.
People who become successful and stay that way are guided by self-discipline, use their minds and positive desires when making important decisions, and don’t let their feelings and negative desires seduce them into making bad decisions.
4. Self-development
Successful people start self-development at an early age. By growing personally, training, learning and practicing, they become the person they want to be.
Self development could mean many different things to many people. Someone likes to go into the gym and lift heavy weights, while someone might be more attracted to learning with a group of other like-minded people. The most important thing is to not just go with what other people do, but find what is best for you.
Self-development is an individual matter and the most important part of this process is gaining experience through doing things that lead to your goals. You need a feedback mechanism to see results and to improve systematically. A mentor, coach or trainer can greatly accelerate this part of the process.
5. Read about the industry
In order to learn something, you first need to know it well and in detail. Reading is the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to pick up information that can move you towards your goals. Of coure, different people often have different interests, so an architect probably wouldn’t read a book about how to be a successful football player. Once again, you have to find what’s most important and interesting to you.
- Successful executives read the best business books
- Successful investors read corporate balance sheets
- Successful entrepreneurs read their profit and loss statements
- Successful business people read charts
- Successful athletes read their game plan
- Successful politicians read history books
But if you’re not that much into reading, and like audio-books more, maybe you’ll be interested in this article about audible.
6. Manage your time
Time is your most important asset and successful people manage it wisely. Successful people value their time highly and use it wisely for high-value activities that move them toward their goals.
Remember that you can’t spend all of your time just working. Relaxing activities are just as important as your actual job. If you discard any and all time for yourself, you’re eventually going to burn yourself up. The less time you spend on yourself, the more stressed you will become.
Time is a finite resource and once wasted it cannot be replaced. You can, however, buy it by paying others for activities you consider of little value. How successful you are in life, then, has a high correlation to what you spend your time on and how well you manage it to optimize the results of your efforts.
7. Take risks
Successful people have taken risks at some point in their journey to get to where they are now. It takes the right psychology to move towards your goals, one that can both calculate and take risks.
Of course, you can’t overdo it. Never risk what you cannot lose. If you bet your entire life saving in a casino and lose, you only have yourself to blame. Every time you want to make a risky decision, always look at the possible profit and loss. Remember, that some risks are just not worth it.
Most people don’t like to take any risks – whether investment, financial or otherwise – and don’t see what could turn out of a given opportunity, only what could go wrong. This is also an incorrect mindset. If you decide to never take risks and always stay in your comfort zone, you’ll probably never really succeed.
8. Persevere
Not giving up is the best strategy to win in the end. Most people don’t lose, they just give up too soon. Successful people are those who have not given up, but tried again. If you put in the right effort and are on the right path, then you are only time away from success – if you persevere until you win.
Again, an important thing is to not overdo it. If you try something 10 times and it still doesn’t work, you’re probably better of leaving it be. Another trait of successful people is realizing when to stop.
Even if you’re doing the right thing and it’s not going well yet, you have to keep at it until you break through. Your chances of success increase with each good attempt at winning, even if it is unsuccessful so far.
9. Find a way to win
Successful people find a way to win at their chosen game. Running a business, playing sports, and having a career is a big job in itself. However, successful people do the extra “invisible” work to learn how to rise above their competitors and inner demons and win. Finding an edge in life requires a lot of exploration, experience and understanding.
This often times requires some outside-the-box thinking. It may not be possible for everyone, but if you want to best differentiate from others, then you have to be, well, different. You won’t succeed if you only do what others are doing. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that in order to win, you have to be better than others. And that’s hard to do if you’re only doing the same thing as others.
To win requires both knowing what to do and then consistently putting in the effort to implement the plan.
And if you need some help or advice, we have an article that might help you.
10. Follow your passion
One of the main keys to success is to follow your passion and devote your energy to what you enjoy. It is never easy to work long and hard, but if you enjoy what you do, you are likely to stick with it.
When studying successful people in any field, it is consistently clear that they all had a passion for their chosen business, sport or career and worked tirelessly at it as if it was their favorite game. For successful people, the lines between work, hobbies, passion and life blur because they love what they do.
Find your true passion for what you love to create, build, and do every day, and you’ll get closer to finding your own successful path.
11. Find like-minded and positive people
There is a certain saying: “You are the combination of the people you surround yourself by”. And that could’t be more spot-on. If you surround yourself with negativity, your positive side might never really grow up to what it could be. If the people around you are happy and passionate, at least some of their energy is going to transfer to you. It’s quite simple – it’s hard to be negative when others around you laugh and cheer.
12. Get enough quality sleep.
No matter what you do, no matter who you are, you have to remember that at the end of each day, there is night. And since we’re not owls, we usually spend the night sleeping.
It’s basically a no-brainer that we need sleep, but how much exactly do we need? Well, that depends from person to person, someone might actually be part owl and spend most of their night awake, and still feel rested in the morning, while others might go to bed even before sundown, and still need a coffee to really start their day.
Experts on sleep have come to a conclusion that most people need around 7-9 hours of sleep. And even if this works for the majority, don’t worry if you need more. After all, too much sleep has never killed anyone.
