Adopt the Habits that Lead to Success

Oprah Winfrey. Bill Gates. Arianna Huffington. Richard Branson.

What do all these entrepreneurs have in common? Innovative ideas and success in business, but they wouldn’t have gotten far without the right habits. If you’re looking to follow in their footsteps and get your start-up off the ground and running, then it would be wise to take a page out of the millionaire’s playbook and adopt the practices that lead to success.

Here they are.

Waking Up Early

No, not so you can get the early worm. The real reason is that there are fewer distractions while everyone else is sleeping, so you can focus on key tasks. Also, you have more energy than you would at any other time of the day, along with more will power. That’ll help you get your day started off on a positive note.

Keeping Calm

The road to success is paved with stress. Learn to manage that pressure by using stress-busting strategies like eating healthy, exercising and getting enough sleep. Meditating and practicing breathing exercises can also help you find some peace of mind. Above all, say “no” to extraneous demands on your time and energy.

Facing Challenges

That’s largely because you have no other choice. All you have are challenges, whether it’s raising capital to start your business or overcoming the fear that it will fail, but these obstacles are not such a bad thing. After all, that’s how you build a strong character, without which you’d never go anywhere.

Dedicating Yourself

Never give less than 100 percent of yourself to a business idea you’re passionate about. That does not mean ignoring your family obligations. It means focusing on the task at hand and not getting distracted by side quests with little bearing on what you’re trying to achieve.

Setting Goals

“Become a billionaire,” may be what you’re thinking, but that’s not good enough. It’s too vague and gives you little guidance as to what you’re supposed to do when you wake up (early) in the morning. Let a backwards plan help you break it down into smaller bits that you can include in your to-do list.

Listening to Feedback

Friends, colleagues, employees and even total strangers may have some criticism about what you do and how you do it. It’s not meant to hurt your feelings, so pay attention to what they say. Not all of the unsolicited advice is worth taking, but some may help you solve practical problems you face in business or your personal life.

Taking Risks

The very act of setting up a new business is risky. What will you do if your product or service finds no buyers? Well, you’ll fail … and then start over again. You can’t be afraid of failure, though, and you have to pull the trigger. Otherwise, you’ll never know whether your idea could be successful or not. You’ll also roll the dice on smaller bets along the way.

Learning From Failure

There’s no such thing as a smooth and uninterrupted path to becoming wealthy. Setbacks will happen no matter how careful you are, and the only thing you can control is how you react. If the first potential client isn’t interested in your services, go back and look at your pitch and the service itself to find out where you went wrong. Then, fix it.

Using Technology to Your Advantage

It’s important not to get behind in a world full of rapidly-changing technology and business practices, according to a writer with Forbes. Consider social media marketing. Those who first figured it out its advantages had an immediate competitive edge when it came to spreading their message and tapping new client bases.

Not all of these are easy habits to adopt, but who said becoming successful would be simple? It’s time to knuckle down and be the change you want to see in yourself and your business, or else give up on your dreams. Which is it going to be?

Author: Gloria Martinez