31 Habits Of Highly Successful People
I love money and I am not afraid or ashamed to admit it. And I love the things I can do with it and the ways I can help those who need a little more. Also, I love that I can make it and save it and spend it and invest it. Considering how far I have come in the money game, I consider myself to be successful and look forward to work on that success and to increase my successfulness! Here are some habits of highly successful people. Do you think these concepts can contribute to your success? How many of these do you practice daily?
Read
I HAD to put this as number one. Never stop learning. I would rather read than watch tv any day. Making books a priority in your life opens up worlds of opportunities. There is so much to learn and all of the knowledge is right at your fingertips! Read every day!
Journal
I am starting The Artist’s Way tonight before bed (or sooner), and one of the concepts this book is most known for is The Morning Pages. Just sitting down and writing three entire pages every morning, allowing your mind to open and spill out provides creativity and thoughts to ooze out. Or just take fifteen minutes before bed to talk about your day and what you thought of allowing your feelings to come out on paper.
Workout
I am trying to get better at this. Trying to move 30 minutes every day whether it be marching in place while watching a video on Youtube, my favorite show on TV or going outside for a walk. Even cleaning out my gram’s refrigerator and running up and down her stairs five times!
Unplug
If I am honest, this is the most difficult one for me. Running this blog and creating a business takes up a lot of my day. The majority of those hours are spent on the phone or on the computer. Because I love it as much as I do, I wake up, and the first thing on my mind is “How did it go last night?” So, I want to grab my phone and check my analytics right away. I need to work on unplugging more.
Be humble
Realizing you are special but not any more special than anyone else allows you to see and treat others with more understanding, empathy, and compassion. I have a friend who when speaking about her daughter said this “I have always taught her that she may be the center of my world, but that doesn’t mean she is the center of the world.” What a glorious lesson that is to teach your children.
Persistence
I think this might be a favorite lesson of mine. Do not give up. Just because you failed the first time (or second, third, fourth…) does not mean success isn’t right there waiting for you to learn all the lessons you need to find it. It is there. Keep trying.
Surround yourself with positive people
So do not only BE the most positive person you know but surround yourself with others just like that. We feed off each other, right? Have you ever been in a group of people gossipping about others? Knowing you are not one to gossip yourself, have you found yourself doing just that? Or have you been able to redirect and stop the gossiping to chat about the positives in life? Surrounding yourself with positive like minded people will inherently make you more positive, too!
Listen
Just stop talking and listen. Don’t think about what you are going to say next and listen to what the other person is saying. Then hear them. Really hear what they are talking about. Don’t try to solve their problems or give your opinion unless they are asking for it. Instead, listen to them and acknowledge their conversation.
Be clutter free
Another one of my favorites. Clutter gives me anxiety. When I have anxiety, I cannot be productive. Right now, during typing these words, there is a bag of squash that my mom gave me yesterday on my counter. I keep thinking about it. Hold on… ok. Squash all cut up, in a stock pot, and cooking. I will freeze it after it’s done. The counter is once again clutter-free!
Pay attention
Pay attention to the world around you. And pay attention when someone is speaking. Get your head out of your phone and see what is going on in the world. Instead of scrolling through your Instagram feed in the grocery check out line, strike up a conversation with the person in front of you. Compliment her on her coat or choice of organic produce!
Practice balance
Something else I am always trying to improve on. I tend to get a little obsessive over things. When I get a new project in mind, I go all in. This is great except everything else suffers; the laundry doesn’t get done, the appointments don’t get made, the dinner doesn’t get cooked. I am trying to seek balance. Friday and Saturday are my blog days off. I commit to other things like cleaning house, spending time with family, grocery shopping and paying bills. That way, I can allocate to my other tasks and not feel guilty that my family is being ignored and going to school dirty!
Be grateful
This might be my favorite. Be grateful. Even if your boss is always on you about your lack of attentiveness, be thankful for his lessons. If you had 3 unsubscribers on the blog, be grateful that the other 482 are still there. If your car repairs are going to cost you $567.74, be grateful it wasn’t more AND that you have a car! Every night, write down three things you are grateful for that day.
Live in the now
Be present. Live intentionally. I am guilty of this one. We are going on a vacation to the ocean soon, and I AM SO EXCITED!!! However, wishing it were here will wish the rest of my summer away. Because once we get to the beach, there will only be ten days until school starts! Live for today and don’t wish your life away!
Pick three things to do each day
My to-do list is always so long. It is super satisfying to see things get crossed off the list. But I like to pick three things that are a MUST and then the rest can easily be moved to the next day if I don’t get to it (side note: if something continuously gets pushed to the next day, forget about it. it isn’t a priority for you, and it won’t get done. Or delegate).
Planning on Sundays
I like this one. Planning is essential to me. I like to prep for the week on Sundays. Preparing breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for school and work on Sunday afternoon or evening makes my life go so much better. I get up early and trying to get husband out the door goes better if all the prep work is already done. I have an entire post coming up soon about this!
Learn
Is there a class you can take for free that the library is offering for something you are interested in? How about learning a new skill through books? Is a blogger offering a free webinar on photography? How about the local college? Are they providing a Women In Literature Course through their continuing education program? Be open to learning something that you have an interest in. I plan on taking a course in marketing through something called Udemy. The classes are less expensive than college courses, and I can take part from the comfort of my office.
A day of rest
My day of rest involves sleeping in late, coffee in bed, reading or putzing around the house. Maybe watching a movie if the weather is crummy. We all need a day to recharge our batteries.
Make goals
Goals are important to life so make goals for today, for this week, this month, this year and even the next five years. Make them and complete them! It is good to have goals!
Believe something amazing will happen every day
You know the line from the movie Field of Dreams “If you build it, they will come”? If you believe something amazing will happen every day, it will!
Meditate
Something else I want to practice more. Meditation is one of my favorite things to do. I just always feel like I don’t have time. Which is a terrible thing to say much less type! We have time for the things we like and want to do. You can always make the time. We all have the same hours in a day so what makes me think my time is not worthy of 15 minutes of meditation!?! I must work on this more! I always open my eyes feeling AMAZING!
Walk
No music, no audiobook, no podcast. Just you and the sounds around you. Be aware and present observing the sights and sounds of the area you are in.
Listen to music
We are prominent music people in this house. We subscribe to apple music and Sirius radio. My son enjoys Spotify. Music is a big part of our lives, and I know it can change my mood from cranky to happy in just 3 minutes with the right song. I have a sign in my kitchen that says “This kitchen is for dancing.” Because with mood-boosting music, dancing is right behind it! Music can also help you calm down before bed or help you concentrate.
Start your day with no technology
As I mentioned above, this is something I really would like to master. My phone is the first thing I pick up when I wake. Sometimes even before I put on my glasses. If this is also you, maybe consider putting your phone in a different room. And my laptop is the same. I tend to get my husband off from work and proceed to open my computer to check on the social world. I need to work on replacing that with some morning journaling with my coffee.
Get up early
So much more gets done when you rise before the sun. I have this one down. I am up at 5:15 every weekday and ordinarily awake by seven on the weekends. It is a pretty full day!
Stay current on news and trends
Not a vigorous habit of mine. I live in a bubble, and if it doesn’t show up in my Facebook newsfeed, I have no clue. I stopped watching the news over a year ago because it caused me too much anxiety. The same stories and tragedies over and over again were just not right for me. It set the precedent for my entire day. I want to be the kind of person that glances over the newspaper every morning instead of just reading it when I need more information on something I read on Facebook.
Plan tomorrow before bed
Planning is an excellent idea if you have trouble shutting your brain off as I do at night. I like to call it “brain dump’. Empty all the thought about the next day that you have on your mind onto a tidy to-do list. That way, you can try to convince yourself that you don’t need to think about it because it is already on a list.
Drink more water and less everything else
#goals. Less coffee – more water. Enough said!
Visualize
Whether you have a vision board, practice at the beginning of your meditation or think about it in the shower every morning, visualization of who you want to be and where you want to be in the future lends itself to creating your reality. The art of positive thinking and the law of attraction both use this technique to make your dreams come true. I visualize a lake house al the time. In 5 years, I will be able to start looking for a lake house actively.
Go to bed early
Another favorite. I love to sleep and I also enjoy going to bed early. I always have. Even when I was a teenager, my mother tells the story of me always going to bed at 9 pm. I feel like I need to stick with what I am good at!
Turn off the TV
Seriously. There are a time and a place for binge-watching and winding down, but in those 7 hours that you watched Gilmore Girls, you could be getting stuff done or educate yourself. Don’t get me wrong; I love a good GG marathon but not all the time. I have too many things on my to-do list that I would instead do.
Get a Hobby
Sewing, woodworking, stamp collecting, hiking; whatever it may be, having a hobby to get away from life for a while and decompress allows you to be focused when you need to be. Finding a hobby that allows you to use a different part of your brain that you are generally used to using will benefit your entire being.
What do you think? Anything here you would like to incorporate into your life to help you be more successful?
Kim
I too love money and I am not afraid to admit it. I love it because it allows me the freedom to help others and be of use to the world.
frozenpennies
ABSOLUTELY, Kim! Sing it loud! 🙂
Jamie
I think about at least half of these things would be good for me to incorporate and there are some I do and could improve on.
frozenpennies
You and me, both Jamie!!!
Tara P
On the workout one – if you want to do indoor walk type workouts, I super recommend Leslie Sansone! She does the Walk at Home videos, which are on YouTube, and she is so awesome. Super positive, can be a little cheesy but in the best possible way and while the moves aren’t challenging, it makes for a really good workout. I highly recommend her!
Your day of rest sounds all kinds of amazing, FYI. Any day that starts with sleeping late and coffee (in bed or out of bed) is A+ in my books 🙂
These are great – I feel like I do a lot of them, but I definitely have to work on some areas (like the unplugging part, ugh). Appreciate the reminders!
frozenpennies
Oh my gosh, Tara! I loved those videos!! I had no idea they were on youtube! Any movement is good movement. I like to walk and squat and use weights while watching a favorite tv show. I am looking forward to getting out in the cooler weather to walk!