Today, I would love to share a list of some simple, yet super effective, habits highly successful entrepreneurs do on a daily basis. They don’t cost a dime, nor do they require a lot of time. You only need to commit yourself to following through on them every day.
Let’s face it – we are creatures of habit, we love familiar routines, so let’s learn how to make that work for us rather than against us. Unproductive habits are just one of the many challenges aspiring entrepreneurs face on their mission to break free from the nine-to-five grind, or get out of debt, or whatever it is you dream the most of achieving!
Many sources say that it takes about 21 days to establish a new habit. Taking those initial steps on a new program can be the hardest. Bearing that in mind, let’s plunge into 10 of my favorite habits that will help sow the seeds of success.
1. Don’t Rush!
Numero uno! Short of winning the lottery, not a lot happens overnight. It took us a long time to get into our current situations for good or for bad. It is going to take some investment of time and effort to correct our course and become a successful entrepreneur. Rushing into building a successful business is like trying to rush through traffic – you’re gonna end up in a wreck! The road to business success can be a crooked one full of construction zones, school zones*, traffic jams and other surprises.
*Gotta slow down and learn how to do it right! Right?
With the internet and fast connections, the world is literally at our fingertips. Naturally when exploring opportunities or ways to earn money online, many folks fall into the instant gratification trap. They try something, give up on it. Worse yet, they fall for the countless scams and get rich quick schemes that prey upon the urge for instant gratification.
Building a real business and taking charge of your own destiny is a systematic process that takes time and will work in the long run. A few baby steps at a time each day.
2. Appreciate What You Already Have
Never enough! Gotta have more! You’ve seen those glossy MLM (multi level marketing) presentations with pictures of mansions, fancy cars, exotic vacations, and of course piles of money! Our eyes shift back to “reality” and we become impatient with that feeling like something is always missing. Lot’s scammers out there are trying to get us to feel like we need more.
Those times, when I wished I was in someone else’s shoes, I like to remind myself that there are people who wished they had feet! Keeping that in mind reminds me that it is great to have what I already have!
3. Expect Failure!
You’re likely to have a few flops along the way before you get to something that works. Failures are part of the journey there. Making mistakes and weathering large and small setbacks is often the best way to learn how to do it better the next time.
Read any success story or biography of a famous and successful person or company and there will be many stories of failures, of almost giving up entirely, things not going as planned and other challenges.
Every failure is one step closer to the next big success!
4. Eliminate Distractions
It is impossible to function effectively when we’re constantly distracted. We must find an ideal place to work. It can be at home or away. It has be a quiet place where you can fully focus on the tasks at hand without distractions. I’m sure you’ll agree that you get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time when you are focused. Dialed-in, in the zone!
Working at home is great if you can create a zone and set a timeframe where you are not distracted by other family members. If home is not a good choice, there is always the library, a local cafe, or maybe you might consider joining a local “co-working” group.
Find that one place and call it your office. You may also find a good pair of headphones are your best friend 🙂
5. Daily Routine
I’ll say it again – we are creatures of habit. Let’s make this bit of human nature work to our best advantage! Choose a time of day that works best for you and stick with it some folks like evenings, some prefer mornings, and when starting out we may not have a choice of the best time.
The important point here is to pick a time and establish a routine.
Make a list of the things you do each day for your business and pin it in plain sight. Set them up as recurring tasks on your calendars.
6. Don’t Become Lazy!
This happens too easily. Complacency is our worst enemy. For example, I’ve seen people start to become very successful with a business website. It reaches a point where the routines they’ve put in place are starting to make a profit. Then right at that point, they take a big vacation to enjoy some of that profit. When they return, they discover that the momentum they started to gain has slowed down. Their website stopped ranking and getting traffic, etc.
It’s good to take that long vacation, but not too soon! You are in the process of building momentum. We need to keep building upon it. We have always been told to “reinvest our dividends”.
Those first milestones of success should be motivation to double down on your efforts and keep doing what is working! What was it that produced that first success? Scale up on it!
Keep abreast of changing technologies and always keep learning something new – everyday.
7. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin!
You’ve heard it: “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Resist venturing off course and chasing after shiny objects! Stick with the plan and structure. Focus on one successful niche and become an authority. Since the focus of my site is building your own business around a niche you love, we’ll use that as an example.
Focusing your effort on building up one awesome niche website is much more preferable to trying run many different websites at once. You’ll just have a lot of mediocre websites that are a pain to keep with. 🙁
This is especially important while you’re getting started. It is much better to focus on building out one site and doing your best with it.
8. Find One Or More Mentors
Hang out with successful people. Find others whom you look up to for inspiration. Not just one, there can be several people who have been an inspiration to you. This mentor does not have to be someone physically by your side. It can come in the form of podcasts, videos, or attending live webinars or physical seminars hosted by people you have chosen as mentors.
Surround yourself with people who are big thinkers. Read biographies and success stories and become inspired by the burning passion these people have put into pursuing their dreams.
Think of it as choosing to fly with the eagles versus waddling with the ducks in the nine-to-five duck pond.
One of my long time favorites has been Earl Nightingale’s Lead The Field. I bought this years ago on cassette tapes and would listen to it daily in the car. Today, while I still have the tapes, I continue to enjoy it in digital form on Audible!
9. Handling Burnout
This happens sooner or later – no one is immune! We grow tired of the day to day things that need to be done as we build and run our businesses. Building a business is a long term commitment. There will be times when we start to wear out and want to go back to our old ways and comfort zones.
When this happens, we need to stop for a moment and remind ourselves why we decided to do this in the first place. Remembering why you are doing this is usually the kick we need to transform this burnout into inspiration.
Honestly, one of the best ways to “burnout proof” your business is to build it around something you enjoy the most. We all have that particular hobby or activity that we never get tired of. What is it that you live for, and could do for the rest of your life?
10. Training
Getting quality training on your area of expertise is vital! Remember the old saying about those not learning from the past being doomed to repeat it. So let’s learn from the mistakes of others.
I have been very fortunate to discover a great training resource that has been online for 10+ years. It’s called “Wealthy Affiliate” and you can learn more about them here.
Conclusion
We’re creatures of habit. What makes some of us super successful is that we become aware of our habits and keep what works, improving upon others. and discarding what doesn’t work. We can let our comfy habits take us down the road to wherever it may go, or we can get into the habits of success!
So, what are you doing everyday? What daily habits work, or don’t work, for you? Your comments and thoughts are welcome!
Dropped by your website from Wealthy Affiliate and I must say it (WA) is my new favorite place to be.
Your tips from understanding successful people helped me to reflect upon my own story.
In going through them one-by-one I realize that there are several which I have found to be my habit…and one day these others too will be realized. Big fan of Habit #2 and thanks for that
Hi David, thank you for dropping by! Watching and following in the steps of successful people is a great way to get yourself “on track”. Of course it’s not all going to happen in a nice straight line. There will setbacks and detours, but with a set of healthy habits, you’ll get there.
We are fortunate these days to have tons of information within clicking distance. The hard part is putting it all together and in context. That’s where a great training program is of benefit.
Yes, when everything doesn’t feel like it is what you want, be grateful for you have. What you want will eventually arrive – likely when you least expect it 🙂
Cheers and best to you for 2018!
Enjoy reading your article. You have a pretty good simple steps that I should consider when I’m creating my website. I myself is new to the online world of trying to make a passive income online. I take into consideration of what you written and have said. It seem so simple but the action is work. I know I need to work on. Thanks
Hi Karlene, thank you for dropping by! It’s always easy to read and talk about “success”, but it is action and implementing what you learn that is going to move you forward. I think the hardest part of starting out on any path to success is establishing new habits and breaking old ones!
I am glad to be of help to you. Best of luck on your journey!
– Oren