Wondering how you can be more successful? Take a look at your habits and see where you can make improvements in your life. Adopting some of the habits of successful people will no doubt have a positive impact on your life – but first consider what success means to you? Success means different things to everyone, but here we are looking at habits to help you reach success in your life as a whole. This means success in your career, in your relationships, with your finances, of course, and ultimately as a person. Find out a few habits to make you more successful in all aspects of your life.
1. Wake Up Earlier
Have you ever thought about someone who really gets stuff done and wondered how they have the time to do it all? Do they have more time in their day than you and I? Of course they do! Try waking up one hour earlier and see how much more you are able to get done in one day. It’s hard to do in the beginning but your body will adjust and eventually you will wonder how you ever got by with less time in your day! They always say the early bird catches the worm….
2. Organize Your Week
One habit that many successful people share is taking time to organize their week ahead of time. This prevents getting overwhelmed later when the to-do lists are piling up and you’re getting distracted by small tasks. Try taking 15 minutes on a Sunday to plan your week out.
There is a time management analogy that can help guide you in planning your week to ensure that you reach your goals. The trick to being more productive is identifying long-term goals and strategies, short-term goals and smaller tasks, such as answering emails. Then block out time each week to make strides on your long-term goals, after that your short-term goals and finally the smaller tasks. To learn more, read our article Rocks, Pebbles & Sand Analogy For Time Management.
3. Keep Learning
Some people think they are done learning after they finish school and it’s an easy trap to fall into. But people who are successful in various aspects of their lives never stop learning. They allocate time regularly to read or listen to books in order to learn from experts. And they don’t stop there – then they apply what they have learned to their lives, whether it is at work or home or starting a business of their own. Read about how having a growth mindset can change your life, Growth Mindset: The Secret To Personal Success.
4. Set SMART Goals
Setting goals can be meaningless unless you take time to think it through. SMART goals is a framework to help you set and achieve goals. SMART goals is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-limited goals.
Let’s consider an example of a goal: I want to be a great runner. Now, compare that to this SMART goal: I want to run a 5K in South Beach in 4 months at a 10 minute per mile pace. This supports my bigger goal of being fit and is achievable if I run 3x a week for 30 minutes. This framework can be applied to goal setting in any situation: personal health, personal finance, at work, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Find out more about how you can set financial goals using SMART goals in our article, SMART Goals: The Key To Achieving Your Financial Goals Efficiently.
5. Take Action
Setting SMART goals is fine and dandy, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t take action. The first step is planning what you want to achieve and how to achieve it and the next and hardest step is actually putting in the time and energy to work toward your goal.
6. Exercise Regularly
You can’t be at the top of your game if your body isn’t. Your brain will thank you for taking a break from work and exercising. In fact, most people find that when they exercise regularly they are more productive at work and in their personal lives.
7. Keep Good Company
Ever hear the saying, “one rotten apple spoils the bunch?” That’s an extreme example, but you get the point. If you are trying to advance your career or start your own business and your friends are lazy and not motivated they can certainly hold you back. Finding people who are in line with your success mindset are more likely to push you to achieve greatness.
8. Work-Life Balance
Although some people can work crazy hours until they are successful at something, most of us simply burn out. The best way to be successful is to find a work-life balance that allows you to work hard and play hard. Not only will you be happier and more successful, you will also be able to sustain this lifestyle over time.
9. Be Responsible With Your Money
It is possible to be successful at many things without being financially successful. However, we think that to have a successful life it encompasses more than just a career, money, fitness, or relationships alone. A successful life is all of those things and more. And one aspect that can positively impact your life is being financially successful. This starts with habits like making a budget and sticking to it, paying your bills on time and saving for an emergency fund.
10. Don’t Forget Self-Care
There are numerous self-care techniques that successful people use to stay on top of their game and stay healthy. Daily meditation is proven to have many positive impacts on health and productivity. Journaling is a way of organizing your thoughts and goals. Other self-care techniques include dancing, yoga, expressing gratitude, drawing and taking mindful walks. Try to practice positive thinking. Read our article, 5 Ways Positive Thinking Can Change Your Life. Do what makes YOU feel good.
Try adopting some of these habits to make you more successful and see how it improves your life.
Our Take
We do our best to consistently do most of these habits, but we rely on each other for motivation sometimes. We both have our favorites out of this list:
Rebecca’s Pick: The habit that I reliably practice is self-care. I like to practice mediation (and try to get Tiago to join me) in the morning and at night. I do find that I am a bit calmer when I consistently practice mediation and am more resilient to stress. I think self-care is a really important habit to make you more successful because it impacts your stress level and enables you to achieve more. When it comes to self-care, it’s important to do what you like so you might have to try out a few different things to find it.
Tiago’s Pick: It’s a tie between waking up earlier and exercise since we like to combine the two habits. I tend to get up first and once I’m up Rebecca will join me to work out in the early mornings. For me, exercise is a big stress reliever and helps me to keep going all day long. I always regret it when we don’t get up early to work out and feel that I am less productive throughout the day.
Financial freedom begins with good habits.
Rebecca & Tiago, theloadedpig.com