Do you feel sluggish and unmotivated during the day? Looking for ways you can improve your work productivity? Here are 20 habits of highly successful people we’ve picked that are simple for everyone to implement!
- 1. Wake up early. Like 5 am early.
- 2. Digital Detox.
- 3. Morning Workout Routine.
- 4. Good Breakfast to refuel.
- 5. Keep a daily to-do list.
- 6. Stay updated with the news.
- 7. Surround yourself with likeminded people.
- 8. Sharing Credit
- 9. Keep your space organized & clean.
- 10. Find out more about a person before meeting them.
- 11. Socialise & Network. Listen more, talk less.
- 12. Self-care
- 13. Ensure enough sleep.
- 14. Planning ahead of time.
- 15. Remain a positive & focused attitude and mindset.
- 16. Attention to details & upskilling.
- 17. Consistency.
- 18. Hold themselves accountable.
- 19. Be frugal, and manage your money carefully.
- 20. Taking calculated & smart risks.
1. Wake up early. Like 5 am early.
Don’t hit snooze and get out of bed. Do what you need to do for your wash-up routine, then start the day off. By waking up earlier than most, you’ll have extra time to spend on your personal projects, exercise, etc.
If you do the math, by waking up 3 hours ahead of people who wake up at 8am, you’ll have about 90 hours extra each month and about 1,080 hours extra each year.
Since each day has 24 hours, you’ll get an additional 45 days or so to work on your goals!
2. Digital Detox.
Don’t check your phones immediately once you wake up or before bed. This helps you get better quality sleep throughout the night, reduces stress, mental health concerns, etc.
There are many reasons to do digital detoxes for each individual. If you’d like to find out more about how and why, click here!
3. Morning Workout Routine.
Working out in the morning helps to give you the adrenaline to kick off the day! Not only does it help to wake you and your body up, but the morning sweat session also helps to improve your focus and alertness for the day while increasing your metabolism which supports weight loss.
4. Good Breakfast to refuel.
After a good morning workout session comes a big hearty breakfast to refuel and provide your body with energy to power through the day!
With a good breakfast in your system, it helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels for the day and prevents you from continuously snacking through the day before meals.
5. Keep a daily to-do list.
This helps you to stay organized and prioritize what needs to be completed throughout the day. By accomplishing your daily objectives it helps to bring you closer to your end goal.
6. Stay updated with the news.
Keeping yourself posted with the latest events going on in the world and in your particular work industry helps you to anticipate and plan ahead.
For example,
- If you’re an investor, keeping up with the news is especially important in identifying potential trades or investments.
- For educators, this news could potentially be incorporated into a learning concept if there is an important lesson behind it.
- As a chef, with knowledge from the latest news, you can potentially cut costs by avoiding certain ingredients that have inflated prices due to overwhelming demand and shortage of supply.
7. Surround yourself with likeminded people.
By surrounding yourself with likeminded people, you are more likely to feel more motivated to succeed in whatever you are doing.
Your environment shapes who you are and will likely become. The people around you will become your role models and affect how you think of things.
Surrounding yourself with people embarking on the same path or has been through similar journeys as you allow you to avoid the same mistakes they made, grow, and learn more about yourself along the way.
Hence, it is important to associate yourself with the right kind of people and community. One that is positive, engaging, and suits your needs.
8. Sharing Credit
These people know that without the people working behind the scenes helping them to deliver the results, things would not be where it is today. Hence, everyone’s effort is to be recognized equally and none should be overlooked or unfairly displaced.
This helps to boost morale in the long run and build trustworthiness among teams. These leaders know that they do not need to take the majority of the credit as it will be reflected in the work their team produces. Hence, sharing credit is crucial and instrumental in long term success.
9. Keep your space organized & clean.
The cleanliness of your workspace directly affects your work productivity. There are tons of benefits associated with a clean working space, such as improved concentration levels, lesser stress, more motivation, etc just to name a few.
If you’d like to find out more about how cleanliness affects your work productivity, click here!
10. Find out more about a person before meeting them.
Look up on the other person’s achievements, title, work position, etc. Information that is readily accessible that could perhaps be found on platforms such as Linked In. This gives you conversation starters when you need to engage with the other person.
This would also give the other person a better impression of you as you seem more well prepared for the meeting be it with a client, a senior at work, etc.
11. Socialise & Network. Listen more, talk less.
Expanding your social circle provides you with more useful contacts in times of need. This also helps to spread your name, and in the event that someone you’ve exchanged contacts with needs help, they might think of you and it could potentially benefit you in the future.
To learn, you have to listen. To improve, you have to try. –Thomas Jefferson
Many miscommunications arise from not listening and understanding what the other party said before speaking. Most people rush to answer and reply before listening to the whole speech made by the other person.
Similarly, networking is not easy for many people who have introverted personalities. But the key is to try and make yourself comfortable, and you’ll ultimately get better at approaching others and networking.
12. Self-care
The greatest wealth is health. — Virgil
The effects of built up stress on your body include factors such as insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, social withdrawal, a lack of motivation, etc while differing from person to person.
With the practice of some self care, these can be avoided. By giving yourself some alone time, this helps to relieve anxiety and the stress on your body and mind, increasing your cognitive functions over time.
Even with a busy daily schedule, here are some ways you can take time off for yourself by making it a priority.
- Taking short 15-20 minute breaks in between long work hours.
- Block off time in the early morning and form a daily morning routine — Take a morning stroll, gym, meditate, journal, etc.
- Try not to accept last minute meetings that affect your plans with family and friends. This is time you’ve blocked out for yourself to unwind.
- Turn off your phone if you’d like to remain undisturbed by work on your day off (If possible)
13. Ensure enough sleep.
Having a good amount of sleep is important to maintain bodily functions and perform your best every day.
Needless to say, getting enough sleep, ideally 7-8 hours of undisturbed sleep brings about a plethora of health benefits. These include reduced stress and risk of health problems, maintaining a healthy weight, better decision making, etc.
Of course, your work and achieving your goals are important, but by neglecting your body in the process is definitely not the best idea. It could bring about more long term health issues, which you might not be able to fix down the road.
If you’d like to find out more about how to obtain a better sleep schedule, or higher quality of sleep and its benefits, check out this article here.
14. Planning ahead of time.
Planning ahead reduces the chances of unforeseen circumstances popping out of nowhere. It also allows you to assess risks and opportunities ahead of time, and help you to mitigate against potential losses.
Planning ahead also helps to improve your performance by being more prepared and clear on what to do next. This in return brings about less stress at work, translating to higher productivity, a more joyful environment to work in, and a more effective and influential leader.
15. Remain a positive & focused attitude and mindset.
A positive mindset has been scientifically proven to bring you increased levels of energy and brain stimulation. It also helps to reduce stress and ultimately enhances your problem-solving skills.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) conducted a research study and found that when people were presented with a task, those that had seen a positive video before performing the task did a better job and were more open to solving problems than those that watched an angry or depressing video.
By maintaining a positive and focused attitude, in the long run, you are more open to opportunities that come along the way that could have been unknown to you with a negative attitude.
16. Attention to details & upskilling.
Don’t let your ego control you by constantly thinking that you are the best, or that you already know everything. There is always more to learn and grow as person, leader, business owner, etc.
Big picture thinking and forecasting is important in setting the direction in which you are heading in. Thereafter, finding your way there requires you to address each and every detail and upgrade yourself along the way to reach that goal.
The devil is in the detail, and these devils need to be identified and addressed.
17. Consistency.
“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”
―
Inconsistency is the greatest devil of all to a team, a business and a person. Not only does it create doubts among people working in teams, it also causes people to hesitate and make mistakes.
Consistency is detrimental if you’re looking to see changes from the hard work you’ve put in. Take for example, body image.
If I’d like to get a leaner physique, I’ll need to work out consistently over the next few months while maintaining a clean diet that complements my workout routine. Change does not occur immediately but over time.
Hence, consistency should start becoming your best asset if you’re seeking change or progress.
18. Hold themselves accountable.
Things don’t always go as planned, but it is how you bounce back that determines the person you are!
There are heaps of reasons as to why things might no go according to your plans. However, successful people don’t let it stop them, neither do they make excuses or blame the people working under them.
Instead, they work towards identifying the root cause and rectifying the problem rather than avoiding them. They ensure that they adhere to higher standards than what they expect from others and aim to be role models for the rest of the people.
This practice helps to encourage others to step up and take ownership, and spur team morale on, resulting in a positive impact on future results and outcomes.
19. Be frugal, and manage your money carefully.
Money management is an important skill when it comes to managing your own finances and business. It is the basic skill everyone should have apart from keeping expenses low and building multiple streams of passive income.
There are many financial habits set by successful people such as saving a substantial portion of their income, investing to put their money to work, setting attainable financial goals, etc. You can find out more about them here!
20. Taking calculated & smart risks.
Without taking risks, you are passing up on opportunities that are hard to come by. However, before you decide to take a risk, it is important to know the difference between a safe bet and a wild bet.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. —Alexander Pope
Be sure to weigh the pros and cons before deciding to take any risk. Don’t rush in just because you are blindsided by the rewards. Of course, on the other hand, don’t be afraid to take risks.
Encouraging risk-taking creates a culture of smart-talking while ensuring stable growth, more positive outcomes, and helps to build confidence.
This concludes my list of 20 habits of highly successful people that you can follow. Of course, this list is not exhaustive so feel free to look up on the habits that people you admire adopt, and try to fit them into your lifestyles too.
It takes some trial and error to find out what is comfortable and suitable for you so don’t approach this with a fixed mindset that it is sure to work for you too!
Feel free to connect with me on social media and start a conversation! I’ll be down to learn of some new habits you’ve adopted from the people you look up to!